Sunday, October 21, 2007

MBA after MBBS

I am Dr Sameer Kulkarni,alumnus of B J Medical College, one among top 10 medical colleges in India.I have given GMAT & am going to do MBA next year preferably from Case Western Reserve University,Weatherhead School of Management(one among top 80 BSchools) which is associated with Cleveland Clinic,Ohio(one among top 3 hospitals in US) provided I get a visa. There are few students who have started thinking about MBA as a career option after completion of MBBS. This can be attributed to the growing reputation of IIMs among medical students and the fat paychecks that MBA graduates receive as salary while working.So I would like to share the things I learnt till now about MBA.There are different entrance exams for different Institutes. In India IIMs, in particular IIM ahmedabad,IIM Bangalore and IIM kolkatta , are the best. IIM Ahmedabad is the topmost management institute in India.To get into IIMs one has to clear CAT , then group discussion and personal interviews. CAT paper has three sections- English, Maths(Quantitative Aptitude) and data interpretation. One has to get a minimum marks in each section and minimum overall marks to get qualified. That means one has to show competence in all the three sections. If you score more in one section and less in other and your overall score is very high then also you will not be short listed for GD/PI.Total expenses (Fees and living expenses) at IIMs are near about 5 lacs. Average salary per year after completion of MBA is near about 8 to 9 lacs. You can get upto 22 to 25 lacs in India and upto 70 lacs at abroad if your performance is exceptional.
To do MBA in Maharashtra you will have to give CET. The best school in Maharashtra is Jamanalal Bajaj BSchool. Total expenses and salaries are equivalent to those in IIMs. FMS Delhi is another very good BSchool which can be compared with IIMs. Symbiosis Bschool is a competitive one but can’t be compared with IIMs as per many of management graduates.

All these above mentioned schools have very tough selection process and it ensures that you do your MBA along with the students who are cream of the society.These schools put less emphasis on work experience as compared to schools abroad.So even if you have 0 years of work experience you can get into them provided you score competitively in their entrance examinations.


Now something about doing MBA abroad. For this, you can roughly divide the schools in three regions-Europe,USA,Australia
In Europe in most of the schools, MBA is of 1 year. Total expenses are in the range of 45 to 55 lacs for MBA course including everything. As told by many people,1 year MBA is not advised for students with medical background. Chances of scholarship are competitive if not bright.

In Australia, MBA is of 2 years. But scholarship chances are very less.

In USA,2 years MBA is there. There are two types of BSchools-Public (GOVT) and private.
Total expenses at public schools range from 15 lacs to 25 lacs.
Total expenses at private schools range from 35 lacs to 45 lacs.
Chances of getting scholarship in USA are relatively high.
Average salaries in all the above schools is 1 lac dollars($80,000+bonuses) i. e. 45 lacs per annum.

You will have to give GMAT for MBA at these schools.GMAT exam is of 800 marks.GMAT score above 650 is considered as a very competitive score.In case of medical students GMAT score of 600 is considered a competitive one.

GMAT Exam has two sections –
English---in it Reading comprehension, sentence correction and critical reasoning
Maths----in it problem solving and data sufficiency.
There is one additional section of analytical writing but it doesn’t play very important role in selection process of MBA.
If we compare CAT with GMAT, English is tougher in GMAT as compared to CAT. Maths is easier in GMAT as compared to CAT.

Comparison of MBA in India and MBA abroad----
In India the top most Bschool IIM ahmedabad ranks more then 100 worldwide.So it is not the one among top 100 BSchools in world.There is very less diversity(students from different countries with different culture and different perspectives.).Students with less workex can also get admit so sharing of work ex is less. Infrastructure is not as developed as in abroad Bschools. Due to less salaries , faculty related problems are difficult to deal with. Global recognition is relatively less.

For MBA abroad,selection process is very tough-u have to give GMAT,Toefl,University transcripts are needed,three recommendations are needed,you have write application essays(4 to 5 per School)If u apply to 6 schools then 30 essays It takes one month to write essays.Then based on ur academics of graduation,GMAT score,toefl score,essays,work ex-quality and quantity(minimum 3 years work ex is recommended),competition with other applicants(we have to compete with IIT students)---School shortlists you---Then there is personal interview--they ask u all sorts of questions which are not easy to answer and need lot of preparation.Even if u succeed in all above criteria and fail in interview ,you are out of competition.
Then comes visa application-Yet i have not applied for that.Will share the experience when I will go through it.If u don't get visa,then all ur efforts are of no use.

For more details , you can email me at sameercns@gmail.com
I would be more than glad to share the knowledge that I have about MBA.
coaching classes r of no use.but they help u form group,which was extremely extremely helpfull in our case.plus u get access to library and photocopy the books which r other wise very costly.giving GMAT and getting into B school are different things.
For BJites, 6 months prep for gmat is sufficient.
for application essays- 2 months r needed
for recommendations , transcripts 15 days
for interview - 1 month preparation
toefl 3 days
basically lot of brainstorming is needed about career and life.
where do u see urself after 5 years, 15 ,30 etc
3 accomplishments
3 failures
embarrrasing moments
etc can get lot of questions from internet.u also can get answers from net but can't write as schools have software tracking mechanism for internet.so have to write ur own answers.so it takes ur time and brain.
there r 3 deadlines
nov 15- first deadline-chances of getting scholarship and admission r high.
jan 15 2nd deadline,
march 15 3rd deadline.
use businessweek.com
careerjournal.com
usnews.com for rankings and shortlisting of schools and more info for GMAT..
books for GMAT
Books to read
official guide with cd
Kaplan with cd
Princeton with cd
Kaplan 800 with cd
Wren and martin-grammar
Arco- analytical writing
R S Agaarwal QA
Abhijeet Guha QA
Arun Sharma QA
M tira(optional) QA
11th 12 th books for probability and pemutation and combination
Geometry 8,9,10,11,12 th standard books-just revision.
TOI editorials for reading comprehension
GRE barron for world list-may also use oxford dictionary
www.scoretop.com 1500 RC,SC.DS,CR questions of each.
www.gmatclib.com
www.pagalguy.com
H1 B
Issue of h1b is also there.50% don't get h1b.-lottery method.
many companies reluctant to hire international students,because after investing on candidate if he doesn't get visa then it becomes diff for them.international students can work for 1 year on f1visa- optional practical training.so company trains u in this year after hiring u.then u don't get visa in 50% cases.so company thinks why not hire US student instead. so prefer not to hav any loan on u at end of mba.it will b diff to repay loan by earning in rupees.


Please post your questions if any in comments so that everyone gets benefited through answer and mutual knowledge sharing.