Which school to attend : Berkeley versus ISB

If you are planning for a concentration in Finance, Berkeley should be the choice as it is the best in finance.
For international business, ISB might be better.
In global ranking of business schools, Berkeley is better than ISB.
As your long-term plan is to look for job globally, Berkeley will give you an edge there also.
Regarding diversity of students, I believe you will find comparable or better situation in Berkeley.
Tuition fee at Berkley should be more than that at ISB.

With these facts, now it is your choice. (If I were in your place, I would not have hesitated a bit to enroll for Berkeley's program -- but that is my personal choice.)

Sirisha - I am an executive recruiter based in India. My firm caters exclusively to talent with more than 15-20 years of experience, I am an incoming MBA student at Tuck and hence am well informed regarding senior/mid management jobs as well as MBA perceptions back home.

1. If you want to transition to India, ISB is a DECENT bet but certainly not the best. The ISB brand has diluted over the years owing to a) a higher percentage of class with work ex <4 years, and b) opening a new campus taking class to 1.5 times its size with no proven placement record to sustain it
2. There are limited jobs that are appealing that are offered to students at ISB - my definition of appeal is jobs at McK, Bain (Doesnt visit ISB), BCG (doesnt visit ISB), global leadership programs (some Indian subsidiaries visit ISB) etc.
3. However, these 'appealing' jobs typically go to the more experienced - maybe a 5 to 8 year range - versus the less experienced
4. ISB's brand name while recruiting is not as well regarded as, say, IIM Ahmedabad
5. As IIM Ahmedabad has a PGPX program - similar to ISBs program its a 1 year program for senior executives and has seen good placements - which you should consider
6. Berkeley has a good brand here - what I mean by that is that people would recognize Berkeley on your resume. They won't recognize Haas at all
7. The 'Executive MBA' tag is seen with a lot of speculation here. it doesn't have the same level of acceptance as in the US - be prepared for that
8. Someone who does an Exec MBA from Berkeley and wants to come to India, will mostly be seen a someone who couldnt get a job there and is hence applying here. The perception that the US would be your first choice a place of employment if you studied there exists

Pls take my comments with a pinch of salt and apply the pareto principle of 80/20. My comments above reflect, in my view, what 80% of the populace would have. There will always be anomalies much fewer in number that will result in different outcome.

All the best!

Hi str1der

Thanks for your detailed response. That was very helpful. From what i understand the Berkeley exec program is covering the same curriculum as the full time program and we end up getting the same UC Berkeley Degree...so i am not concerned about having an Exec tag associated with the degree i get...apparently the content of the curriculum is the same as full time program but all the extra acitivities are condensed for the working professionals.
My focus is really on getting a good business foundation and network and learn from others in the program. Also at the end of the program I want to see which option makes most sense in terms of giving me the flexibiity to look for opportunities globally. Yes may be immediatly I will look for opportunities in India..but I do know that I might be interested in opportunities outside India in the long term...although again I have my doubts as to how much of my MBA tag matters at that point..wouldnt it be more of what I did with my MBA and what kind of opportunities I pursued and the kind of career growth I had over the years.. ? But again I am thinking that instead of waiting and wasting this 1 year..i would have finished more than 1/2 the berkeley program by next april...and getting ready to look for the next opportunity...sooo confusing.

I would suggest you to get the Berkeley MBA and then work couple of years(to pay off loans) while trying to land an opportunity at Google/Microsoft in India. I am pretty sure they would be more than happy to take you in a program manager role. Berkeley is very highly regarded in India almost at par with Stanford/MIT.

The comment on the exec program was not from your interpretation of it BUT what employers think of it. If I was recruiting, and given my knowledge of how these programs work in the US, I would give you preference. But in India, largely the exec programs - given how undercooked they are here - are perceived to be under cooked everywhere. I didn't mean it from a content perspective.

I would recommend working in the US for a couple of years before coming here. Else, apply to INSEAD which has a very strong brand here plus is a one year MBA.

Hi,
This is an old thread hence I'm wondering if your comments about ISB still hold true? I'm in a similar fix struggling to decide between US and India.