Hi,

Firstly, thank you so much for taking your time out to answer my question. This is a two-part question:

1. I am planning to apply to a couple of B-Schools in Europe - IE and HEC Paris. I ultimately want to end up in consulting, and these two B-Schools in Europe have good finance/consulting background. However, considering the downturn in Europe now, how advisable would it be for a foreigner (I am Indian) to invest in a European MBA in 2013? My gut tells me to go for it, but reading about the severe recession in Europe doesn't bode well for an MBA aspirant such as myself.

2. My profile - Yet to give my GMAT - I have almost 3 years of work experience (by the time I matriculate, it will be close to 4 years) in a public accounting firm. I am a CPA, and have solid academics/co-curricular activities in school/college. My target GMAT score is 700+.

I realize that it is very high-level information that I am giving, but I would like to know whether I have a good chance of getting in to certain other B-Schools (such as ISB and INSEAD).

Again, thank you very much for taking your time out to answer my questions!

Do you speak Spanish or French? Consulting companies in mainland Europe work with clients that are not often English-speaking; they tend to hire consultants who can work easily in the local language.

I did take French in college but I don't think I can really speak French fluently. Certainly not Spanish. Would it be too difficult to go to the respective schools and try to learn these languages? I am guessing it would be considering the normal work load in these schools - but my primary reason for applying to IE or HEC was to get the international exposure, which they do offer in abundance.

Are there some comments you can give me about my profile? Perhaps there is some additional information that I need to give to you? Please let me know. Thank you!

You will not be able to get to a professional level in the local language while taking a full time, English-language MBA. However, if your goal is to get international exposure but to return home rather than work in those countries then I guess HEC will give you a more international experience. Knowing some French will be an advantage on the campus.

Thank you for that insight. I think the cost-benefit is the downside if I had to come back to India. HEC's MBA is expensive, so I am not sure if coming back to India would be an option. I have checked out the linkdin profiles of some HEC alumni, and they seem to be working in countries other than France (and they are not from those countries either).

I am also looking at a couple of Canadian B-Schools - Ivey (Accelarated MBA) and Schulich. Schulich is planning to open a campus here in India, so that's a pretty interesting proposition, though I am not sure about potential recruiters. They are ranked below 50 in the FT rankings - but I am reading very good things about both the schools. Would you have any insights on these two b-schools?

Thank you again for all your inputs Duncan! Really appreciate it!

These are two very good schools. Schulich will do well in India.

Do you think that the Schulich in India will end up doing as well as ISB has done?

No: the ISB has launched with much greater institutional support and greater backing from Indian businesses: it was an Indian school, after all. But the Schulich (and Bocconi) campuses in India should easily move into the top 20 or 30 Indian schools within five or ten years.

But the Schulich (and Bocconi) campuses in India should easily move into the top 20 or 30 Indian schools within five or ten years.

Yes, but the complication is that Indian business don't really want many managers with the foreign MBA approach. I think the great opening is for joint ventures to avoid cohorts like SP Jain and Strathclyde which are more or less mono-cultural.

Duncan and ralph, I would like to know what my options would be (currently) if I were looking at b-schools in the US as well? I am moving away from Europe at this point because of the incredibly weak economies there. Considering I want to end up in consulting, which schools in the US could I be targeting at (aside from the obvious ones)?

What sort of consulting, or which firms, are you targetting?

If you seriously expect a 700+ GMAT, then you should look at the FT top 30.

Considering I want to end up in consulting, which schools in the US could I be targeting at (aside from the obvious ones)?

@Duncan - I am primarily looking at companies that do management consulting - so that would be Bain, McKinsey, the Big 4 Professional Services firms and the like. I hope to pull off the 700+ score though! Fingers crossed!

@ezra - Will definitely apply to those schools should I cross the magic number :) I do plan/will end up working for an additional year so I will look into applying to the NY schools for sure.

Right now, I think it will be best if I look to try and maximize my GMAT score and then revisit the schools. Thank you very much guys!