B-School Selection [Points To Consider]

I was wondering on how to select/shortlist a set of B-Schools which suits our requirements.Though,its very difficult to arrive at any conclusion at this stage,but still I am trying to get some stats and make an initial draft on the selection part which will be later enhanced as time proceeds.
So,I can see following points worth consideration:-
1.Ranking :-
Rankings seems to me an important part of the school selection process. As discussed earlier,there are many rankings available every year from different magazines so its important to make sure the onces which are relevant which needs,understand the approach of calculating rankings.
Sites which I feel are good references:-
1.Businessweek
2.Financial Times
However, rankings aren't word of bible. But if one can correlate the ranking related data captured during a long period of time, he/she can find schools consistently ranked in "good zone".
Also,I feel that "grading" of the B-school by students and recruiters forms a vital part in its consideration. In this regard, please note that some rankings solely aim at Avg GMAT score/"avg start salary" . It seems to me that highest starting salaries have gards living in the most expensive places. Example:-
$80/90,000 in Texas/Austin is equivalent to $110/120,000+ in LA.
I think a real picture can be attained in we consider each salary and normalize it to a CLI(cost of living index).
To conclude,I feel that the students provide a better ranking along with recruiters.
2. Post MBA career
It is very important to figure out the career interests and how good a school is towards fulfilling that career dream.
Say,in general,Finance/IBanking and Strategic Consulting tops the list.Taking that in mind,it seems that in top 20 US B-Schools,"janta" getting placed in Finance/consulting is pretty high..i.e 35-40%
Also,I feel that I left out one essential part here,i.e the % of IT fellas going to Fin/consulting.
If we consider,say 40% of student in a particular school are from IT background,then,say in best caseif 35% were all IT guys then,we end up to 14% getting into either fin or consulting or both.
Also,there are ppl heading towards marketing/brand management etc. *The highest salary offered in ISB in '06 was from Real Estate Management Firm!!
3.Alumni Network
The alumni network actually captures:- friendships,employment opportunities and future investors.
Now,B-school's alumni services can tell about its real standings. Students who are satisfied with their experience in B-school will try to be connected after passing out of the school and most probably help out prospective students. One needs to check out schools having "alums-prospective students" conversations and interaction.
Apart from the above 3,there are 7 more points which needs an insight.I will try to discuss about them in later posts.

B-School Evaluation[INSEAD]

I have done some homework on B-Schools apart from regular GMAT study as I feel that one should be clear on what all programs he/she is aiming at.The school which I was going through is among the best International B-Schools- INSEAD
.

INSEAD MBA Program is said to welcome highly talented and diverse individuals every year.

Basic Info:-
Two campuses - Fontainebleau and Singapore
One-year MBA Programme
Two intakes
September: starts late August, ends early July
January: starts early January, break for July and August, ends late December
Average experience = 5.7 years & middle 80% is 3.5 to 8.5 years.
Average GMAT on campus this year is 702.
Analysis:-

Positive points:-

1) Cultural Aspect :-

There seems to be a lot of diversity among students coming to this school.Students represent around 73 countries across the globe.2) Financial Aspects :-
Keeping the INSEAD Recognition in mind,HSBC International offers MBA loan at base rate plus 2% (currently makes 5% APR). Depending on individuals ,it varies from €10,000 to €50,000 (payback period up to 10 years).
There is also decent number of scholarships available to INSEAD students(around 45). They range between €3,000 and €15,000, a couple of higher ones at around €22,500 mark. Although, each one of them is targeted to different nationalities and some are gender specific.
For Indian students I can find ATLEAST:-
INSEAD Louis Vuitton Scholarship(s) INSEAD Alumni Fund (IAF) Diversity Scholarship(s) INSEAD Alumni Fund (IAF) Robin Hood Scholarship INSEAD Asia Enterprise Fund Scholarship(s) INSEAD Eli Lilly and Company Innovation Scholarship(s)
INSEAD is actively looking to increase its scholarships so there may be even more funding available in the future.
3) School has a good reputation across the Globe and especially in Europe/Asia.

4) Placements are pretty good with all major firms in financial domain/consulting etc.
INSEAD claims to have "One of the fastest returns on investment of an MBA programme in the world." This might be attributed to the very fact that the %salary increase is close to 94%[ ft.com] with good chances of scholarship.
My ROI Estimate is 2 years.

5) Since the program aims at 11 month duration,so it reduces the time spend in study and hence getting into corporate world.

Negative points:-

1) INSEAD MBA programme is quite Expensive.
Tuition fees =€48,800
Average living expenses = €9,500 (Singapore) /€11,500 (France).
[ Costs (furnished) in singapore: €1000 per month for 2 bedroom apartment.]

The fees are normally paid in three instalments. 10% within three weeks of being offered a place, 60% one month before the classes start, and 30% four months into the programme.
So,60+10=70% needs to be paid in beginning.

Other Expenses
If someone don't already speak three languages at business level or above, he/she may need to take language tuition during your studies. This would cost you €495 per period (A period is two months in INSEAD).
A supplementary module, outside of core classes and required number of electives, would cost you €2200.
Moreover, you should budget €800 for books.
So total,
For Singapore:-
€48,800 + €9,500 + €495 + €2200+ €800 = EURO 61795~ 80,364 USD

For France:-
61795+2000=EURO 63795 ~ 82,965.4 USD

2) Intense Program :-
It seems that the 11 month programs is very intense and involves hell lot of workload.
As per alumni,time spend for study is:
Weekdays: 8-16 hours per day (including classes)
Weekends: 3-6 hours per day

3) Might not be great for career switchers as less exposure to internship in a short program.

4) It seems that high amount of work experience and leadership experience is required to enter this program as opposed to other programs of similar nature.
Which Campus ?

1)The USP of doing MBA in singapore campus might be that after a student completes MBA from there he/she gets 2 years work permit for Singapore and after that you are eligible For Permanent Resident Card.
2)Relatively Cheaper in terms of accomodation in Singapore campus.



[My 2 cents for confused souls..;)]
MBA aspirants who aims to work in India post-MBA,can have choices in IIMA, IIMC & ISB. Going abroad for MBA especially in reputed schools definitely provides international brand recognition, but one needs to be clear on how to leverage it and what is the price to acquire it. So, it's a totally personal decision at end of the day.

MBA ROI Analysis

I was going through some serious MBA cost-benefit analysis and went through various websites and forums.
As per what I saw,there seems to be lot of differences in interpretation on ROI as some guys say that its a bit difficult to pay for it and some say that its pretty simple & another bunch of great thinkers say that "MBA is all about experience & money should not come in picture"....sounds interesting..;)

Various schools have different "expenses" (i mean fee+accomodation) basically in terms of MBA program time-period,i.e 1 year or 2 year and hence some components say,accomodation varies rapidly between schools in NYC/CA etc and one in Texas/Boston etc.
If you can go through http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/06/mba_payback.asp ...I am pretty sure you will be shocked..:) [wait..: forgone pre-MBA salary is included ]
As per the analysis,"Stan GSB has payback period close to 15 years & Wharton:13 yrs etc.Even for Rochester its 5.17 yrs."
Catch here is that the average SALARY PREMIUM is taken ,say for stan as 21.5k USD[based on some student reports without any compensation/bonus] which sounds very less[BW criteria is based of post-pre mba salary] and can be easily be 45k as stan grads when they come out have atleast 100,000$ upwards salary and keeping in mind that during OPT one does not needs to pay taxes for 1 year.Also,firms pay bonus as 50k-100k sometimes to MBA grads.
So,overall,it seems to be a misleading analysis in BW.

What I feel:-

(For 2 year program)
Best case analysis:-

Next is that ,if I assume the MBA fee for 2 year program is 100k,then...after 2 years its (at 5%) : 110k(simple interest).
Then one gets some offer for a job which say is 90k(as per approximation from Abhay)...
For 1st year(OPT if employer does not file H1B for u ): one can give away 45k .
So amount left:110+interest(rate assumed at 5%)~ <115,500.00> - 45k = 70500 USD
From year-2,its tax deduction time...so:-
Net salary: 70-75k(depends on location in US too)
so amount left:-
70500+Interest ~ <74025> - 35k=39025 USD
Now,for year-3:-
40,976.25 - 35/41k = 0 USD Left

So,I think that one can pay the amount in 3 years time.
Also,an important thing to note here is that the loan amount is never gonna be 100,000 USD as I am not pretty sure if indian banks can sponser that..although..its 25 lakhs from HSBC which I know.So this can make changes in above calc as interest amount will change.Also,if the amount required for 2 yr program is more/less than assumed.

Worst Case Analysis:-
Next is that ,if I assume the MBA fee for 2 year program is 120k,then...after 2 years its (at 5%) : 132k.
Then one gets some offer for a job which say is 80k(atleast thats the bottomline else better is H1B)...
For 1st year(NO OPT if employer does file H1B for u ): one can give away 35k after tax.
So amount left:120k+interest(rate assumed at 5%)~ <126000> - 35k = 91000 USD
Now,year-2,:-
Net salary: 60-65k(depends on location in US too)
so amount left:-
91000 +Interest ~ <95550> - 35k=60550 USD
Now,for year-3:-
63577 - 35 = 28577 USD Left
Now for year - 4:-
Amount left=0
So,it will take max 4 years
So,I think that one can pay the amount in 3 years time.
Also,an important thing to note here is that the loan amount is never gonna be 100,000 USD as I am not pretty sure if indian banks can sponser that..although..its 25 lakhs from HSBC which I know.So this can make changes in above calc as interest amount will change.

College Search /Programs:-
Done some R&D on this.Will post NeXT..