Hi All ! Im a 1 yr MBA student and I will be graduating in May 2017. The summer session from May-August was the craziest thing i have experienced. The workload was intense. Groups were chosen for us on Day 1. Our group worked really badly together so it was a bad experience. 75% of the class is Intl so it does not feel like you are in a US university. Babsons 1 yr MBA attracts most students from Latin America so you feel like youre doing an MBA in South America from a cultural perspective. Peoples work ethic is totally different and not reflective of the American work ethic- naturally, this does not reflect the American work ethic so if you feel like you want to get acclimatized to American ways, Babson's MBA is not the right to be. Some summer faculty were awesome and some terrible- again because many faculty want a teaching job to avoid working over the New England summers- but i still had some awesome faculty over the summer but some terrible ones too.
This 1 yr program is wonderful for those who not only have an undergrad in Business Admin but for those who already have a GC or US citizenship. If youre taking big loans to come here as an International Student- dont make that mistake because 99% chance you wont find a job with sponsorship. The 1 yr program and even the 2 yr prorgam is a "cash cow" for Babson due to intl students coming in paying full rate. When 75% of your class is Intl. it does not mean that the school values diversity but it means that Americans do not want to come there and pay that fee- Americans will come if you subsidize their fee by charging intl students full fare. None of the top 20 schools have 75% of their MBA class Intl- not because they dont value diversity but because its not reflective of American culture to have 75% intl students.
If you dont want to work in the US and DONT expect babson to find you a job with sponsorship, then come to Babson! If you want to do Finance or Consulting as a career in USA after graduating, that probably will not happen. Also if youre an excellent straight A student and want to work in Inv Banking and take Finance classes, most students in the class will be curious about the subject and wont have the skills to contribute towards group work- when 25%-40% of your grade is group work, think what it means for your GPA unless you lift the weight of 3 other people in your group. And youll get tired getting those straight A's in exams that you will probably stop caring to teach your group mates and instead just do the work yourself. That said, the faculty at Babsons MBA are generous in grading and dont penalize bad grammatical writing as much as they do at the undergraduate level.
That said, some Babson faculty are AWESOME-- i have learned a ton of Finance, Accounting & Stats from professors such as Bob Turner, Ben Liuppold, Peter Wilson (acc), Paul Marcus & Dessislava Pachamanova (statistics). My coursework has been superb due to these faculty members and i do not regret coming here only due to the fact that i have learned a TON! But im not an international student. I want to work in IBanking after graduation but i wont need to find a sponsorship to stay on and work. My group projects on the other hand (mostly) have been pretty disastrous because of the reasons mentioned above- !
Try getting a very high scholarship to come to Babsons MBA if youre an Intl student. Or wait a year and apply to other schools. For intl students its hard- im sorry to bust everyones dreams here but i dont want anyone here to be in a financial mess not having thought of these issues.
Come to Babson MBA if:
Youre an Intl. student and want to work in your fam business in your home country.
Youre an Intl student and have enough money to pay full tuition without taking big loans
You get a 80-100% scholarship
youre a domestic US student
Do Not come to Babson MBA if:
Youre an Intl student and expect to get a visa sponsorship with a job in the US
Youre an Intl student who is taking big loans to come to the US and needs a job to pay those loans off
Youre an Intl student and want Consulting or Ibanking.