2015 heralded a new era in US immigration reforms with the Obama administration allowing a subset of highly qualified spouses of H1 B visa holders to work in the US. This change positively impacted an estimated 1 lac spouses who were on H4 visa; 90% of them being Indian and a similar number being women.
The previous Trump administration intended to revoke this measure, casting uncertainty over the future of this large base. Joe Biden, on the 7th day of being the new POTUS, has withdrawn the new rule that had cast uncertainty over the careers and future of the H4 visa holders.
Impact on international students applying to the US: The US has long been a preferred destination for international students both the quality of education, the reputation of its universities, global acceptance of Ivy League and top school brands, and outstanding opportunities to pursue meaningful work. The Biden administration’s withdrawal of Trump’s order means that spouses of international students who secure the H1 B work visa will be able to work in the US.
Summary of Benefits:
·Spouses earnings will lead to higher family income for H1 B visa holders
·Enhanced income stability
·Spouses can continue careers in their desired field, a major boost for their mental health
·H4 visa holders can apply for H1 B independently as well as long as they meet the visa requirements
This is thus a welcome move for aspirants who want to pursue their PG education in the USA and aspire to work in the country thereafter.
HBS’s 2+2 deferred MBA program (also called X +
2 by Dee Leopold who runs it) is one of the most prestigious programs sought
out by college seniors around the world. Admits to this program have to work
for at least 2 years (some choose to work for 3-4 years at the school’s
discretion) before starting in the HBS full time MBA program.
During my engagements and interactions with
some of the brightest clients from India (read IITs, NITs, St. Stephens Delhi, St.
Xaviers Mumbai and Kolkata etc.), I found more and more college seniors (final
year students) considering a deferred MBA option, especially from global B
schools. This is not difficult to understand. A deferred MBA has many
advantages. Click here
to learn more.
The HBS adcom describes desirable applicants as
– “Innovative thinkers who have demonstrated leadership and analytical skills
and want to develop their knowledge and passion to make a difference in the
world”. The topic at hand however is – how can an applicant from the uber
competitive Indian applicant pool secure an admit in the HBS 2+2 or similar
elite deferred programs from Stanford GSB, U.Penn Wharton etc. Like the HBS
full time program, the 2+2 program is also extremely competitive – admit rates have
ranged from 9-12% over last 3 years (approximately 100-120 admits out of 1200
applicants). Let’s dig in:
First, let’s understand why the program came
into being. HBS, being the pre-eminent brand in business education, wanted to
appeal to the non-traditional, non-business undergraduates (read STEM grads).
By providing a deferred MBA to college seniors, HBS wanted to ‘develop’ a new
segment where non-business students would start considering a management career
(for which MBA has been already established as a preferred degree). So while
the FT HBS MBA has 35-40% STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
education representation, the HBS 2+2 has more than 50% STEM grads (2023 class
had 57% STEM students). So, if you’rea STEM grad, you fall in their preferred
profile.
Second, the entering 2023 class of HBS 2+2 has
43% women same as FT MBA. While the traditional FT HBS MBA has 30-35%
international students, the 2+2 has only 15-20%. Combine the two and you find
that being an international female candidate puts you in a sweet spot for
consideration.
Third, average GPA of a 2+2 admit in the 2023
class was 3.79/4.0. So, you’ve got to have an impressive academic record. While
in a traditional MBA a rapid career progress can present a different and
attractive data point to the adcom, the adcom weighs academics much more for
2+2 since they don’t have any professional experience to consider.
Fourth, the average GMAT and GRE scores for a
2+2 admit is similar to that for a FT MBA admit. Average GMAT is 730 (Q48, V41),
GRE (Q 163, V 163). Clearly, one has to score high to impress the adcom.
Fifth – a stellar profile! While point 3 and 4
above will demonstrate your capability to academically thrive in the rigorous
HBS MBA, they almost appear like the ‘entry price for consideration’. Once you
have these in control, how can you stand out? HBS looks for candidates who have
a Habit for Leadership, Analytical Aptitude and Appetite and Engaged Community
Citizenships. It’s time to ensure those high profile internships where you made
an impact, leadership positions on or off campus and evidence of mastery of
quantitative/analytical concepts is demonstrated
Sixth, your letters of recommendation – your
recommenders should not only recommend but almost lobby for you. In addition, only
praising the candidate will not do – they’ll have to provide specific instances
of impact by the candidate accompanied by key competencies observed such as
leadership etc. Quantitative comparison of how high they rate you within the
larger pool they’ve managed along with supporting rationale would help your
case tremendously.
Seventh, maturity. The school expects a 2+2
candidate to demonstrate maturity that defies years. How you’ve faced
challenges in the past, how you’ve reacted to criticism and how you’ve been
able to influence detractors to your ideas and ensure progress and impact will
be key.
Eight, super impressive achievements. Many
applicants view the application like a checklist; good internship - check; high
test score – check; volunteering experience – check! What they forget is asking
themselves – how easy is it to secure the achievement or position they’ve
mentioned? What truly impresses a HBS or top school adcom is the level of
competition involved in an achievement – Fulbright scholarships, Rhodes
scholarships, an internship with Google self driving car project, MBB
internships – Yes! Other way to think is you don’t want to communicate to the
HBS adcom that your 2+2 application is the first time you’re really competing
with a top class pool.
Leopold views the 2 years prior to HBS as an
incredible opportunity to do new, amazing and wonderful things. You should be able
to articulate your plans for those years very well. May be it’s working in a
new culture, maybe it’s trying out something out of your comfort zone that will
provide you important skills. All-in-all, it’s a special process that’ll make
you introspect and teach you how to put your best foot forward.
Foreign universities have two entry points (intakes) every year - Fall (Aug-Sep) and Spring (Jan). So which one should you choose and why? Refer to the table below where we contrast both the options on key parameters and provide insights to help you make an informed choice.
UC Berkeley/Haas School of Business expands its Deferred MBA for all undergraduates
UC Berkeley’s top ranked Haas School of Business has recently opened applications to its Full Time MBA for all college seniors (final year undergrad students) and students in final year of their masters program (without having any work experience). This deferred MBA program allows final year students to apply for the Berkeley MBA program and get an admit now and join after gaining 2–5 years of professional work experience. The program, named Accelerated Access allows students to have one more option for Deferred MBA programs.
It’s an open secret now that many college seniors, especially from top undergrad colleges like the IITs, BITS, NITs, St. Xaviers, Ruia, St. Stephens etc. are increasingly pursuing the deferred MBA route. Usually, successful applicants have strong profiles (please refer to some of the success profiles that I have posted on this space). This way when they have an option between Harvard and IIM Ahmedabad, they can choose the one that appeals to them.
Below is a list of the most popular Deferred MBA programs:
Please upvote if you found it useful and also comment if you have any questions.
With the Covid-19 pandemic playing havoc around the world, top global MBA programs have been trying to adopt new ways to encourage applicants. The latest Poets & Quants update mentions 65 of the top 100 MBA programs (as per PQ ranking) as having gone fully test optional or waiving GMAT/GRE requirement based on certain conditions being met. Many European schools such as ESADE, Warwick etc. have also offered alternatives. Find below examples of relevant schools:
- Schools having gone completely test optional: MIT Sloan, Babson (Olin), Brigham (Marriott), U. Miami (Herbert), Alabama (Henderson)
- Schools willing to work with candidates on case to case basis: Stanford GSB, NYU Stern, ESADE (they have their own test), Warwick (own test), Emory (Goizueta), IE (own test), Maryland (Smith)
How will schools evaluate applications in absence of GMAT or GRE?
The standardized tests such as GMAT or GRE are useful to the admissions committees as one of the evidence that applicant has to convince them that s/he is ready for the academic rigor of an MBA program. B Schools desire applicants who have shown strong evidence of quantitative and analytical skills. As Soojin-Kwon of U. Michigan (Ross) says - “We are not waiving the requirement that an applicant has demonstrated analytical and quantitative skills,”
To provide a test waivers, different schools look for different evidence. Many schools are looking for a minimum undergrad GPA and performance in quantitative courses, whereas others look for certain number of years of experience, a professional certification such as CA or CFA.
Implications for applicants
For schools offering conditional waivers or those offering waivers on a case to case basis, applicants should reach out to admissions committees stating evidence as to why they qualify for a waiver. Mention your quantitative skills, courses, GPA, online certifications in quantitative subjects and quant heavy certifications such as ACA or CFA. If you work in a quant heavy role such as financial analyst, consultant etc. - you can bring out the work you've performed over number of years or in your internships. Reach out to the admissions committees well in advance of the deadlines so that you receive their response in time.
Table of schools offering non-conditional, conditional and case to case waivers for GMAT/GRE:
Good luck and please comment.
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Many prospective MBA applicants face the conundrum between appearing for the GMAT/GRE or the CAT. Much material online concentrates on taking one side or the other. However, I've found through many top performers often prepare for BOTH tests. Let's find out more.
First, by considering preparing for both the GMAT and the CAT, you’re being smart. Really smart! Why, you may ask? - Because you’re keeping your options open. It’s also called hedging your risk or not keeping all your eggs in one basket. That's a good start!
Why are you being smart when you choose to prep for both the tests?
Reason 1 - The syllabus for both is complimentary. CAT Quant helps you build rigor to ace GMAT Quant, while GMAT verbal is much tougher than CAT Verbal - so you ace that too. So it makes a lot of sense to do what you’re doing and prep for both. If you do, take the GMAT first - much shorter and smarter prep required. CAT will take longer to prep.
Reason 2 - You’re being ambitious and realistic at the same time. How? CAT has 200,000 takers per year and IIM ABC have, say, 1500 seats - that is a 0.75% selectivity rate. If you are ineligible for reserved quota, takeaway another 50% seats i.e. 0.375% selectivity. For IIM A, this comes down even further to 200 seats (200 are reserved)/2,00,000 applicants = 0.1% selectivity. How does this compare with selectivity rates of top global MBA and MiM programs?
Most top European schools such as INSEAD, LBS, HEC Paris, ESSEC, ESCP, St. Gallen have selectivity rates ranging from mid 20s to high 30s.
Now, if I were to tell you that you have a choice to join a school with a 10% acceptance rate and a $180K starting salary (HBS) vs. another school with a 0.1% acceptance rate and $30,000 salary (IIM A), which one would you choose? I'm noticing that an increasing number of IITians , NIT, BITS etc. have realized this and are choosing a deferred MBA at the above top global schools - I’ve covered this later in the answer.
Selection criteria for IIM ABC vs. Top Global Programs:
IIM ABC - you’ve got to nail the CAT. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only focused on academics all your life or struggle to communicate or work in a team - if you get a 99.9, you’re likely to get an interview call.
Top Global Schools - These schools still require a strong GMAT score, average is 730 ~ 96th percentile. But you’ll be surprised to know that many 99th percentilers are rejected without interview by these schools if they don’t show evidence of leadership, teamwork and impact. In general, GMAT score is regarded as a key that will only open the door for global MBA programs - however, it will rarely be the most important factor (unlike CAT score) that determines if you will get admitted. Check this out - Suprising Harvard MBA Rejections | Poets&Quants
GMAT usually has a weight of 15–30% in an admit decision for global schools; the CAT score weight ranges from 60% to 85% (though, as many friends from IIM ABC say, it feels like 99%). In global process, GPA, Essays, Recommendation Letters, Resume, Quality of undergrad brand, Quality of employment/internship all matter. Consequently, those, whose only bright spot in their application is their high GMAT score (and perhaps their GPA) face a rude shock when they apply to global schools.
What’s interesting is that the trend of applying to a Deferred MBA has dramatically increased in top Indian undergrad schools like the IITs (especially in Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur and Kharagpur), NITs, ICT, VJTI, LSR, St. Stephen’s and the like. Why? They’ve realized some key insights. You may want to read more about these in this link - Sumeet Verlekar's answer to What are the advantages of studying MBA from Harvard Stanford over IIMs in India?
Many top MBA aspirants dream of getting into the prestigious MBB (McKinsey-BCG-Bain) firms for good reason. For one, they are the cream of the lot and are considered as the fast track to CXO level roles. They are also know as knowledge accelerators. From experience I can tell you that a year spent at such firms teaches you much much more given the diversity of projects, training on best practices and working with highly intelligent and smart co-workers.
At both top Global MBA programs like Harvard, Stanford and top local programs like IIM ABC, MBB are all day zero companies. Each of these firms are leaders in their own right all over the world and in India. Their alumni have gone on to become CXOs in some of the world's largest companies. So which one is the best out of these three?
The truth is that the preference part comes in only when someone has worked in all three firms. I've seen this happen very rarely. However, I've worked on the client side with ALL THREE firms and hence am reasonably placed to discuss how they compare. During MBA, one of my best friends chose McKinsey vs. others, the reason was that he liked the partner more than the ones for other firms. Another chose BCG for the same reason. From a career perspective, the learning and skill acceleration is similar across the three.
McKinsey is the largest strategy consulting firm in the world and as such the size of an average practice is bigger than that for BCG and Bain. This may attract some students. While I’m not aware of the latest numbers, in India, McKinsey and BCG are bigger firms while Bain’s fast making inroads.
Due to it’s sheer size, McKinsey hires maximum number of MBAs out of the three. So there are just more positions available at McKinsey vs. the rest. In my US experience, McKinsey engagements were shorter (2–3 months) whereas BCG/Bain’s were longer. Work ethic was similar, though I found BCG consultants more intellectual (but again, this is from a limited sample size of 2-3 engagements with each of the firms). Bainies seemingly appeared most chilled out among the three.
The reason that the comparison is difficult is because all three firms focus on getting the right interns and then offering them PPOs. This is largely true for India. In the NYC and SFO/Silicon Valley Offices for these firms, 2/3rd to 3/4th of MBA hires were summer interns and only 1/3rd to 1/4th were through final year placements. Once the MBA student becomes familiar with the partners and others during his/her internship, it’s rare for that person to refuse a PPO and join one of the other two.
My friends who are partners in some of these firms have shared that the firm culture really varies from city to city. A BCG NY will have a different culture vs. BCG LA - just something to think about.
If you are lucky to get offers from all three, it will ultimately boil down to how much you like the people you see around - since everything else is comparable.
Note: I’ve answered many similar queries in My Quora Space, Indians Aiming@ IvyLeague feel free to visit & follow.
It’s possible for an applicant from a no name university to get an admit from top tier MBA programs. You’ve got to focus on the tangibles and intangibles and outperform an average applicant to these schools. Read on…
First, the tangible things you’ve got to do:
Test Scores: Get a test score ideally higher than the school average. With a higher score, you’re helping the adcom pull up their score average. Scores in excess of 730 are desirable.
GPA: A higher GPA shows a higher drive to succeed academically and make most of the offerings in these highly competitive programs. It will help even further if you’re ranked in top 5–10% of your class.
Employers/Undergrad Brand: While quality experience can be secured in any
company, top schools value where you come from. So if you don’t have a known undergrad brand, try getting an experience with a known employer brand. The schools want to make sure that their application is not the first time that you have competed and won vs. a highly talented competitive pool.
Choice of Recommenders: Assuming that you will pick recommenders who have observed your work first hand and closely, having a recommender who is a school alumnus can only help you. They’ve been in competitive environments before and their evaluation about you would matter to the adcoms.
Legacy: If your parents, siblings or close relatives have attended, do communicate that in your application.
Next, the intangibles:
Co-curriculars & Extracurriculars: IMO, your co-curriculars and extracurriculars do move the needle for the adcom if they are remarkable. Remarkable would be achievements that are at international or national level. Yes, winning a college level competition may be important for you but 100s of applicants would have won at a college level. The proportion of winners at higher levels is much lesser and hence will standout for the adcoms
Leadership experiences: These can come from both professional and personal life. The choice of the examples you pick to communicate is crucial. Each experience needs to be - a) Highly challenging, b) Showcase innovation, influencing and other coveted leadership competencies, c) Should result in adding significant value to yourself and your organization/community
Community Service: It’s wonderful to take time to give back. However, unless the experience is significant and has longevity, it’ll not likely impact your admit decision.
Engagement with the school: Networking with alums, students and attending school sessions are important in demonstrating interest and I’d highly recommend them. Not only do they enable you to get an authentic perspective on the school and your fit, you may make contacts and get experiences that can help the quality of your application tip over the edge into admit land.
Ultimately, besides scores and GPA, your key docs are resume, essays and letters of recommendation. Every school is unique and the above docs, besides positioning you as a top applicant, should also demonstrate your understanding of these unique features.
Berkeley/Haas is one of the most rapidly rising MBA programs in the world and one of the 3-4 schools to have programs ranked among the top 10 across functional areas - strategy, general management, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, etc. Previous Dean Rich Lyons's work on building endowment, hiring great faculty, building infrastructure and launching the 4 defining principles has made the program feature consistently in top 10 across rankings.
The school is very transparent about the profile of successful applicants.
Academic excellence- GPA
Strong test score: GMAT 726 (Mid 80% would be approx. 670-780)
Leadership and career progression
Achievements or Participation in Beyond Yourself activities
Authentic application docs that show deep understanding and interest about the program (why Haas), why MBA and your goals
Well balanced interests (academics + extracurricular)
Would urge you to visit the school admissions website and visit the campus or engage with alumni or students (Haas student ambassadors).
Having pursued projects with bulge bracket investment banks in NYC, in my opinion, best universities for finance (or for that matter any other subject) are those who provide you BOTH knowledge and the right career break. I’ve shared the school names towards the end of this discussion. If that’s what you’re looking for, feel free to scroll down.
For Finance, the location of the school is very important. Why? Since the best finance jobs reside in a few key financial hubs across the world. Having strong network in these locations is very important! So, if you want to work in a specific location, make sure that your school has a strong network there - if the school is local, even better.
NYC is the world’s biggest financial hub by far - nothing’s even close. After NYC (in no particular order), London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, HK, Singapore, Chicago, SFO, LA, Dubai, Mumbai are big financial hubs. Among the above cities, besides Tokyo (and to an extent Paris and Berlin), you can easily get by with English language skills. If you’re in a sales role like investment banking, knowledge of local language is strongly preferred - it helps you connect with clients way better.
Now on to schools - I’ve mentioned the prominent ones, but there are many more local options you could look at:
NYC: Columbia, NYU, Wharton - it’s in Philly, so considering it to be local, Harvard, Yale, MIT or a NYC based school with a strong local network and strength in finance (Gabelli, Rochester etc.) which offers MS.
Chicagoland: Chicago/Booth, NW/Kellogg and local schools (Loyola, IIIT etc.)
California (SFO and LA): Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Most UCs and local schools (SantaClara, Golden Gate etc.)
London: LBS, Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, Warwick, Manchester
HK: CUHK, Chinese UHK, HKUST, U.Hong Kong
Singapore: NUS, Nanyang, SMU
Note: Having a CFA Level II would strengthen your application
