Hi Guys,
I am 41, male originally from India but Canadian citizen and having 16yrs of experience in multinational software companies like IBM, HP and Nokia at various positions s/w engineer, team lead and currently working as manager. So I can say that my profile is good or at least I find it good :). My GMAT is 640. I am looking for MBA school in US preferably in Bay-area,California or Texas. Reason is that I think lot of product based s/w companies are there in these two states.

Now my question is, should I choose any school if my goal is to some how get MBA without worrying about the GLOBAL reputation of the school? Like Cal-state universities are cheaper than UofCal. So what if I choose "Cal-State, East Bay" / "Cal-state, San Jose" / "California Polytechnic state university" INSTEAD OF UDavis/Santa-Clara? Because UDavis/Santa-Clara charges 100k$ whereas Eastbay/SanJose/Polytechnic charges around 30k$s. Another reason is that my GMAT is not that good. So getting into Hass or Standford is next to impossible because I don't want to spend more time and increase my GMAT score.

I wish to be in same area(Bay area or Tx-Austine) for rest of my life. So I need not to worry about global reputation of the university. I have good professional experience so I think I will get a job once I am out of the school.

I also don't worry about getting 20k-30k$ less than those who come out from Hass or Standford [or even 50% less salary if someone argues that those who come out from top10 gets way more than i can imagine :) ]. My current salary in Toronto is 125k$ Canadian and having quite a stable job.

My primary goal is to stay in US on H1B which can take me towards Green Card.

Sorry to sound like a bit desperate Asian who wish to be in US but I wanted to be very clear while asking questions.

Regards.

[Edited by SandyMBA on Dec 29, 2015]

a phd in management will be a better strategy in your case. they give highest priority to doctorates for green card processing. it is also the fastest route. may be the STAPLE ACT will also be a reality when you will graduate with your doctorate.

The PhD is not faster, is it?

Yes, I cannot be out of job for 3-4 years which will cost me around 125*4=500k$s (without considering 3%-4% annual hike in my salary).

Well, this discussion is going in different direction so pls lets stick to my original question.

Thanks.

[Edited by SandyMBA on Dec 25, 2015]

The main question is: is getting an MBA from a lower-tier school a better option than just finding an employer to sponsor your visa?

Because I question whether an MBA from a school that employers are not aware of really adds that much value to your resume. Worst-case scenario is that you get out of your MBA program in two years and simply can't find an employer willing to sponsor your visa.

Thanks Maury. You raised a good point. I may need to think about the situation in which I may not get sponsor.

But, then you want to say that all international students who get their MBA from tire-3 or 4 universities struggle to get an employer who is willing to sponsor H1B visa?

Thanks.

SandyMBA (Sandeep?)

In my opinion your situation is unique because you are a Canadian citizen, and earning CAD $125 - having a stable job in your own words. Many students from Asia (including India) want to come to US/UK/Canada for a high paying career and/or immigration. Currently you have done both.

Now, you want to move from Canada to US. It's important to understand the reason behind that decision? As you say, CA hosts several Tech/Software companies. If you have a specific company/role in mind - then it may help is shortlisting schools.

Be advised that average salary of MBA graduates into Tech/software companies are $100-$120 range. However, you are clearly an outlier. Not sure how companies will view you. You'll need to showcase differentiate yourself by showcasing your leadership skills and work experience, and position yourself for Senior Manager / Director level role.

Such roles are usually not given by companies that come to campus to recruit, so in my opinion you'll have to depend more on online application and networking rather than company visiting campus. Having said that a school brand name will have effect on your resume if you do it form Top 25 schools. Even if you do it from Top 100+ school, it will still have an effect depending on the job.

For example, you might not be looked favorably by Consulting companies - that will pay at the higher end of salary range, (my friend got $140k in PwC), but for companies that are recruiting for Director level, your work ex will matter more than your brand name - as long as the brand name is not a bad one. For example, at your position, companies won't expect you to be getting your education from a Community College.

Try applying to these schools, even though your GMAT is lesser than their average. You are an outlier + Canadian citizen. So might have a chance with a stronger application.
- University of California at Irvine
- University of California San Diego
- SMU Cox
- Rice University
- University of Texas at Austin

International MBA students have to demonstrate that they are able to do (and exceed) what the job description says. As long as they are able to prove that they have the skill set to do the job, demonstrate that through their previous work experience, they are likely to get H1B sponsorship. The Lottery - however is a different story.

For your case, since you have work permit from Canada, you can always find a company that has offices in Canada/US and continue working from Canada while visiting US and applying in next round of lottery if your petition doesn't get picked up in the 1st draw.

Hope it helps,
Ayon

Ayon, thanks a lot. Great response.
After reading your response, I started thinking about considering some good universities or reappearing in GMAT to increase 20-30 points.
As far as job after MBA is concern, you rightly said that I wanted to depend on my networking. Moving to US is more personal decision though there are couple of reasons. First, because of lot of job opportunities in product based s/w companies in CA and 2nd to get rid of snow :).
As i am Canadian, I can work on TN visa which can be renewed multiple times every 3 years but TN never takes one towards permanent residency. So I can initially work on TN and apply for H1B to be picked in lottery.

I don't have any specific company in mind though i wish to be in management level position (VP, Director or Sr manager) once I complete my MBA. As far as post MBA salary is concern, I would like to be considered (in IT or software industry) as experienced candidate having 16 yrs of total experience including 7 yrs in leadership role (handling R&D team of 10-12 people).

In last 2-3 days, as I am on holidays, I did some more research and found that Santa Clara University in bay area has great reputation and so has Univ of San Fransisco or Golden Gate university. Though initially I thought that paying 80k-90k for MBA is not a good idea and that's why I asked about small universities which charge very less fee but now I think I should increase my budget and should go to better school.

Here is a list of universities where I am thinking of applying -

1. Santa Clara University
2. University of California at Irvine
3. University of California at San Diego
4. University of Texas at Austin
5. Texas A&M (Mays)
6. University of California at Davis
7. University of Texas at Dallas (Naveen Jindal School of Management).
8. Rice University.
9. SMU Cox

Any other suggestion? Thanks again.

[Edited by SandyMBA on Dec 29, 2015]