Foreign MBA: How much does it cost?

Today, an MBA has become an entry ticket to a job in India. Almost every graduate, unless he/ she has a technical degree, is required to have a management qualification to be considered eligible for any meaningful role in the corporate world. Where aspiring students a decade ago were greatly constrained by the relatively small number of B-schools in the country then, candidates today have no dearth of options to choose from.

The supply of management education has come up to match demand at a fantastic speed over the past seven-eight years. While the quality of this additional supply might be questionable, the cost of this education is still high and increasing each year.

Yet, when one compares the cost of doing an MBA in India versus that abroad, the difference is an order of magnitude, suggesting the degree to which management education in India might be subsidised, or the degree to which it is over-priced abroad.

My first exposure to this variation in costs came long before I had even thought of studying abroad. When I was in my first year of degree college, I visited an MBA education fair conducted by leading UK universities, at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai. In addition to familiarising myself with curious English county and province names, I learnt that management education is far more expensive outside my own country.

I believe I had silently agreed with myself then that I would focus solely on the top institutions in India rather than worry about raising funds for an MBA abroad. Little did I know that my attitude was to take a complete U-turn a few years hence.

One of my major criteria for shortlisting a foreign B-school was the finances required. There were three categories of financing required:

• Programme-related: These were the tuition fees, the living expenses, and the medical insurance (mandated by some countries).
• Application-related: These included the testing fees for GMAT and TOEFL/ IELTS, the prep material for the tests, cost of an application for each B-school, cost of transcripts and attestations, scholarship/ loan documentation costs, courier/ postage charges and stationery.
• Visa-related: These were the visa application fees, documentation costs and liquidity maintenance costs.

I decided to determine the timing of my application based on the overall financial attractiveness of each school. Almost all US schools gave me tremendous heartburn in this respect. From the brochures and the alumni reports, many of them seemed like great places to study, with several 'fun' ways to develop personality but, alas, the more 'happening' they seemed, the less my pocket felt able to support their costs.

Again, the predominant two-year format across the schools made the opportunity costs high. Secondly, there were ridiculously few financial aid options that an Indian student could avail himself/ herself of. Dependence on a slight chance of a teaching assistantship coming by (only in the second year of the programme) did not seem like a good idea.

Thirdly, the prospects for employment in the US post-MBA were not looking rosy due to tightening visa norms. I worried that I may not have the chance to recover my investment... if at all I managed to put in the money in the first place.

The European schools offered a via media in the case of tuition fees due to shorter programme durations and hence lower costs. Yet, the total programme-related outlay for a school would still be about two-thirds of that for the average US school. Again, the cost of an application, though a small drop in the ocean of expenses, was higher for European schools.

Also, the visa norms for Europe were not just stringent, but also rather difficult to satisfy from the perspective of a long-term work opportunity. Given the tight visa regulations and high liquidity requirements for Australia , I had already demoted Aussie schools in my priority list.

I figured that if I applied to my high-priority schools early enough in the admissions cycle (most schools have at least two and at max four rounds of applications; some others have rolling admissions), then based on the responses, I would know which schools are definitely meant for me or not (and vice versa). That way I would not be putting all my application resources at stake at once.

Once again, I used a loose model (this time without an Excel worksheet!) to decide which schools I should apply to and when. The first pass had to be the affordability of the programme itself. Singapore and Europe led the race here. Living expenses only marginally impacted this score in all Western cases.

The second stage was ease of obtaining a visa. The US and Australian schools fell back a bit on this count. The final pass was the costs of applying. Since costs of test-taking, transcripts, attestations and documentation were distributed across schools, I did not consider these aspects. The top priority schools soon miraculously emerged.

The schools that made the cut then for applications in the first round were the two UK schools, Oxford and Cambridge, which offered loans through tie-ups with regional banks based simply on acceptance of a candidate to the programme, UCLA in the US, because the timing made good sense, and NUS at Singapore, because it was the easiest on the pocket. I decided to phase out the remaining four schools similarly over two more application rounds, all the time hoping that I would never have to resort to them.

I received a lot of questions about how I was managing the funding from peers who had already been through the rigmarole of an MBA. Since many of these were the MBA (Finance) types from the good ol' IIMs, the typical questions tended to be, "Have you calculated the expected Return on Investment?", or "Have you done an NPV analysis of this project?", or "What do you estimate will be the payback period for this investment?"

When faced with such a barrage, I would usually just smile back valiantly and propagandise the power of optimism. Honestly, for all my analytical skills and consulting orientation, this was one area about which I confessed (secretly, of course) complete naivete. I knew that I was too far gone to turn back. I also knew that I was sincere and would make it work any which way. I surrounded myself with people who believed likewise.

That's not to say that I distanced myself from the cautious types. There were no naysayers in any case. The time was ripe for getting back to education. The signs of recovery of the economy were apparent on the horizon. If all went well, I would be in form to catch the trend on the upswing. Of course, I had set some sort of a monetary floor below which any outcome of the entire effort would be unsatisfactory even to me. I was certain that if I came back to India to work soon after the MBA, then I would be able to command a price at least five to six times that at which I left for the MBA. If I landed the right opportunity within the destination country then, of course, I would not expect anything less than the average payoff for a graduate.

However, I did not want to be vain and measure my success only in terms of the $$$. The high price I was willing to pay had a lot more to do with the exotic learning environment, the diverse peer group, the wide alumni network, and the surrounding opportunities of living in a foreign location, than simply with the technical knowledge provided by the syllabus and the immediate job opportunities. Undoubtedly, there was no easy way of measuring the ROI on these aspects.

I eventually applied to three schools in the first round, the only round, and got accepted at two of them. Funding woes sorted themselves out after a little running around domestic banks (where Loan Officers found it hard to understand why anybody would be mad enough to spend more than Rs 30 lakhs on any kind of education, let alone an MBA; they entertained me nevertheless, fascinated by the Oxford brand).

A benefactor presented himself just in time to help me tide over the deadline for final acceptance at the school. A small scholarship came my way and provided for the peripheral expenses. A term deposit matured just in time to ensure that my terms at school would pass without a (financial) hitch. Overall, it was a story with a happy ending, or a happy beginning!

Looking back, there has not been a single moment that I have regretted having made the choices that I made -- whether it was the choice of going abroad, or going to Oxford, or coming back to India thereafter. The MBA did pay for itself. And I sense that the payoff is not finished yet.

International MBA: Making the decision

October 30, 2008

Part I: Why I did an MBA abroad
Part II: Where should I do my MBA?

Questions, answers, and then more questions! The whole affair with the foreign MBA seemed to involve more and more decisions as one went along. As soon as I'd figured out why I wanted to do an MBA, I had to decide where to do it from. No sooner had I got that nailed than I had to decide which business school to apply to. And the more time I spent in answering that question, the larger the number of variables got, making my task tougher with each additional one!

But, that's where I brought my work experience as a consultant into play -- I structured the process as best as I could. I first focussed on the critical factors in the decision. Then I laid out the constraints. Finally, after assigning weights to each variable, I did the qualitative additions and subtractions to arrive at a target list. Essentially, I believe I used a framework that I would like to call "the four Ps of b-school decision making". The four Ps (no connection to Jerome McCarthy's theory on marketing) are Programme, Prospects, Price and People.

Programme
I had seen many of my fellow applicants recite B-school rankings at the drop of a hat. Rankings, thus, seemed like the logical place to start the investigation. Since the brand value of an MBA is one of the key components of the money you spend on the MBA, I felt that the total value of the programme would be reflected, to a great extent, in the rankings.

Other Get Ahead features:
Switching your home loan lender? Here's help
Diwali: Style of the fashionistas
BPO careers and the global financial crisis
11 ways to be a happy employee

However, to ensure that I was not swayed by the "one-year wonders" (schools that suddenly peaked in one year and slipped off the rankings thereafter), I tabulated rankings for schools over three or four years. To make sure that my impression was correct, I also looked at rankings from about five publications. The emerging pattern showed that certain schools maintained a respectable position consistently, about 15 of which I put up on my shortlist.

Then I considered the specifics of the programme itself such as whether it had a one-year or two-year format or anything in between, assigning a higher weightage to those of shorter durations. I pored over the brochures to glean information on the specialisations the programmes were known for. I attached a marginally higher weightage to those with strengths in corporate finance, my main area of interest.

I jotted down the flexibility available in choice of electives. I also performed a reality check by noting the acceptance rate at the shortlisted schools. The best schools would also have the highest number of candidates competing for them, right?

In the case of business schools from non-English speaking native regions, an additional (cultural) feature caught my attention and my fancy -- the bilingual study methods -- ensuring that every participant would have an advanced (business) level of proficiency in the local language. This was peculiar to some European programmes and given my personal interest in languages, I gave them an additional vote.

Prospects
The purpose of the MBA, at least in the immediate term, was to accelerate my career path, which subsumed the aspiration for a more lucrative work opportunity. Therefore, the work prospects after the programme would be a key determinant of my decision. I examined the employment/ recruitment statistics at the shortlisted schools -- the percentage of students placed through the school's career services, the major sectoral groups that recruited them, the range of remuneration they were offered, and the locations they were offered positions at.

This consolidated picture told me which schools were preferred by which employers for what type of candidates at what locations and for how much money. It also suggested to me the extent of personal initiative an international candidate might have to take to balance the support provided by the schools' career offices in job search.

Price
Having spelt out the critical determinants, the value proposition and the payoff, I decided to flip the coin and take stock of the constraining factor -- the moolah! What price would I be paying for the payoff?

Expectedly, the schools higher on the rankings tended to command a higher price. With US schools dominating the rankings, they happened to be the most expensive at least in terms of tuition fees. The European schools, in general, were more cost effective because of the shorter durations of programmes, which also offset the opportunity cost of an extra year of education that one would go through at North American schools. However, they were more expensive in terms of living costs (think London [Images] or Paris). The Australian and Singaporean schools were, by far, the cheapest options.

Funding options only at the best schools in the US, UK and Europe were sympathetic to international students. That also meant tougher competition, with every candidate vying for the handful of MBA scholarships, teaching assistantships or university jobs. At the very least, I had to get an acceptance to be eligible for a loan under the funding programmes co-sponsored by the schools and reputed banks. Schools with these options got additional points on my personal ranking system.

I also did a quick calculation of visa requirements, fees and timelines for visa processing. Australia [Images] suddenly started to seem more distant, courtesy the stringent visa norms. Of course, USA had not got any friendlier to students in the aftermath of the September 11 bombings. I remained apprehensive about the US schools but retained a couple on my shortlist.

People
Finally, I had to rely on my overall feel of the programme. In my research on B-schools, I had made it a point to speak with as many alumni as I could contact from as many schools as possible, to understand their own motivations for doing an MBA, especially from the chosen school. Most times, I contacted the schools directly to gain correspondence details of alumni and/ or current students. From the responses that I received from schools (some were very prompt and open, others elusive and guarded) and the actual conversations with the ex/ current students, I learnt about the culture and the people, apart from the typical programme-related information, at the various schools. After all, an MBA was not meant to be only about study; it needed to have a 'fun' element too.

In my book, one of the greatest take-aways from the MBA experience would be the alumni network that I would become part of. One impact of this conclusion was that the school needed to have a sizeable alumni network. Also necessary was the composition of my class, an important factor in determining whether I would thrive or not. Having learnt through personal experience that a diverse group usually makes for greater learning, I championed the diversity cause at every opportunity I got. Having a fairly diverse profile myself (non-engineer ie economist, law graduate, financial services professional, female) made the cause seem even more worthy.

I, therefore, assigned high weightage schools that had a high 'diversity quotient'. I defined this score based on an amalgam of several factors such as the ratio of men to women in a batch, the proportion of international students in the batch, the number of countries represented in the class, and the type of backgrounds students came from.

In general, the European schools tended to score much higher on these counts than North American or Australian/ Singaporean schools. This was partly due to the fact that the small size of the home country mandated attracting larger proportions of students from outside the country. However, a more interesting and important characteristic was that these schools had slightly older students than the others -- the average age at a European school being 29 or 30 years as compared to 26 or 27 at others -- which also meant that they had greater work experience. Although I would have been an outlier on the (lower) range of ages in the class, I was more attracted to the mature profile of students at the European schools.

My interactions with alumni showed that this factor played a great role in the way applications were evaluated by the Admissions Committees of schools. In general, at schools with a younger candidate pool, the relative shortage of work experience and work-related achievements forces the AdComs to focus more heavily on academic performance and GMAT scores of candidates. However, at schools with a more mature candidate pool, there is more for applicants to talk about in terms of their experiences at work, and a sharper articulation of their motivations for pursuing an MBA. Thus, the AdComs indulge in a well-rounded evaluation of the entire application.

This realisation meant two things to me: (1) that a more mature class would provide me with a wider opportunity to learn from and share with my peer-group and (2) that my application would get a balanced reading, improving my chances of acceptance to the programme.

The Final Countdown
In those 10-odd months before I began the application process, I had been through enough literature on an international MBA to last me a few years. It was time to make a decision. My rather complex database and evaluation model threw up the suspects:

• USA: Anderson (UCLA) and Stern (NYU)
• UK: Said (Oxford) and Judge (Cambridge)
• Europe: RSM (Rotterdam) and HEC (Paris)
• Australia: AGSM (UNSW, Sydney)
• Singapore: NUS

With this eclectic mix of eight schools on my target list, I braced myself for the next phase -- figuring out the details of application and funding.

Prospective students, if the foregoing ramblings make the rigmarole seem like a labyrinthine process that presents a risk of getting more entangled rather than a solution to getting sorted out, do not despair! As you immerse yourself into it, you will realise that several options have a tendency towards self-elimination because of the sub-conscious bias or preference you have towards certain attributes of a school. The true test comes only after you have arrived at your target list of 6-10 schools and must decide which ones to dedicate application resources to. Until then, you may as well bask in the attention when a colleague or peer taps your knowledge bank for advice on deciding which B-school to choose.

This article from TestFunda.com is the third in a series of five articles focussing on pursuing an MBA abroad. This article has been authored for TestFunda.com by Maithilee Shirgaonkar, who has done her MBA from Said Business School, University Of Oxford. TestFunda.com provides complete, comprehensive online preparation for CAT, XAT, FMS. In addition to solved papers of last three CATs, the user friendly website has free iCATs, puzzles, Question of the Day, Daily Vocabulary List, Interactive Learning Games and Ask-a-Doubt.

Where should I do my MBA?

The articles have been taken from rediff.com Credit goes to the author of the article.
October 09, 2008

Part I: Why I did an MBA abroad

USA! The land where, in spite of the financial turmoil, all dreams are fulfilled! OR
UK -- an unvoiced aspiration, a touch of class OR
Europe -- pretty, romantic, refined? OR
Australia [Images] -- spanking new, cheerful, fun! OR
Far East -- picturesque, ancient yet ultramodern OR
South East Asia -- closer to home, familiar, comfortable, cheap!

The decision to go abroad for the MBA was made, but when the time came to decide where exactly to go, the number and variety of options was baffling me, to say the least! Where should I start?!

The US seemed the natural first choice for most of my fellow MBA applicants, thus, it seemed obvious to follow suit. It was, after all, the place where many Indians had transitioned from the mindset of a controlled socialist regime to the wonderful meritocratic broad-mindedness of capitalism. It was where middle class migrants had found an impartial platform to take their dreams to reality. It was the richest economy in the world, which welcomed foreigners like no other country in the world, to partake of that wealth. And, of course, it had the largest concentration of top international business schools. The legendary Harvards, Kelloggs and Yales of the world resided there. It was the ultimate destination for a young upwardly mobile corporate worker.

But then, in 2001, the world learned of a man named Osama Bin Laden. USA, after being struck by disaster on 09/11, changed its attitude towards foreigners and the value they added to its economy almost overnight. In an already recessionary economic trend, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York only served to extinguish the hopes of many MBA aspirants of making a successful career in the American corporate world.

Needless to say, it also dampened my spirits and inclination to retain US B-schools at the top of my priority list. In fact, the economic events of 2001 made me rethink my decision to even go to business school in the coming year. I rescheduled my GMAT test date for a later time in order to go over the MBA plan in greater detail.

However, given that the USA was still home to the greatest number of highly regarded B-schools, and because a strong brand name would matter even more in a slowing global economy, USA (Los Angeles and New York) remained a strong contender in my list of places to consider.

Most top US schools were similar in some respects -- a two-year format, very high tuition fees, living expenses almost as much as tuition fees, and few sources of funding open for international students. Given that Indians tend to find any other country (with the exception of Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka [Images]!), much more expensive than their motherland, the expected costs of doing an MBA in the US looked more terrifying, with each passing day.

To top that, the rupee-dollar exchange rate had never turned so unfavourable and so quickly for students as it did at that time. With the forex rate at Rs 47.50 to a dollar and expected to move to anywhere between Rs 49.00 to Rs 52.00, the feasibility of funding the education was becoming lower each day.

I voiced the concerns to a friend, an older, wiser and more knowledgeable colleague. He suggested something that had never occurred to me -- why not Australia? Why not, I said! It was certainly much cheaper, it had variable MBA formats from 16-month to 21 month programmes. There was less competition for the schools there and, thus, acceptance could be easier.

And, of course, the Aussies were known to be fun-loving people living in a beautiful country... er... continent. I quickly went to a global ranking list of B-schools, the famed Financial Times rankings, to figure out which schools were worth getting further information on. At least two appeared to meet the basic criteria. I put Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) on my long list.

From this experience, however, I felt it might well be worthwhile to expand my scan to a wider geography. When the cost impact of a shorter versus longer programme became apparent, I thought it only made sense to scour the B-school map for programmes shorter than two years. That was when I became aware of the European model of business education.

The consistently shorter programmes, more diverse classrooms, and the attraction of bilingual teaching methods proved to be a strong proposition, not to mention the charm of a European city. Living and working there in the future appeared as exciting as anywhere else. It was heartening to note that several European B-schools were ranked high on many important aspects by various publications. So, Europe, more specifically France [Images] (Paris) and the Netherlands (Rotterdam), found a place on my long list.

Now, one could not go to the continent and not visit the islands, the once-upon-a-time masters of our motherland. Given the long-standing affinity that Indians have had for the Kingdom, I checked out the UK B-schools too.

By now, I had ordered brochures through the online request forms for over 50 schools from around the world. Managing all the information in my head would not prove efficient, I realised. I took recourse in the wonders of MS-Excel and created a master database with information on every conceivable variable that a typical B-school applicant would want to consider in a B-school. Of course, the UK was also officially on the long list now. The giants, Oxford and Cambridge, had to be considered. And the idea of being in or near the beautiful and happening London [Images] was a strong motivator.

No major geographical region should be left out, I reasoned, especially, if there was a chance to find out whether a gem was hidden in my own backyard. I hastened to check out what Asia had to offer. While China and Hong Kong posed a language problem (Mandarin and its various forms not being the easiest to learn) Japan [Images] had yet to earn a strong reputation for its business education.

Philippines did not resonate with my ambitions of settlement and was ruled out. Singapore, however, seemed to be an ideal fit, the right balance between quality, cost, reputation, opportunity for work, internationalism and familiarity. It was a winner from the start, and it went up on the list.

The research was now complete, I decided. I now had five major geographical regions on my list, each represented by two locations on average. By now I also was the proud owner of my very own library of B-school programme brochures from over ninety schools across the globe. I knew, in careful detail, the attributes of at least 75 of the schools on the current Financial Times Top 100 Global MBA Rankings, and those of another 15 odd that are not currently ranked.

Each brochure had markings in relevant sections in various colours, date of receipt of the brochure, a sign extracted from a well-defined legend indicating the level of desirability of the school/ programme on the cover page, and an autograph by yours truly.

I would have to admit that even though my search for a location and B-school was more broad-based than that of many others, who singularly focussed on one country, usually the US or UK, I did rely on rankings, albeit from more than one source (about five, actually), to make a first cut. Also, I looked at rankings across three or four years to ensure that a school's reputation was consistent.

However, I was so involved in the due diligence that I went beyond an academic study of school websites and brochures, and ensured that I spoke to alumni from the schools wherever possible, whether I intended to go to the school or not. I consistently kept track of discussion threads on online message boards to get a sense of the environment at the schools. I interacted with other MBA hopefuls to stay motivated, to get ideas for improving my application, and to develop clarity in my own objectives.

When I look back, it surprises me that I had the perseverance to keep up the research for a whole year before I started the application process. Of course, the immersion in this study ensured that my application process was extremely efficient and effective. In fact, through the process, I have had the chance to get in touch and stay connected with alumni from several B-schools around the globe, something that would have hardly been possible if my search had been uni-directional. The need or benefit of having that network has already started becoming apparent in my life post MBA.

To all aspirants, I would say, it is great if you have already made the decision to study in a specific country. If you have not yet reached that stage, however, do remember to keep your mind open to possibilities. An MBA is not a fad; it will be a major investment from which you should be able to extract as much value as possible. Whatever course you take, ensure that you retain the objectivity in your plan.

Part I: Why I did an MBA abroad

This article from TestFunda.com is the second in a series of five articles focussing on pursuing an MBA abroad. This article has been authored for TestFunda.com by Maithilee Shirgaonkar, an MBA from Said Business School, University Of Oxford. Easy, Effective and Personalized, TestFunda.com currently provides complete online preparation for CAT, XAT, FMS. In addition to solved papers of last 3 CATs, the user friendly website has 4 free iCATs, puzzles, Question of the Day, Daily Vocabulary List, Interactive Learning Games and Ask-a-Doubt.

Why I did my MBA abroad

October 03, 2008

I am going to do an MBA."

It was during the final few days of my degree college that I came to this realisation, one of the first milestones in my then fledgling career. Today, this is an oft-heard refrain from bright-eyed college-going youths.

The obvious next question is, "Why?" Many a time, the answer could be simply, "I want a job guarantee when I finish my studies." In fact, that is quite close to my own answer when I first articulated it while still studying in college. While this answer may satisfy a casual acquaintance, it will be probed into much further by the Admissions Committee of a business school that you decide to apply to.

My ambition to pursue an MBA went through a long gestation period before becoming a reality. It was almost three years after I graduated, three years of being a part of the corporate world, that I finally took concrete steps towards a foreign MBA. I had realised by then that I needed to answer two questions: why an MBA? And, why abroad? These remain important for any candidate.

The former pre-supposes that you have given sufficient thought to the career need that the MBA will fulfil, implying that you already have some first-hand understanding of a career ie you have work experience. The latter assumes that your career aspirations are linked to working in a multinational environment.

Why MBA?

So, why did I do an MBA? When faced with this question, I put myself through the 'ART' test. The test asks three questions of a candidate considering doing an MBA:

• Do you want to Accelerate your career in the current industry?
• Do you want to Rotate to a business/ corporate function within the current industry?
• Do you want to Transform your skill-sets to change to another industry?

An affirmative answer to any one question is, superficially, sufficient reason to want to do an MBA. The important thing for me was to identify exactly where this career move was focused. I decided that A -- Acceleration resonated the most with me.

I was working with a group of bright, motivated individuals. My superiors provided me with learning opportunities now and then. However, I had reached an invisible hurdle beyond which growth demanded an additional set of skills, which I felt an MBA would address. Now that the toughest part was over, the next step was to elaborate and justify this answer with valid reasons.

It is completely acceptable for you to want to achieve more than one of the above objectives through an MBA. But a careful drilling-down into the story is critical.

Acceleration
This could be in terms of the number of steps of the hierarchy that the MBA will help you to jump and/ or the amount of money it will enable you to demand in the job market. It could also mean an accelerated career path, a fast track, which your organisation can provide you with by virtue of your MBA degree.

There could be environmental factors, such as a dynamic industry scenario or a downturn, that warrant different skills and techniques to successfully handle business realities. As a middle/ senior manager or as a businessperson, you may feel the need for an MBA to ensure that you maintain or increase the pace of growth of your business.

Rotation
You have made good progress on your career path, obtaining a promotion every year or two, handling greater responsibility with each, and drawing a larger pay packet at each level. However, the growth is unidirectional, with a greater volume of work supervised at each level, but no additional faculties being developed. You wish that you could gain a broader perspective of business and contribute in a wider spectrum.

What you really want is to have a cross-functional understanding of your industry and carry over the learnings from one role to another, thereby adding to your set of skills. The MBA will help to provide you with the tools and techniques to comprehend and assimilate nuances of the various aspects of running a business.

Transformation
There may be a better word for this route, but an MBA is based on the premise that you will use the learning in the programme to transfer the skills you developed in your career pre-MBA to the role and industry you move to post-MBA. Hence, what you want to achieve is a transformation of your skill-set, through a set of frameworks and techniques learned in the MBA, which will help you to contribute, to a new role, in a new organization, in a new industry.

You could well want to be your own boss, fan that entrepreneurial fire burning inside, but know that you will have enough of a business perspective to create a successful venture. You essentially want to change careers, without having to start at the bottom of the new ladder, and be taken seriously in the new role, based on your past work experience and the new skills developed through the MBA.

Another way of checking whether you have nailed the reasons is by asking yourself whether any other route will help you achieve the same results. For example, if you believe that you have sufficient experience of the marketing and project management areas but find yourself wanting when it comes to financial concepts, then you may want to consider a short-term course that provides you with basics in finance.

If, however, you want to be the finance whiz kid, then consider a Masters in Finance or a Chartered Financial Analyst programme. It is important to understand the level of specialisation you desire. An MBA is usually oriented towards general management, with some scope for specialisation. In my case, I was quite certain that I wanted skills that were tangible across functions and industries. No specialised course could have addressed that requirement.

Why am I emphasising the need for this reasoning so much? Because the Admissions Committees stress on it. The reason that Admissions Committees are extremely keen on understanding your motivation for pursuing an MBA is a significant investment in your development. They want to ensure that the candidates they recruit to the MBA class are mature professionals who have weighed the benefits of the MBA adequately before making the investment decision. Additionally, they want to be certain that when you graduate, you will have gained something tangible in line with your expectations, and, thus, will be a confident brand ambassador for the school.

The thought process that I went through in this stage of my MBA prep was tested several times during the phases leading up to the admissions -- when I decided which B-school to apply to, when I took my GMAT, when I wrote my essays (especially here!), when I was arranging for the funding, and when I appeared for my interviews (probably the deal-breaker). So it helped tremendously to have clarity in advance.

There is no dearth of good B-schools in the country. Yet, I went to a foreign land do my MBA. I spent money an order of magnitude more than I would have in India. How did I manage to convince the Admissions Committee that I truly believed that the investment was worth it? Among Indian candidates, I find another distinguishing factor: at least two out of ten already have an MBA from an Indian school. It was befitting, then, to clarify in my mind why I wanted to study abroad.

Why abroad?

Some of the main reasons why people decide to do an MBA abroad are:

• They want to work in a particular country -- employers are keener on MBA graduates who have studied in the country where they operate.
• They want a brand name that is recognised globally on their CV.
• International MBA classes tend to have a more diverse population in terms of nationalities, backgrounds (educational and professional), genders, etc, which enhances the quality of the environment and the learning.
• International B-schools tend to have a more global coverage of topics in their syllabi.
• International B-schools are more likely to have access to a wider base of resources such as alumni network, faculty, guest speakers, libraries, employers, etc.
• Some schools offer shorter duration formats such as a 10-month/ 16-month MBA, allowing candidates to return to work quicker

Almost all the reasons applied in my case. To future MBAs , I recommend that you come up with reasons that resonate most with your aspirations and the kind of experience you are looking for. If this will be your second MBA, then it will be imperative to articulate the thinking since you will most likely be asked this question in your interview.

It is all right to continue to fine-tune this reasoning during the process of MBA prep, but ensure that there is a consistent thread in your story. I cannot emphasise enough how critical your belief in this story will be and how many times this belief will be questioned during and after the process.

It has been almost four years since I graduated from Oxford, a proud member of a leading UK B-school's alumni community that is spread across the globe. In my role as a management consultant at a global strategy consulting firm soon after the MBA, as well as in my next assignment (the current one) as an internal strategy consultant at a conglomerate, I have found more and more elements of that initial thought process come alive. Hmmm, it appears that I chose the right track!

TestFunda.com is a site for personalised online preparation for competitive entrance exams like CAT, FMS, XAT, etc. This article has been authored by Maithilee Shirgaonkar for TestFunda.com. Maithilee is an MBA from Said Business School, University Of Oxford.