Tuesday, May 19, 2015

MBA US SPECIAL........ Top US B-Schools Roll Out the Red Carpet for Indian Students


Top US B-Schools Roll Out the Red Carpet for Indian Students


More Indians make it to top business schools this year; increase in financial aid and scholarships too

Ishvarya Raman had applied to Kellogg and Sloan School of Management two years ago, but got rejected by both. Not losing heart, the engineer from Bosch in Bangalore applied to seven business schools this time, including Ivy League institutions such as Tuck at Dartmouth, besides Kellogg, Sloan at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Chicago's Booth School of Business. Raman has gained admission to five out the seven B-schools she applied to. She's chosen Kellogg, declining $40,000 and $60,000 in scholarships offered by the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon and UCLA's Anderson School of Management, respectively .
Bain consultant Aman Mittal found himself taking hard decisions too when he had to choose among The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, New York University's Stern School of Business, Kellogg and Cornell's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. He is headed to Stern after being offered $135,000 in scholarship.
“It was a tough choice, but I've finally opted for Stern as it would enhance my opportunities for a career in finance. Personally , my wife, who's a doctor, would be relocating to New York too, so it makes it easier for both of us,“ he said.
If data gathered by ET through closed alumni groups, new admits, and admission consultants is any indicator, 2015 could turn out to be a watershed for Indian MBA applicants to top US B-schools.Not only have the world's top business schools accepted more Indian applicants this year for their class of 2017, but they may have also received more financial aid and scholarships for such institutions than last year. While the Indian intake at Harvard Business School would have gone up to around 47 from around 40 last year, according to some alumni groups, more Indian students have made it to schools such as Wharton and Kellogg as well. The academic session for most US business schools commences in July and the admission process is currently in its third round. Overseas admissions are almost over by the second round.
Officially, most US schools do not comment on appli cant information by geography , but data gathered through alumni networks reveals that while Kellogg admitted around 30 Indians last year in the first two rounds, this year's intake is hovering at 40+. Wharton too has noticed an uptick in new admissions from India -around 35-36 from 26-27 last year.
The numbers are for applicants from India and exclude Indian passport holders based overseas. While Wharton and Harvard did not respond to emails seeking validation of this data, Kate Smith, assistant dean of admissions and financial at Kellogg School of Management, stated that India is a focal point for the school. “We have seen many strong applicants from this region,“ she added.
This year, 80 applicants that are clients of Admissions Gateway , a consultant, have received more than 150-plus admissions, out of which around 80 are from a top 10 US B-school. “Overall, we saw a 20% increase in Indian admissions at most top B-schools. Our candidates received 107 offers to the top 15 schools, 80-plus to the top 10 and 20-plus to the top five,“ said Rajdeep Chimni, founder of the admissions consulting firm.
“The scholarships received by our applicants this . 18.7 crore. This is more than the combined year total ` scholarship amount for the last two years, which was . 11.75 crore,“ Chimni said. The scholarships are for ` study at Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Stern and the Darden School of Business.
“Applicants are more aware about the demands of the admissions process, have better access to information and approach applications in a smarter manner. When I attended Kellogg in 2006, there were only three admissions from India. This year, 10 of our candidates gained admission,“ he said.
The average merit-based scholarships given to Indian students have increased by nearly 25% this year over last year at Duke's Fuqua School of Business, said Allison Jamison, director of recruitment and marketing for the full-time, two-year MBA programme at the school.
Yale School of Management (Yale SoM) has also witnessed an uptick in the overall scholarship amount.“Round three of the admissions cycle is still in progress and we don't release enrollment figures until the new class arrives... but overall, applications to Yale SoM have increased by about 25% year on year, and applications from India have increased too. All applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships and the school has increased its scholarship support overall,“ said Bruce Del Monico, assistant dean and director of admissions.
Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus Arun Dubey from the class of 2012, who heads business development and marketing for Greywater, said Indian admissions at the school have gradually gone up from six-seven a few years ago to around 10-12.“There's a substantial difference in the quality of applications, which are more evolved and capture global elements, and the applicants are better prepared,“ said Dubey, who mentored some of the Indian applicants who made it to the school through the Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship this year. Stanford is considered one of the toughest American business schools to get into and has less than half the batch size as Harvard Business School.
Harvard Business School alumnus and founder of Reach Ivy Advisory Vibha Kagzi said 80% of her students got admission at more than one top US school this year.
“2015 saw our students being spoilt for choice,“ Kagzi said. “Many have been lured by top-ranked institutions with generous scholarships ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 from institutions such as Wharton, UCLA, and Tepper. Many have even received full funding from institutions such as Columbia, putting them in a serious dilemma as to which business school to choose,“ Kagzi said.
Alpita Maheshwari was amazed at the quality of candidates she was competing with. “The pool was quite competitive,“ said Maheshwari, who made it to Kellogg and Darden but eventually opted for London Business School, considering the work visa requirements for her husband.
Anumeha Chaturvedi
New Delhi:
ET15MAY15

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