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05 Mar 2020, 11:07
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First of all, I want to extend my thanks to the entire GMAT community which helped me to push my score from 640 to 740, allowing me to pursue my dreams of getting admission into a good business school.
Currently, I have offers from two colleges: ISB and HKUST. My post-MBA role is to get into top consulting firms such as MBB, or even consulting arms of Big4's. The current scenario in Hong Kong is not great due to protest and Coronavirus outbreak. Furthermore, as per my research, Hong Kong is only suited to pursue a career in finance. Because of these reasons, I am inclined towards ISB.
Now, apart from these two college, I also applied to Rotman this year, but did not receive any interview invite. Given the score I thought that I will secure an admission, but it did not go my way. My dream has always been to settle in Canada and I am thinking of applying to Rotman (thought that I lacked at the essay part and will improve this year) and Ivey this year , but there are two concerns:
1. Both Rotman and Ivey are expensive program (US programs are only 20-30% higher in terms of cost ) and I have heard that the ROI from these MBA programs is not that great. The Canadian economy is developing at the moment and does not reward you with high salaries jobs as compared to the US market.
2. It is a very big risk to let go of two good programs: ISB and HKUST and apply for Rotman and Ivey. Normally, people give up offers only when they want to apply to M7 or LBS or INSEAD. Rotman or Ivey are not highly ranked nor enjoy global recognition.
I wanted advice on what step should I take
1. Choose ISB or HKUST?
2. Give up these colleges and apply for Canadian business schools? Is it worth the risk
3. Is it possible to go with ISB brand name to foreign shores in the future such as Canada?
Currently, I have offers from two colleges: ISB and HKUST. My post-MBA role is to get into top consulting firms such as MBB, or even consulting arms of Big4's. The current scenario in Hong Kong is not great due to protest and Coronavirus outbreak. Furthermore, as per my research, Hong Kong is only suited to pursue a career in finance. Because of these reasons, I am inclined towards ISB.
Now, apart from these two college, I also applied to Rotman this year, but did not receive any interview invite. Given the score I thought that I will secure an admission, but it did not go my way. My dream has always been to settle in Canada and I am thinking of applying to Rotman (thought that I lacked at the essay part and will improve this year) and Ivey this year , but there are two concerns:
1. Both Rotman and Ivey are expensive program (US programs are only 20-30% higher in terms of cost ) and I have heard that the ROI from these MBA programs is not that great. The Canadian economy is developing at the moment and does not reward you with high salaries jobs as compared to the US market.
2. It is a very big risk to let go of two good programs: ISB and HKUST and apply for Rotman and Ivey. Normally, people give up offers only when they want to apply to M7 or LBS or INSEAD. Rotman or Ivey are not highly ranked nor enjoy global recognition.
I wanted advice on what step should I take
1. Choose ISB or HKUST?
2. Give up these colleges and apply for Canadian business schools? Is it worth the risk
3. Is it possible to go with ISB brand name to foreign shores in the future such as Canada?
05 Mar 2020, 11:43
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi and congrats on your GMAT Score and Good Admissions Luck!
Did you apply to other programs? Did you get dinged anywhere? Just curious what other options/doors you had.
I feel you have a fairly accurate picture of the Canadian MBA programs. They have grown quite a bit in the last few years due to the US immigration stance changes. I don't know enough about immigration to Canada and opportunity to go there on a limb or how hard it is to arrange to move there but if you wanted to be in the US, going to school there is pretty much the only choice.
HKUST is a great program but there are geo-political issues that likely will go away by the time you graduate in 2 years but the job market is not too friendly to international even during the good years. Cost of living is high and language skills are still needed and so many international applicants recruit in Singapore or elsewhere in Asia. HKUST does have a pretty amazing exchange program with M7 and Top 20 in the US and the world but they don't come with OPT and it is more of a "fun" semester abroad that is great if you have a job offer but pretty distracting if you don't.
I don't know how ISB compares to other programs but it seems pretty selective and fairly popular. My guess is cheaper and overall less of a transition at the same time probably a bit less exciting or transformational. But it would be silly to apply and do all this effort only to skip out on the program. As to your question, if you want to be in Canada, then going to Rotman or Ivey is the main way and you will need to apply next season. If you are OK with India and Ok to work there, then ISB is likely a pretty strong option. That's my take.
Did you apply to other programs? Did you get dinged anywhere? Just curious what other options/doors you had.
I feel you have a fairly accurate picture of the Canadian MBA programs. They have grown quite a bit in the last few years due to the US immigration stance changes. I don't know enough about immigration to Canada and opportunity to go there on a limb or how hard it is to arrange to move there but if you wanted to be in the US, going to school there is pretty much the only choice.
HKUST is a great program but there are geo-political issues that likely will go away by the time you graduate in 2 years but the job market is not too friendly to international even during the good years. Cost of living is high and language skills are still needed and so many international applicants recruit in Singapore or elsewhere in Asia. HKUST does have a pretty amazing exchange program with M7 and Top 20 in the US and the world but they don't come with OPT and it is more of a "fun" semester abroad that is great if you have a job offer but pretty distracting if you don't.
I don't know how ISB compares to other programs but it seems pretty selective and fairly popular. My guess is cheaper and overall less of a transition at the same time probably a bit less exciting or transformational. But it would be silly to apply and do all this effort only to skip out on the program. As to your question, if you want to be in Canada, then going to Rotman or Ivey is the main way and you will need to apply next season. If you are OK with India and Ok to work there, then ISB is likely a pretty strong option. That's my take.
05 Mar 2020, 11:56
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Bookmarks
bb
Thanks for you sharing your inputs. I did apply to INSEAD, my first MBA application, but got dinged. Did not think about US business schools because of the visa issues and high cost of MBA.
You are correct in that sense that It would be silly to wait for another 1+ year and apply to Rotman and Ivey. I did talk to few folks and they did say that you should not give up on ISB or HKUST for MBA programs like Rotman or Ivey. It is not worth the risk nor the effort to again put brakes on your MBA dreams right now.
I do want work in Canada in the long term, but dont know whether spending an almost equivalent amount of US MBA fees and study in those colleges is worth it. It might take 5+ years to pay back the loan
What do you think?
Thanks for you sharing your inputs. I did apply to INSEAD, my first MBA application, but got dinged. Did not think about US business schools because of the visa issues and high cost of MBA.
You are correct in that sense that It would be silly to wait for another 1+ year and apply to Rotman and Ivey. I did talk to few folks and they did say that you should not give up on ISB or HKUST for MBA programs like Rotman or Ivey. It is not worth the risk nor the effort to again put brakes on your MBA dreams right now.
I do want work in Canada in the long term, but dont know whether spending an almost equivalent amount of US MBA fees and study in those colleges is worth it. It might take 5+ years to pay back the loan
What do you think?
