Indian MBA( IIMA PGPX, ISB) or International (INSEAD, IMD)?

Question

I am an Indian born, now US Citizen and planning to go back to India. I want to take 1-year MBA (either international or Indian). IIM Ahmedabad - PGPX, ISB - hyderabad, INSEAD ..etc are top in my list. 

I am looking for an MBA that gives me better opportunity and ROI in India. I am not sure about the quality of IIM/ISB programs. Elite US MBA's are very expensive and we have to work in US/Europe for years to recover the money. I have 10+ years exp and currently work in a fortune 100 company as an IT manager. I am planning to stay in Hi-tech / Industry. Any suggestions? Appreciate your input.

trahul4 · Answer

Actually its very simple. If you want to stay and work in India then nothing beats the reputation of IIMs or ISB for that matter. You can great some high paying jobs with the name of IIM/ISB on your resume in India. The regional reputation of these schools in superb and nothing beats them in India.

casbroker · Answer

I agree with trahul - the Indian schools will give you a great bang for your buck if you're staying in India. Just make sure to differentiate yourself from your peers when marketing yourself to the programs.

rk4g63 · Answer

In fact, since you qualify as an NRI, you'll just need to show a decent GMAT.

bsd_lover · Answer

Really ? Are you suggesting that entrance into IIMs are a mere formality for NRI's with 700+ GMATs ? I do not know the full procedure for admissions, but surely there is an essay writing component to it ? I believe ISB has essays ..

rk4g63

In fact, since you qualify as an NRI, you'll just need to show a decent GMAT.

rk4g63 · Answer

Nope, that's not what I'm saying - its definitely NOT a formality. Essay writing is considered unimportant as part of the admissions process in India - in any case, over 50% of the people change their minds about what they are going to do. I don't know about ISB at all. Except for ISB, Indian business schools just look at academics (anyone who is not an brilliant student with excellent academics is usually counted out, unless you crack the GMAT or the entrance test), entrance test scores (if you're in India) or GMAT (if you're outside India) and charge you upwards of 5 times the cost if you're outside India (you go through an NRI quota). 

Considering the vast population in India, getting great academics and a great entrance test score (If you're in India, GMAT is not accepted) is really hard. The acceptance percentages are well below those of Harvard. Don't quote me on this (use the numbers as a relative idea), but the # of people accepted is around 3000 a year in all the IIMs combined out of a total of 500,000 applicants at least.

trahul4 · Answer

Yes I agree with the previous poster . Getting into IIM specially the top 3 is very very difficult. You need to score in the 99.5... percentile or above to get a call. Not much emphasis is given on essays , infact you need not write any essays if you are applying to the traditional 2 year course. Essays are pretty much downplayed. More than good acads, cracking the entrance exam (CAT) is rated very highly. 
I have to comment on the class profile also. International student dont even make it to 5% of the class and hence the diversity is missed out. Also most of them are freshers right out on undergrad colleges. 
All in all, IIMs are best if you want to be in India, but if you want to have an international carrer then I would look for top 10-15 US/European schools.

msha · Answer

I am looking for 1 year pgm ( PGPX ). GMAT is required and CAT is not accepted. Course fee 14 Lakhs ( i think same for everyone ). There is no special seats for NRI. But internationl exp / other citizenship is highly desired

bsd_lover · Answer

What is so special about PGPX ? What kind of placements are on offer ? Why should an Indian with an overseas nationality go back (apart from the obvious fact that its cheap 14 Lakhs ~ 40000 dollars).

rk4g63 · Answer

Good question dude. Personally, I would use it only as a backup if I lose out in the top US or Euro schools.

rk4g63 · Answer

Yep, trahul, you picked up on the point I neglected to mention - very few, if any, of the students have more than 1 year of experience - they're mostly freshers right out of school. 

At one time, a few years ago, anyone over 24 had a very tough time getting in. I don't know what the situation is today. There was a significant trend towards discouraging older students from being admitted.

In addition, diversity in any form is negligible - engineers are still highly preferred. To be honest, I have never seen a non-Indian face in any of the IIMs - I used to frequent the A, B and C campuses on a regular basis between 1994 ands 1999.

msha · Answer

How is PGPX different from the existing two year Post Graduate Programme (PGP) at IIMA?

PGPX is aimed at experienced executives who wish to acquire formal education in management. It has a general management focus, with an emphasis on managing across borders and cultures. It has an International Immersion component besides teaching content drawn from many countries. The goal is to prepare participants to be ready to take leadership positions in the firms that they join.


About placements:-

Placements for the pioneering first PGPX batch are now complete. IIMA is proud to announce that it has achieved 100% placements for all available participants of the first batch well before their graduation. Of the 60 participants in the batch, 58 took placements. 135 offers were made to candidates in the first batch with roles varying from Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer to Group Engagement Manager to Corporate Strategy Officer to Vice President (Sales and Marketing) to Senior Associate to Senior Analyst to Operations Manager.

The heartening part of the process is that the market is also signaling that it recognizes that the PGPX is a different programme with recruits coming in at a different level (middle and senior management roles). Jobs were accepted companies that are in consulting, manufacturing, corporate banking, retailing, IT, telecommunications, chemical process industry, investment banking, private equity, and energy sectors. Companies that recruited from the PGPX programme include Arthur D Little, Booz Allen Hamilton US/UK, Citigroup IBD, Computer Associates, Covansys, Genpact, Hazira LNG Pvt. Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., Honeywell Technology Solutions, ICRA, IMACS, Infotech Entreprises, Kotak PE, KPIT, McKinsey, Microsoft, MindTree Consulting, NISG, Nexus, Reliance Energy, Reliance Communications, Reliance MA, RPG, Satyam, Shalby Hospital, Syntel Inc., Tech Mahindra, VSNL, WNS and Yes Bank

rk4g63 · Answer

I would be more interested in knowing -
1) What percentage of the graduating class placed at Vice President or above 
2) What percentage of the graduating class received a base salary of 40 lakhs (100k US) or above

I really couldn't care less about the two or three outliers who became CEOs or received base pay over 75 lakhs - I'm always interested in the median, for obvious reasons. The median is a far more accurate representation of the populatioon.

You see, the reporting systems in India and the US are very different. You always hear about this one dude who gets 190k US, right out of IIM-A. Unfortunately, that is the highest salary. The median is far far below that - THAT is rarely, if ever, reported.

In India, the highest salary is always published whereas in the US, the median and range is published. So its not always an apples-to-apples comparison.

msha · Answer

I agree. IIM's provide you the best opportunity if you wanted to stay in India. If you wanted to build a career in US, it is better to do in US. US MBAs are really expensive , and we have to work years to recover the money.

trahul4 · Answer

Yes that's why it's just a matter of choice !!
But lately I have heard that even people passing out from IIM are placed in International firms with hefty salaries. If this is happening to majority of people there then I think IIMs will have greater percenage of applications in coming years and I will be one of the applicant for sure !!

rk4g63 · Answer

Again - be careful. Just because one guy was picked up by Barclay's and paid 190k, doesn't mean that a significant percentage ended up the same way. In India, the tendency is to harp on one success story rather than focus on the average Joe graduating from IIM.

trahul4 · Answer

Average Joe at IIM ? Well i believe only extremely smart people get in there ... how they perform later in their lives is another thing all together

rk4g63 · Answer

I think you missed the point. It doesn't matter if there is a class full of geniuses - there will be some at the top, some at the middle and some at the bottom of the curve. The middle 80% is the lot I was referring to as the average Joe at IIM.

By the way, its a misconception that only smart people make it to IIM. I've worked with a few doozies in the US - I had to fire one and put another on a performance improvement plan. However, in general, I'd agree - IIM guys are intelligent on the whole. However, they significantly lack soft skills - a problem with all of the Asian MBA's, not just IIMs. I'd agree with you - how they perform in their lives after IIMs depends on them and their career choices.

farend · Answer

Huh? Of IIM-A, diversity and toughness to get in :

https://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jun/05iim.htm

bsd_lover · Answer

Good link farend - 724 GMAT average huh

Indian MBA( IIMA PGPX, ISB) or International (INSEAD, IMD)?

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