Hello and Namaste to all,

My name is Sujay Sharma, from Bangalore India.
GMAT 580 | Work Exp of 4 years -> Into IT in non IT roles ( Presales and Sales)

Guys I applied to 6 MBA programs and I have got through 4 of them.

I need help in finalizing my college out of the three and it is high pressure decision making time.
1) Syracuse Univ (Whitman), NY
2) Univ of San Diego (USD) School of Business, CA
3) CSU Long Beach, CA

* Syracuse's MBA is a 2 year full time program . I have received a 24K scholarship out of a 77K total tuition (living,books insurance etc is additional).

*USD's MBA is 2 year full time program. I have received a 13K Scholarship out of a 77K total tuition (living,books insurance etc is additional)

*CSULB's MBA program is 18 month full time program. They do not offer scholarships for international students but the fee is 45K which includes the cost for books (Insurance and Living additional)

Please help me decide on this

What are your goals?

Great Question ! Because in all the fuss about chosing a college you can overlook this aspect.

1) MBA will give me insigths into finance and Supply chain along with other core business subjects but I mainly want to learn more about Business Analytics and Marketing, after my studies I want to be able to take data driven decsions which will help in financial strategy modelling for my clients/employers. Years down the line I plan to be a business owner myself ( i still dont have the means or a solid idea but I am certain I will do it), I have been a small scale business owner in the past and hence I will also strongly concentrate on enterpreneurship classes.

2) My other goal is (Seems like most important right now) : to land a good job after/during the MBA course, I will be taking a tuition loan to pay for my education and being able to pay back the loan with my earnings is of paramount importance.

Do you have US residency?

Thank you for the reply duncan.

No I am not a resident of US. I understand that MBA's get 1 year under OTP, and that's it unless they get luck with the H1B. In such a scenario, I will either enroll into a correspondence course (with consent of my employer) or use the B1/B2 visa I have valid for 9 more years to further my stay.

Atleast that's what I have thought till now. I want to make the best decision out of what I have in front of me.

@Sujay,

I think there is an error in your strategy, and it will help you to reevaluate it.
1) Syracuse, USD, CSU won't do much "to land you a good job in US post MBA"
2) You want to learn Business analytics, Marketing but want to do data driven financial strategy modelling for your customers? There are way too many buzz words in that sentence to figure out an actionable career goal.
3) MBA will teach you more of Business Analysis and not so much of Business Analytics
4) Look at MS in Business Analytics instead of MBA to get STEM approved OPT
5) US job market has become tough(er). I have H1-B and working as a Consultant, yet several consulting firms refused me at screening as they were unwilling to even do H1-B transfer. If you think you'll convince them to do a fresh sponsorship for you, you are kidding yourself. Unless of course you have the skill set they can't find in US
6) Skills like SAS, R, Python, SPSS, Tableau, SQL, Hadoop are hot right now. They need someone who has 2-5 years of hands on, if you don't then you start as fresher making $25/hour or something like a $60,000 before tax
7) US schools have seen a sharp drop in the number of international applicants, given the indication of the new administration in DC. Top 20 will keep getting good number of quality international applications. Rest will continue to pursue international students because of a) higher GMAT and/or b) ability to pay higher tuition fees. Indians have become cautious and selecting schools carefully. Chinese are still coming in pouring their money - because they have a lot of it. Illustration - Johns Hopkins MS in Marketing program has 90% Chinese students. Their tuition was nearly $70,000
8) Good luck! you'll need a lot of it.

Ayon

Thank for the reply Ayon, I really appreciate the concern but unfortunately the long comment doesn't help me at all. I have made up mind to come over to the states and pursue my management studies.

My 2 cents on it is that governments will come and go, students will continue to want come and study in the US, there will continue to be a presence of lobbyists from the education business in DC.

As far as Business Analytics is conerned, I have had my academic background in engineering and I am keen to come over and study more not only into Business Analytics but also into business economics marketing and finance. To honest I love challenges and I am looking forward to learn more about the business economics and how strategic decision making can impact the growth and success of a business.

Please do let me know If you have an opinion on what I actually asked on the thread. That would be great.

DUNCAN ??

I agree with Ayon, of course.

Sure, I think I already understand the risks invloved .
And thank you both for reiterating them to me.

But out of the options I got, which you once would you suggest ?

I don't think any of these options will be *certain* to help you meet your career objective. I am also sceptical about whether they will really help you meet your educational objective: do any of these MBAs really allow you to make decision models anything like the ones that will be used in a corporate setting?

Certainly, Whitman has the strongest cohort in terms of highest GMAT and GPA: the other students will be bright and hungry, which will push you more than CSULB. In terms of focus on marketing, finance and supply chain (your buzzwords) Whitman is again the winner because those are traditionally among three principal majors. Its MBA major in business analytics leverages its excellent MS in business analytics (which honestly would be a better choice for you). Happily, it is also the school that believes in you the most, if the scholarship is a sign of that. Personally, I am also a fan of Syracuse so I'd pick that myself of these three.

PS Would they allow you to get a dual degree with their MSBA or MS in finance, which is also a STEM program?

[Edited by Duncan on May 11, 2017]

PS San Diego is a much nicer place to be, but the range of electives is too narrow and doesn't really allow you to move in the direction you want to do. The CSULB curriculum is even less able to meet your needs.

My guess is that you constructed your question so that the only feasible option is Whitman, but do take Ayon's feedback seriously.