Hello everyone,

I'm an open university student in Turkey. I have 5 years of experience in international sales. Next year by this time I'll graduate from the university. I've been thinking about studying MBA abroad. My first considerations for now are US, Canada, Australia & New Zealand.
The trick is that I don't have money. I will try to afford my school and living expenses by working in campus or somewhere. Therefore I need to choose a cheap MBA programme with affordable living conditions.
I'd like to be a lecturer at university after finishing doctorate thus I am planning on studying MBA and doctorate in a good university so that I can reach my goal.

I need guidance on choosing MBA school and country. Where do you recommend me to go? I'm really indecisive and need help. I'd appreciate if you could lead me the way to my life goal.
Thank you.

I think you are little too optimistic.

1) You don't have money. Having completed my MBA from USA, I can tell you that US is expensive. There is only a limited amount of funding available through a school. Even if you get part-time / GA work, it would be barely sufficient to cover your monthly expenses.

2) As an international student you are Legally not allowed to work over 20 hours/week in US while on F-1 visa. Moreover, if you are engaged in a full-time MBA program you won't be getting much time to do any part-time/ GA in your 1st year.

3) Try to get the maximum GMAT score that you can, and then apply to relatively mid/lower ranked schools to get 100% tuition and hopefully some stipend. But you'll still need money.
A good estimate is $1000/month for cost of living. It will vary depending upon your lifestyle. Do you share room? Eat out etc?

4) This way of shortlisting and selecting schools is not advisable since you are just thinking on one dimension. MBA schools should be aligned with your Career goals.

5) If you want to be a teacher/lecturer, why do you want to do MBA? why not straight go for PhD program in US/Canada etc?

6) You need to come up with your area of interest for PhD. I think you need to take a step back and rethink about your next steps.

Hope it helps

Thank you for the reply. It's really good for me to understand the difficulties in advance.
Is it possible that I can study PhD right after university without having an MBA degree?

A friend of mine said the same thing as you do about the living expenses in US. I think I'll need to consider Australia as well.

I will probably have to go over the 20hour/week limit to afford my life there, maybe illegal working or something.

You are right that I need to choose a school that meets my expectations in the career goals but I have limited options when considering the financial dimension.

I think you are little too optimistic.

1) You don't have money. Having completed my MBA from USA, I can tell you that US is expensive. There is only a limited amount of funding available through a school. Even if you get part-time / GA work, it would be barely sufficient to cover your monthly expenses.

2) As an international student you are Legally not allowed to work over 20 hours/week in US while on F-1 visa. Moreover, if you are engaged in a full-time MBA program you won't be getting much time to do any part-time/ GA in your 1st year.

3) Try to get the maximum GMAT score that you can, and then apply to relatively mid/lower ranked schools to get 100% tuition and hopefully some stipend. But you'll still need money.
A good estimate is $1000/month for cost of living. It will vary depending upon your lifestyle. Do you share room? Eat out etc?

4) This way of shortlisting and selecting schools is not advisable since you are just thinking on one dimension. MBA schools should be aligned with your Career goals.

5) If you want to be a teacher/lecturer, why do you want to do MBA? why not straight go for PhD program in US/Canada etc?

6) You need to come up with your area of interest for PhD. I think you need to take a step back and rethink about your next steps.

Hope it helps

I really appreciate your answers to the question.

To further help others, could you please help sharing your post MBA job search in US? Was it fruitful? You have also mentioned about 100% tuition assistance in some of the business schools. Please suggest some of them, for candidates having a GMAT of 650?

@Distance Learner,

Here is my story.

1) Background: I have a bachelors in engineering form India. I thought of getting my MBA since 2008, and wanted to get a different educational experience. I applied to B schools in India / US/ Canada starting 2008 and till 2013. I gave my GMAT 4 times in 4 years with the scores of 600,610,630,630. In the process, I became mature and could better articulate my career goals, need for an MBA, post MBA function/industry, and admission essays.

2) Set Priority: Getting a job was top priority for me. I started networking even before I landed in US. I came to know about strength and areas of improvement of my target schools, and got awareness about my own strength and weaknesses as well.

3) Networking: So knowing what I am getting into helped. I started networking since 2008, so by the time I entered school in 2013, I already had a good network which provided me with valuable guidance. To get more exposure about "How to land an internship/job" I went to National Black MBA career fair (Google about it). There are several diversity fairs NBMBAA and NSHMBA are the most attended.

I was told about these fairs by current students and alumni. Again the fact that I talked to many students/alumni and not only W&M student/alumni helped. I took the financial risk and booked the air tickets, hotels etc. These fairs take place usually in September. Three weeks into US and my new MBA program, I took the decision of skipping school and attending these fairs.

4) Hard Work: Since my priority was to get a job, and not an A in accounting - not that I would have got an A if I didn't attend the fairs. But even before coming to US for my MBA, I was preparing my pitch. "Tell me about your yourself" "Why xyz MBA", "Why do you want to join xyz Company" "What do you have to offer" " Where do you see 3/5 years from now" etc.

I had my resume ready, I started giving mock interviews the day in landed in my MBA program. Luckily the National Black Career fair worked out for me, After talking with some 70+ companies. I got a spot internship offer to work for Fortune 100 Insurance firms.

5) Strategize: Honestly, I knew that making the transition from pure techy role into my post MBA goals was going to be tricky. I would be a fool to think that getting an MBA alone will help me make that transition. MBA as a ticket to forget your past and get into something totally new and unrelated works in India - not so much in US. I mean, how many engineers after 5 months of work ex and 7 months of bench crack CAT to do MBA in Marketing and then becoming Area manager of Northern India setting Sales target without even selling a single SKU in their life?

Anyhow, I started pursuing certification programs that would help me get some credibility. I got my PMP certification during winter break of 2013-2014. The idea was that when I go out with my resume to work at my internship, I should be armed to the teeth. At the same time I undertook several leadership roles in the student body.

All this came at a cost, my social life wasn't as happening - and I didn't end up making as many friends. My grades suffered too, at the end of 2013 my GPA was 3.0

6) Stand ground: While my internship was good, I came to know 3 weeks into it that this is not going to be converted into a full time offer. However, since an internship was lot less stressful than MBA. I utilized that time to hit the gym and network in that company. I talked to people in various functions and setup meetings with AVPs/ VPs just to know their story.

Later I decided to pursue a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma, which I got in Oct 2014. By this time, I also started paying attention to my grades and courses in MBA and my GPA got upto 3.5

7) Plan C: My plan A was to get into Consulting into Deloitte S&O types. That plan was not going anywhere, Big names were present on our campus but only recruited for federal - So it wasn't open for international students. Few students (international) succeeded in getting into IBM, EY etc. but I didn't.
My plan B was to apply for SCM function into companies like Home Depot, FedEx etc. I talked with HD recruiters and they were happy with my profile, but rightly pointed out that my CV didn't have any SCM in it. So even with my 6+ years of experience they could best offer me an entry level role with ~$45,000/year. This was an undergrad salary, so I refused.

In all of my 2nd year. starting mid 2014. I kept applying online, LinkedIn, reaching out to alumni for referrals etc. Nothing worked out

Finally it was time for Plan C: I started applying to Telecom companies (my background) thinking that with my network and credentials I'll be a catch for them. Unfortunately, I didn't get any response from anyone.

8) Luck: At the end of Dec 2014, I came to know about my present company. I really got attracted towards them. I approached them directly without having any network whatsoever. To my surprise, they got back to me the next day. we talked throughout Jan/Feb 2015. At the end of Feb 2015 they made me an offer - which I very happily accepted.

Now I am a working as a Consultant for them in Telecom | Media | Technology (TMT) sector based out of DC (near DC) after finishing my school in May 2015.

Funny thing is that when I was looking for a job, nothing seem to work for me. But after getting one, I was approached by several alumni and competing companies for job offers.

About School shortlisting, decide which area / geography you want to specialize in. e.g. with 650 GMAT any school where you want to go will give you 0 - 30% scholarship. Try contacting schools near 100 rank and below that, and your scholarship amount will tend to go up, but your quality of experience (arguably) will go down.

Basically, you should opt for the best program that you can afford (and get into)
Get max Bang for your Buck :)

Hope it helps,
Best Ayon