Hi All,
I have obtained an offer letter for one year Masters of Marketing program at Melbourne Business School(MBS). I have close to 3 years of working experience in Marketing domain in India with some top multi-national companies.

I scored 400+ in GMAT, so I was unable to get through regular 2 year MBA program at MBS but I have been rolled an offer letter for 1 year Masters In Marketing. My query is that in Australia, its tough to get a work visa after one year masters and employers as well usually do not sponsor for the same. I will be bearing all cost expense from my pocket as there is no parental help and moreover as i am married, my spouse will also not be allowed to work in Australia as the duration of the course is less than 12 months.

On the other hand, i have been rolled an offer letter from University of Liverpool Management school for their MBA program and from University of Glasgow as well. Due to my low GMAT score, i am unable to get through tier-1 colleges in UK and their fee structure is very high well. In UK, my spouse will also be able to work full time and they roll out 2 year work visa after MBA. I am not looking for a PR or TR but enough working exposure in either for 2 countries and than come back to India.
Kindly suggest me the best option of these two. The expense is almost the same in both the countries for Marketing and MBA program.

I feel that I will not get any answers from this post.....

both are pretty good schools, ashutosh. i know scotland gives you some time to look for work in the country once you finish; i assume england does too. what about the local connections those schools have? is there anywhere you might be interested in working in liverpool versus glasgow. something tells me liverpool might be more affordable, but that glasgow will have a few more jobs for you (and your spouse). but that is just a hunch.

Destro,

Thanks for the reply. MBS refers to Australia and not Scotland. I know Glasgow is a big city and will always have more jobs to offer but Liverpool equally provides opportunities to work as it is getting more industries. As u rightly mentioned that Liverpool might be affordable to live in,

My query is on one year Masters In Marketing program from Melbourne University in Australia where I have been offered. That Business school is top notch but i will be doing 1 year masters, so will that be enough to provide me with post-masters job opportunities and a work visa in Australia or not?

Dear Ashutosh,

The UK option sounds a lot better to me.
First, an MBA, if done in a good school, has more prestige and gives you better access to the international job market than a Master. Glasgow is better out of the two (its in the Economist ranking), the b-school has a good reputation in Europe even though not top notch as MBS might be. Also the city offers more job possibilities. To be honest I am surprised that you got admitted to Glasgow with your low GMAT score..
Besides, your wife will be able to work full time as you say, and this is a considerable advantage in terms of financial backing of your expensive study time, and additionally she will achieve something for her career also, instead of losing her time and getting bored at home.
If I understand well you intend to go back to India after some years? I think UK will make a good impression, if Scotland or England won't make any difference here.

But in the end I would base the decision on the chances of getting a job as you say, and I have to admit I cannot be of any help here. As I have been based in continental Europe for quite a while I don't know anything about job market and visa regulations in Australian and UK. I hope you will find someone to help you with detailed knowledge on those questions!

Just one advice from my side: Ask the school to send you the statistics of the last couple of years regarding the jobs prospects of foreigners holding a MBS Master or a Glasgow MBA!

good luck - Attiya

Dear Attiya,

Thank you so much for the reply. I think it has helped me a lot on making my mind on this. I am not hearing anything on University of Liverpool Management school from anyone. Neither on any board or message posts.
This is a relatively new school but the University holds a very good name in the world map. They are investing much in their faculty, infrastructure and career development activities and it seems to be that it will be a good business school to reckon with in coming years. Their fee structure is very competitive and they are offering good scholarships as well. The class size is relatively smaller and they put emphasis on valuable team learning. I do have other institutes in mind but their fee structure is quite high which is way out of my budget.I have been following their alumni very closely and it seems that this school is generating some good stuff.
Kindly comment

Regards, Ashutosh

Hello Ashutosh,

I am really sorry that I can't give you any first hand information about Liverpool. As you point out this is a new school, so this could be the major reason why it is not yet ranked, because this requires some time of existence.

Maybe Liverpool can be a good choice. You seem to have a good feeling about that school, and especially if you have been in contact with alumni the info you get from them can have quite some weight.

Did you check out the accreditations of the Liverpool MBA? Besides the ranking this is another factor giving you an idea about the quality of a program. Let me know what accreditations the program has, and I can tell you more!

Attiya

Hello Attiya,

Yes, I seem to have good feeling about the school;.University of Liverpool is around 120 years old university and they entered management education some 30 years back with different schools inside the University i.e msc being a different school, MA business being a different school and research studies being a different school. They invested close to 9 million pounds in getting a new school inside the University and clubbed all business schools together to form University of Liverpool management school in 2002 and started to offer MBA from that year onwards.
Their MBA program is AMBA approved and also approved from (Royal) Chartered Management Institute.
This school do not fall in RAE rankings as the last RAE rankings were conducted in 2001 while the school opened in 2002. they are pretty much sure to obtain 5 star ratings in upcoming 2009 rankings.
Besides this, it has a very strong faculty comprising of lecturers from around the globe and they have directors from corporate sectors involved on board, I have a strong feeling that this school is going to compete with the top rankings like LBS, or Said School in coming years.

Kindly comment!!!!
Ashutosh

Hi Ashutosh, this is vijay, currently working in Cognizant Technology Solutions India Pvt.Ltd, Chennai. i am 22 years old now. i am planning to apply for MBA program at University of Liverpool - September 2009 intake. i am hoping to get into general MBA / MBA in business finance and management in this university. I have a 22 month job experience till date. Could you please let me know, if possible, whether i can expect an admission into the above mentioned programmes at UOL, with my criteria. Also i do have strong academics, good undergraduate scores from a reputed university in India, strong employer letter of reference and academic letter of reference. i have not yet given IELTS or GMAT orTOEFL. Please help me, in this regard.

Hi Vijay,

I have received unconditional offer from UOL. See Vijay, as an Indian, you need to be prepared with your finances and job opportunities in your Post MBA life if you are thinking to study abroad. Studying at Liverpool and staying there for a year will probably cost you around 15000-16000 Lakhs + the interest amount if you relying on bank loan.
As stated by the British Prime Minister a few weeks back " British Jobs for British People" , you may find it very difficult to get a full time job in UK post your MBA. I am in touch with lots of students who currently are studying in Liverpool or Manchestor Business Schools, getting even a part time job is a tough job for them and according to them most of their seniors are still hunting for a job.

I have really dropped the plan of going to UK or Australia for time being at current scenario.
You need to understand your requirements first. Do you enough money to shell out in case you do not get a good job and you have to come back to India after MBA?

Are you looking to settle down their- If this is your answer than UK is not an option these days at all.

Kindly get back to me

Regards,
Ashutosh

Hi Ashutosh,
first of all, i would like to thank u so much, for ur prompt reply. wat u said is pretty much correct, and is very much informative to a guy like me. thanx for that really. Actually, my plan was to do an MBA there (UOL), and then to either come back to India for a good managerial level job or to progress to a PHD in the same univ. all my plans got shattered, because i came to know that even for doing PHD in UK universities, we have to pay the money on our own, which is quite unbelievable ! (normally for PHDs, universities sponsor rite?) i came to know abt this, when i attended the British Council Exhibition fare yest at Chennai. there, even the professors of universities frankly told me that it will be extremely difficult to finding jobs for Indians post MBA. and wat u said abt part time jobs was 100% correct. my cousin is studying in Liverpool now. (Liverpool Hope univ). He told me that he is not able to get any part time jobs till now, and it is very difficult to get one for him. if i wish to go for higher studies, i ll rely on bank loan only. as u said rightly, the interest ll keep on increasing, and we ll have to pay for the accumulated interest thus far too. i always thought of doing my MBA and coming back to India, with a hope that i ll get a good job in india. this is also not for sure, because one cannot say for gurantee that if we do an UK MBA, we ll get a job here at India. i expected a PHD with nominal stipend or atleast a free of cost PHD, post MBA at UOL. this is not possible there. even getting a sponsorship for PHD is very difficult now, due to economic crisis. i am also planning to take up GMAT this year. so is it better that i get a reasonably good score in GMAT, and do my MBA in India? please have ur say on this. please guide me in this regard. awaiting ur reply.

Kind Regards,
Vijay..

Hi Vijay,

Your reply makes me sure that you do not wish to settle in UK, and in these scenario, British Govt has made sure that no new people get a PR for at least 10 years.

Yes for Phd, only if u are a domestic student, they will offer u free tuition fees, other wise ready to shell out another 20000-30000 pounds for 3-4 years + the living expenses. See Vijay, either go to a top business school like Oxford (Said Business School), Cambridge (Judge) or may be Manchestor. Going to these schools can only enhance ur chances of getting a campus placement, forget that u can get a job outside of ur own. But again their fee structure is quite high and competition is tough for scholarships.
Mark my words, these UK MBA's like Liverpool, Glasgow or any other will have no worth in Indian corporate market, Indian corporate people have their own tie-up's with local colleges like IIM's, ISB etc and they will not give u preference ahead of their local students.
U have to make ur priorities clear for your career, if u do not have sufficient budget and u intend to settle in India, it is advised that u do your MBA from India. Doing it from these Universities will not do u any good, instead u will be buried under the debt of education loan.
UK earns close to 6.1 Billion Pounds every year from the students who go to study in UK + the local market keeps on surviving on their groceries bills. They like Australian Universities wants the students to come , study, have fun, do some menial part time jobs if available and than go back to their own country. These all 2 year post MBA work visa are all eye wash. The employers won't give you an offer and you will not be able to survive their without a job and in the end you will come back to India.

My advice, prepare for CAT, get under a good business school in India and keep your self rocking without the burden of repaying the loan in pounds!!!!!!!!!!

Kindly reply to me for any queries. Most welcomed

Regards,
Ashutosh

Hi Ashutosh,

thanx for the reply. ur reply seems to be very realistic, and i got some very valuable insights about MBA at UK. i am planning to take up GMAT in this year. I may not be able to take up CAT, because i dont have time to attend classes which help us prepare for this xam. coz of my work nature. instead i can prepare GMAT on my own. GMAT does nt require that much time for preparation (as compared to CAT) and it is some wat easier than CAT. there r colleges in India which offer GMAT scores like ISB, Great Lakes and many other good colleges. (SP jain also accepts GMAT i guess, i am not sure abt this). this is my plan actually. what do u say? please correct me if i am wrong.

Hi Vijay,

Well, do not consider ISB or great lakes at this moment, u may well spend close to 20 Lakhs at ISB as it is a residential program. Yes , S.P Jain accepts GMAT and try to go for their Dual degree program which has some time spending at their Dubai campus and some at Singapore, It will give u more value for money and much desired international experience.
If u are really considering MBA, try going to Canada, it has very few schools but are really good and worth spending ur amount. In Canada, GMAT is compulsory for all GMAT schools like wise in USA and I would consider doing MBA from any US school at given moment than its UK counter parts.

I would suggest to think either US or Canada for MBA if u are serious about ur GMAT. U may get some good scholarships in Canada and fee structure is also relatively lower. There are more companies in US alone as compared to the combined companies structure of entire Europe. Moreover, MBA is basically a product and brain child of US and we all are just trying to copy it. U will get really good internship opportunities in both US and Canada during ur MBA.

Or trying going to S.P Jain dual Global program, u can go their website and check for more details.

Rgds---Ashutosh

Hi Ashutosh,

i am planning to take up GMAT before SEP or OCT 2009, and i am thinking to join any business school in 2010 only, when the admissions start during the month of SEP 2010. by that time i would have gained a substantial 3 year work experience at cognizant. i hope this will do me a lot of good in terms of scholarships, internships and post MBA life too.

so with this criteria, in 2010, can i expect good scholarships to an univ at US or Canada? my choice amongst these 2 countries ll be US, coz i do have a lot of friends currently working and studying at US. if i get a good score in GMAT, can i expect MBA admission from US at a reasonable cost? please clarify me. in the mean while, i ll go thru the dual degree program in SP jain website.

Kind Regards,
Vijay.

Hi Vijay,

The S.P Jain offers Global MBA, Kindly go thru its details. Meanwhile, yes u should apply for US based colleges and I hope u should be able to make in with good Scholarships. Nd getting a part time job in USA will become slightly easier by next year.

Keep rocking
Ashutosh

Hi Ashutosh, Thanks for the reply. I went thru the SP Jain website. It seems that the dual degree program has been withdrawn by them for 2009 and 2010. Any ways, i will start preparing for GMAT, and will see, what universities i can get into depending on my scores.