Greetings everyone,

I am a 26 year old MBA applicant with over 4 years of work experience and a 660 GMAT score. I am from India and currently pursuing my entrepreneurial venture, although I've worked with Ericsson previously for more than 3 years in a tech job. I have a B.tech degree, graduated in 2015, and am now looking for an MBA program that can provide me with business education and help me probably transform my career as well into marketing or finance, due to which i lean towards b schools from the US which have a 6 month leadership program that make you ready for the job market, especially when you are shifting your industry. However, coming as an international applicant and with a ok GMAT score, I need to make the correct decision in terms of which country would suit me best out of USA, UK, France or Germany.

I believe canada makes sense only if you get into the top 4-5 mba schools of the country. The US market is a little risky for an international student, schools in uk are filled with indian applicants now that they have changed their work visa rules, and MBA from France/Germany might be difficult, being a 1 year program and then there the the language barrier ofcourse. Looking for your experienced and nuanced opinion as to what factors to keep in mind and which ones to ignore, to make a correct decision for my B-school and my country selection.

Take a look at https://find-mba.com/board/general-forum/best-mbas-for-international-students-placement-35651

Career switching in terms of function and industry based on your MBA specialization is easier in India than US, UK, elsewhere. I have worked in E/// Back Office as an engineer, and went to US for my MBA. I can assure you that a drastic career switch in function is not supported and accepted by the job market for Indian students.

Marketing is the most difficult to break into unless doing some sort of analytics within it. Pursuing certifications such as CPA / CFA etc. would help show the recruiter that you are serious about Accounting / Finance respectively.

Any leadership program by the B school may make you ready for the job market, but its not accepted by the job market. International students require H1B visa which is a "specialist" visa - skill set not easily available in the US workforce. By definition any leadership or leadership rotation programs are not specialist.

Here is what I would advise you to do
1) Keep your Immigration separate from Education. Decide a country where you want to immigrate (if that's your goal) and apply for it's PR. Make it a 2 year plan and start now.
2) Try and get into a best Indian B school where you can in either a 2 year MBA format or executive 1 year MBA like SPJain's PGPM.
3) Switch your function / industry based on an Indian MBA. The Indian market is acceptable of career switchers. MBA path to do so is tried and tested. Once you have worked few years, you can then immigrate to your destination country.
4) if Immigration is not your radar, simply going by educational value - not ROI, work authorization etc. US/UK schools will provide you excellent overall education.