Re: CEIBS 2012 - Calling All MBA Applicants
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17 Dec 2011, 03:24
aviroop,
Yes, I am the man. My writing style should be easy to spot, especially on that Desi board. Congrats on your application. CEIBS is a good school. Don't get me wrong...but if one has sufficient interest and language skills, then one will likely land a decent US$ 30-35,000 USD job in Shanghai upon graduation from CEIBS. If one is lucky and/or has specialized experience or skills, the salary figure will be higher, but likely no higher than US$ 50-50,000.
From an ROI perspective - and don't get me wrong, ROI should NOT be the only factor one uses to decide upon whether to attend a b-school or not - one could find a similar-paying, similar-responsibility job upon graduation from a program like FuDan, BeiDa, or TsingHua...yet these programs only cost about US$ 28-32,000 to attend! CEIBS' tuition is approximately US$ 50,000 and I just don't see where the extra value arises from paying a premium tuition rate to find a similar-type job in China, especially considering that CEIBS' reputation is still not fully cemented in comparison to the automatic name recognition that arises from these more established universities, particularly in comparison to Shanghai's FuDan or JiaoTong universities that are very renown.
Of course, my above example assumes that one wants to 1) actually work in China, 2) has the requisite language capabilities or is willing to work steadfastly to develop them, and 3) is willing to accept a relatively lower salary in absolute US$ (or other hard currency) terms for the chance to build a career in China and slog it out, competing in China with other "HaiGui" returnees as well as overseas-born Chinese, and also the massive domestic managerial class.
If one is a foreigner, particularly a South Asian applicant, who is not willing to do so, then a dual degree from NUS-HEC or an NUS-PKU or an SNU-Fuqua or an SP Jain or ISB degree or TsingHUA-HEC are much better options, in my honest and humble opinion. CEIBS doesn't offer any dual degrees so one is basically left with only the Shanghai market at one's disposal and the rest of the mainland and HK market as secondary prospects.
Few people in Singapore, much less in Bangaluru or Taipei know of CEIBS, while Nanyang, NUS, Waseda, HKUST, UHK, etc...maybe even CUHK, tend to open more doors overseas...yet these schools don't pretentious have "international" in the name. Of course, CEIBS does have an African campus so it is international in an operational - albeit not in a recruiting - sense, at least not yet. And of course, it costs a lot more to attend that the others, except for HKUST.
If salary considerations are important, then HKUST, NUS, etc. are all better for finding jobs in their respective higher-salary markets as well as in other Asian markets with lower salaries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, etc.)..,plus, NUS' tuition is only US$ 32,000 and there is no application fee. These schools have a wider reach, even across Asia, does when it comes to placements and recognition. If memory serves me correctly, Nanyang's tuition is even less than CEIBS'...research these issues yourselves to see what I mean.
For further reference and cost comparisons, one can read my posts on CEIBS' negative points in last year's CEIBS threads on both GMATClub and Pagalguy.
If I were a South Asian or other foreigner and not fully "all in" on spending the rest of my life in China, then I'd think twice before applying to CEIBS. For Asia-Pacific based careers, I still think that other programs, particularly dual degree ones, offer better options. For those wishing to go from Asia to Europe or North America or the Middle East, my question to them is: why CEIBS?
3 QUESTIONS:
1) What kind of feedback does CEIBS actually provide to rejected applicants during the 3-day application feedback window? I'd really appreciate some insight on the matter from those who have participated in such a session,
2) CEIBS does have a partnership with Shanghai JiaoTong University. How does this partnership, if at all, benefit students? Are mixers and other interactions held with JiaoTong's Antai School of Business, which is quite reputed? Do CEIBS students get to take advantage of JiaoTong's learning and athletic resources? Does this partnership provide access to JiaoTong's strong technical and engineering programs for those interested in such matters? I know these points sound rhetorical but I am truly curious about this matter becuase I've never found any information about how this link between the two schools has actually been actuated to directly benefit students. Maybe administrators and professors benefit from it directly and then flow the synergies to students through better lectures and classroom activities, but I'm sure interested to know.
3) How is CEIBS' Phase III construction going? Will the 2012 entrants benefit from the completed facilities before they graduate?
Thoughts? Comments? Cheers!