Disclaimer: I'm a US citizen.
Yes, it is worth it.
Specifically, an MBA is totally worth it in terms of the opportunity cost of two years of your life, opening up the American market (basically giving you two years to job search in the US), and the life-long professional benefits. Now, taking $100k (in tuition) + $40-$100k (in living expenses) to pay for it --- that is harder to say it is worth it. I could build a model determining earning power over your lifetime that would probably still come out ahead if you had even with $200k of debt at the end, but I think also over-leveraging yourself to that degree even for an MBA is just stupid. Scholarship can and should be a large factor. Money and location matter because even if you have a significant scholarship, the cost of living can drive up your debt, but you also don't want to be living in podunk-USA without any local opportunities.
My rule of thumb is to keep debt below one year's salary. After you apply and receive offers, compare the total debt you'd take on (tuition+living expenses) to your likely first year salary, say it's $90k-$100, and evaluate if it's "worth it" from that. Even at the absolute top schools, partial scholarships are given, but in all honestly, I've seen that only with very unique international applicants, and unfortunately Indian/male is not unique.
In terms of opportunity - I can only speak anecdotally --- It seems that international candidates definitely took a hit 2008/2009. Judging by my alums, some had to go back to their home countries (albeit they still good jobs). However I knew at least one 09 alum that got sponsored here by tapping into a personal contact.
In recent years, things seem much less dark for US or international candidates. In my small class of 120, we've had one Indian/male secure an internship in investment banking (had two offers at BB), and another is in the final round of interviews at two consulting firms. Other Indian/Chinese/male/female that I know are interviewing for corporate finance positions at Fortune 500 companies. I can think of several 2nd year international students that have secured their FT offers (another IB BB), and I'm sure many more have secured offers I'm not aware of. There are still a lot of firms that do not sponsor, so in some ways it's still an up-hill battle, but
chances are if you were able to make it here from India (which I believe is even more competitive for admissions, than what most of US citizens face),
you are already an exceptional candidate. Some firm somewhere will hire/sponsor you. It may not be your ideal job starting right out of school. But getting the sponsorship and your feet on the ground so you can network, make connections, and move on to something better after a few years is still very valuable and "worth it". You'll still have amazing career opportunities open up over the long run. FYI - interpersonal skills will still play a large role so having experience adapting/working with different cultures is important.
For example, in the Rice 2012 class , the international job placement is at about 92% and I think all in the US.
https://business.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/ ... istics.pdfGood luck.
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11 Jan 2013, 02:04
