Hi All,

I have admits from these schools for Fall 2015 MBA and I am stuck between what to choose.
Schools names and details are:

Suny Buffalo:
Close to New york and Low cost too
No scholarship
74 USnews rank and good rankings in others as well like Forbes, poetsandquants, etc.
Avg salary: 55K

Mason(Williams and Mary):
20000$ Scholarship
79 Rank in USNews and other ranks declining
Avg salary: 77k
Too costly

SDSU:
Excellent location in California
Low cost
82 Rank Usnews
no Scholarship
Avg salary: 58k

UIC(Liautaud):
Decent location
Avg salary: 74k
Rank: 92 Usnews

My background:
I have 5.5 years of Work exp in IT, Indian, 27, Male, 610 GMAT after 3 retakes :)

My goals:
Work in IT Consultant firms as Senior Consultant, Looking for low cost MBA like 25k$/year and avg salary enough to repay the loan in 1-2 years and finally good GA/TA opportunities as well. After 3-4 years working in US, I would like to come back to India and work here.
Avg

Suny Buffalo:
Close to New york and Low cost too

Thanks razor. I know that its almost 7 hrs from NY to Buffalo though.
But I am still stuck with my decision.

Anyone? Duncan? Ralph?

Get into the best school you can.

Thanks Duncan. But it wasnt very helpful.
Everyone wants to get into the best school he can.
but i want to know about jobs after mba from that school, reputation of school and other factors. Thats why i posted here.

Well, if you are not sure about whether Liautaud is a better choice than Mason, then the idea that you should aim for the best school possible cannot be taken for granted. Take a look at;-
GMAT Tiers - strong schools for your GMAT www.find-mba.com/board/27082
and
Shortcut to find the best US MBA www.find-mba.com/board/36065

There's no "right" answer here; each school will have its pros and cons. The rankings can help.

I would look closely at the careers data provided by the schools and other publications and see how well the outcomes line up with your goals. Businessweek says that at SDSU, only 35 percent of grads were employed within three months after graduation, which would be a red flag for me if I were depending on getting employed quickly.

Liautaud, while it's not actually ranked in Businessweek, has decent salary outcomes and seems to place well in consulting. Whereas Buffalo has a stronger cohort, based on average GMAT scores, is ranked higher, and has decent placements in financial services.

If all else fails, ask the schools directly about Indian students who have successfully landed jobs after graduation; connect with them and ask questions.

[Edited by ralph on Feb 10, 2015]

Thanks ralph. That was really useful.
I have contacted a couple of students from Suny Buffalo and UIC.
Suny Buffalo is great for IT and placement is 100% for Indian students as well.
UIC student says that almost 100% students get placed in MIS but I doubt it.

Hi Duncan,

I am a MBA aspirant from India. I have been working in my family business since last 2 years.
My profile:
GMAT 650
TOEFL: 108
GPA: 3.6 WES Evaluation
Work Experience: Managerial level in family business with a lot of Entrepreneurial flair.

I applied to SUNY, Buffalo, Syracuse University, IIT, Chicago and DePaul University. I am considering Syracuse or Buffalo, but I am confused between these two. Syracuse has an average salary of 70000 dollars and Buffalo comes to an average of 65k. Scholarship is not an issue, I have scholarship from Syracuse, DePaul and IIT. I wish to go for entrepreneurship based courses. Please suggest which school would be best for me. I wish to work in US for max to max 2 years and then I will return to my family business.

Is your family business in the USA? If not, how will entrepreneurship-based courses help you to find work in the USA?

Focus on your goal, and work back from there.

PS I am not the only person here.

My family business is in India. It is a vast business including agribusiness to manufacturing to real estate. And during my MBA I wish to specialize in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. I have admits from both Syracuse University and SUNY, Buffalo. But I am confused between both which would be a better option. In rankings SUNY, Buffalo is ranked in top 40 in Businessweek and Forbes whereas Syracuse is 69th. I am stuck with deciding on the school I should go for.
Which one is good in terms of employment statistics, Average Salary and career services.

Whitman. http://business-schools.startclass.com/compare/275-352/University-at-Buffalo-SUNY-NY-vs-Syracuse-University-Whitman-NY

The Businessweek data show only marginal differences in terms of salaries and placement success between these two schools. What are your career goals? It seems that Whitman places well in manufacturing, with some public agencies some of the biggest hirers; whereas Buffalo has better placements in the more typical post-MBA firms like Citi, Capital One, etc.

Hi, I am a recent MBA grad from the College of William and Mary.

Let me provide my 2 cents.
1) Rankings don't matter as much, the brand recognition does. W&M has a stronger undergrad program and are very well known in the region - near DC/VA/NC.
I haven't met a single recruiter who goes like " Hey your school is not in top 50 or 75, so we won't look at your resume"

Either your school is the target school for Company X or it's not.

2) Buffalo is world apart from NYC, This is not a Mumbai - Pune case where you do your MBA from Pune and will find employment in NYC and cash $120,000/year upwards. (I mean, you might, but thats my point 3) )

3) A lot will depend upon YOU, and little less on the school that you go. What do YOU bring to the table? Why should a company hire you? Do you bring certain skill set that are hard to find here?

You want to work in IT Consulting firm, Consulting in any particular area? SAP? Big Data (Hadoop)?
Indian IT companies have a big presence in US, but they reserve their H1B visa for tech-engineering roles. They prefer hiring a local talent. If you want to get into a Consulting Services firm e.g PwC, EY etc. It will be connection / networking based if your school is not the target school for their MBA recruitment.

I would be surprised if the schools you mentioned are the go to school for such firms for their MBA recruitment. e.g. EY comes to W&M for recruitment, but at the undergrad and at MAcc level and not at MBA level. We have had few people from India who were able to network and get MBA level jobs. They are the exception not the rule. Ultimately it boils down to YOU.

If you have self and situation awareness, have a clear plan of action, know how, and where you add value to your target organization, know how to network effectively. The program you enter into won't matter as much.

4) No school "places" anyone anywhere. That happens mostly in good B schools in India. In US, companies may come at your school for presentation so its easier for you to connect with them. Otherwise you gotta reach out to them like most MBA students do.

Just to give you an example, my current employer is based out of Boston. Their go to schools are MIT, Boston University and Brown University. I had to reach out to them, and it all worked out. But it didn't work out to other 100+ companies / people I reached out too.
(The number was much more than 100, I just stopped keeping track of my applications / contacts after 100)

5) Read the article Duncan posted about H1B lottery. Getting a job is just half of the battle. Getting selected for lottery is other 40%. 10% will still remain getting the H1B approved even if selected in the lottery.

Make an informed decision. And if you want to know anything specific about the MBA program at Raymond A. Mason School of Business - The College of William and Mary, let me know.

Best,
Ayon




Hi All,

I have admits from these schools for Fall 2015 MBA and I am stuck between what to choose.
Schools names and details are:

Suny Buffalo:
Close to New york and Low cost too
No scholarship
74 USnews rank and good rankings in others as well like Forbes, poetsandquants, etc.
Avg salary: 55K

Mason(Williams and Mary):
20000$ Scholarship
79 Rank in USNews and other ranks declining
Avg salary: 77k
Too costly

SDSU:
Excellent location in California
Low cost
82 Rank Usnews
no Scholarship
Avg salary: 58k

UIC(Liautaud):
Decent location
Avg salary: 74k
Rank: 92 Usnews

My background:
I have 5.5 years of Work exp in IT, Indian, 27, Male, 610 GMAT after 3 retakes :)

My goals:
Work in IT Consultant firms as Senior Consultant, Looking for low cost MBA like 25k$/year and avg salary enough to repay the loan in 1-2 years and finally good GA/TA opportunities as well. After 3-4 years working in US, I would like to come back to India and work here.
Avg