Financing an overseas MBA: Where, What & How?

An interesting artile on the financial aid, again from an American perspective but I think it's also helpful for other international students. Just to clarify one ISSUE about the tuition fee. It's mostly true with many other European schools that they're increasing the program fee substantially, e.g. INSEAD has just raised the fee from Euro 45,000 to 48,800 for Sep 2007 intake. Instituto de Empresa (Madrid) also increased almost 10% to Euro 45,000. But IMD has kept the MBA program fee at CHF 55,000 + 20,000 (2-week overseas discovery trip + 10-month daily 3-course lunch buffet, the quality of which i've detailed in another blog entry:-) for a few years. I didn't apply any U.S. school, so nothing to say about that which is also not relevant for this article because it's discussing US students going abroad. Enjoy reading:

Business Week - Financing an MBA Abroad: Where to Go, What to Know, and How to Borrow?

Higher tuition and living expenses can make pursuing an MBA abroad a financial nightmare. Here's how to obtain the funds so you can sleep easy

by Erica Pelzek, http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jul2007/bs2007076_525258.htm

"You've spent a few years in the domestic workforce, hip to the ever-globalizing economy, and now your culture-savvy professional interests (inclinations?) make the idea of pursuing an MBA abroad particularly enticing.

Well, start researching schools and try not to let high tuition prices and poor currency conversion rates give you pause. With a few calculations and hearty, equal doses of research and realism, you too can join the discerning 2% of U.S. MBA students pursuing their degrees internationally. Think of your financial aid hunt—and the ensuing computations—as a refresher course in decision science...

Furthermore, though the 152-student (90 MBA + 62 EMBA) International Institute for Management Development , or IMD, in Lausanne, Switzerland carried a price tag of $60,700 for the 2006 academic year and the majority (70%) of its students did not receive financial aid in 2006, the worldly school still provides unique financial aid opportunities. An affluent alumni board doles out scholarship and loan monies from a fund; the pool, backed and run entirely by IMD grads, dished out $900,000 for needy students in the 2006 academic year alone..."

The Last Mile

Met or talked to a couple of alumni from INSEAD, IE & IMD, very nice people! Will meet up with entrepreneurship Prof. from IE at the end of May. Before that, I will have two more chances meeting with IMD admin committee as well as alumni.

Turned down the offer from Said & rejected by INSEAD.

Walk the last mile steadily & hope to embark on the European journey soon!

April's Fool

Some update after INSEAD Singapore campus visit:

* Really very few Chinese citizens
* No more HSBC loan
* The class was ok
* Scholarship hopeful?

Kinda depressed, not because of the visit though...

INSEAD Jan 2008 Intake

The standard answer from INSEAD admissions office is "No news is good news" - applicable to the period when you just submitted the application until confirmation. i.e. they will only write to those applicants missing documents. Otherwise, we shall just wait for the reviewing & notification of interview(s) if any.

Overall, the "NetapplytoINSEAD.pdf" is quite cool, a sign of the school's reputation in advanced teaching/learning technology application.

Also paste some links from the "famous" INSEADers blogsphere:

http://sideshowjudy.blogs.friendster.com/ Class of Dec 2006, Singaporean, female, Fonty campus
http://spaces.msn.com/xiaoshenbenben/ Class of Dec 2006, Chinese, male, Fonty / Singapore / Wharton campus http://hallonman.blogspot.com/ Class of July 2007, Caucasian, male, Singapore campus
http://onwardtomba.blogspot.com/ / Entering Sep 2007 (not sure), Indian, male, Fonty campus?
http://zanat0s.typepad.com/ http://zanat0s.typepad.com/brutal_facts/
http://si-si-ay.blogspot.com
http://oliviermineau.blogspot.com/

I guess from there you can link to more and more INSEADers. Don't be disturbed if you find most of them read more like a travelogue filled with Youtube.com videos or sth. non-business centric 'cause that's probably the true colour of the colourful INSEADers! Have fun...

No More Essays

Finished my last application online and got everything done today, thanks to my boss!

2 month later, we'll meet Ms. Katty & her colleagues, catch up French, case study, book reading, etc. But at least, no more essays:-)

Hub Interview & fonty parcel...

Finally got the long-awaited phone call from IMD. Hub interview will be held here in about 77 days later. Just sent out the last parcel to Fontainbleau. I will finish the online part in 2 weeks time. And then wait for another 3 months...

First Aid

Received the 1st aid around CNY!

Eagerly waiting for "Real World, Real Learning" & preparing for "The Business School for the World".

Changing fast!

IMD: It Means Diligence!

Finally submitted the last application before CNY for the round I - 1 Feb GMT, I suppose:-)

All I can do is to wait now? Relax..Prepare...

IE: Inland Entrepreneur

"Dear MR. TANG,

Thank you for the interest you have shown in Instituto de Empresa and for participating in the admissions process for the programme..." I was thrilled when I saw this first line through email preview and was expecting the heart-broken "However". Fortunately, it didn't come out.

So far, we've finished 5 applications altogether and for those who've been decided, it's a 100% successful rate! Patiently waiting for the scholarship & source for other available financial resources.

Got my tickets home for CNY:-)

Quake Shuffles B-School Deadlines

by Janie Ho and Kerry Miller

Internet disruptions caused by the Dec. 26 earthquake off the southern coast of Taiwan came at a bad time for many potential B-school applicants in East Asia, as the Round One application deadline for many top U.S. schools was quickly approaching. But several schools said this week that most applicants were apparently getting their applications in, and those that had lingering problems would be accommodated.

At MIT-Sloan, where the Round One deadline is Jan. 10, the admissions office will accept applications from those residing in areas in Asia that experienced Internet service disruptions due to the earthquake till 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 26. A spokeswoman said the school is currently in the process of getting this message out through multiple platforms to applicants in affected areas. ....

Everything is slowing down...

2007 News

a couple of updates after we finally met: scored nicely in the iBT, sent out the package to Chevening, done an phone interview with Margje the MD of IMBA @ IE, looking forward to the following news @ 2007!

Admitted!

Wow, after a long day year-end meeting & a quite disappointing late dinner @ a rather wooloo place, I am delighted to receive the email offer from Said Business School! Though without scholarship at this moment :-) Cheer On & Carry On!

Dr. Reynolds:-0

It was 11:45 GMT, I ringed Dr. Reynold's office on time and he immediately picked it up & greeted me "Hello, Mr. Tang! Your essays were quite interesting. I will take about 20 mins for questions and you will have 10 mins to ask." The interview started off warmly & quickly.

1. Why the career transition & what your past experience had to do with the current position? (this is a very specific question as I can see he read through my entire application package).

2. What're the challenges in your current job, especially the unique persepctives of doing business in China?

3. Why you want to make another transition after MBA? What's your motivation & preparation?
4. How will you contribute to the Said Business School?

5. What books you have read on social entrepreneurship? (this is the strength of SBS)

6. Any question about the course & the program?

I asked a few questions and we ended sharp at 12:15 GMT. I personally found it was a very efficient & effective interview though it was conducted on the phone. The communication has been quite smooth thanks to the good quality of VoIP card. (remember to choose a good one if you have to call out. Yes, they do ask interviewees to call the interviewer at the assigned time & number for about 30 mins).

Guess being British gentlemen & gentlewomen, they just don't know how to stop the other party if he/she kept talking when the interviewer calls. Smart way to cut cost...

Good luck to all the interviewees & many thanks to the alumni who have shared so many insightful personal advices with me, by phone, online or face-to-face. It's a small but strong community (at least, from my experiences)!

the Tour, the Exam, the Interview...

Probably last visting to MBA tours and had a good chat with IMD alumni Glenn. Also met up with IE alumni Arnd.

2 months, 2 applications.

Take a break, prepare for the exam & the interview! Look forward to the real tour:-)

Progress Report

I got the phone interview invitation from Said and will be conducted in early Dec. Interesting they won't call me but leave me the number to contact. Not sure whether it's for cost-cutting or a gesture of courtesy.

My 2nd application are almost done. I'm still fine-tuning the essays & short questions. Friday, 2nd visit to iNsEaD & Sunday the world MBA tour. How time flies:-)

2nd Parcel - Real Madrid!

Finaly posted out the 2nd parcel while still waiting for the feedback from the 1st one. Hope to finish the 2nd application within the next 7-10 days. Carry On!

Expecting... Expediting!

Finally got the acknowledgement of round 1 application being received though it was actually a few days later, the benifits of flexible small schools:-)

Surprised to hear from CD that someone stayed in the U.S. for 5 years has got the early decision offer from CBS without any interview, really fast consider the submission date was Oct 14.

I need to expedite on the rest applications since I am so greedy to reserve a few more options for myself...Cheers!

1st package 小试牛刀 & 双键合璧

Finally sent out my first package to Said, a lot of help from a friend of mine. Thanks & I will continue to work on the 2 essays:-P

Stanford GSB - Die Luft der Freiheit weht

General Management, Personalized Curriculum, Stategic Size & Collabrative Culture - 3 main features of Stanford GSB's MBA program with one of the lowest acceptance rate in the world. 4 energetic alumni showed up, ranging from a 96 graduate who's now in Citi, a 94 graduate Joe (ABC) who was also alumnus of West Point Military but now has his own investment firm in Singapore? a 05 graduate John local scholar or double scholar (Cornell's bachelor - MAS & Stanford's MBA - PM's office), a mainland Chinese 06 graduate forrest who just married his classmate who's a Temasek scholar last Sunday. Forrest Li is now working with MTV Networks Asia:-P Thanks to Joe's referral?

370 per year, now 24,000 alumni, 100+ chapters worldwide. It's obvious that Stanford is quite different from the rest besides its extreme comptetiveness in terms of admission. It's always on the innovative edge with one of the highest faculty / student ratio 1:6. But I guess what I appreciate most about it is the "soul-searching" essay question which is really inspiring: "What do you value most in life & Why?"

I'm not sure whether I'll apply this school, but it'll definitely be a very worthy try.

Die Luft der Freiheit weht (German for "The wind of freedom blows")!

P.S. just read an inspirational bio of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice @ Wikimedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice

a fair MBA fair

I took a half-day off & had the chance to meet up with Smith, BU, Owen & IE for either evaluative or informative interview. One is really disappointing but all have been benificial to my future application.

Also heard the beautiful Cindy from Hass shared her insights on essays writing & interive (be it blind or alumni, etc.). "Be Genuine, Be Specific & Be Outstanding"!

It's intereting to see how each school / program promote themselves. The most creative & comprehensive brochures come from inSeaD in a very handy size. PSU's brochure also look quite impressive though it's basically a regional school. But at least we can see they're serious about it & deeply driven to improve.

I spotted HEC-Paris' 16-month program which seems to be quite unique & solid. Coincidentally, their marketing or BDM is also an American who works for a European biz-school, same as inSeaD Singapore's Gopika who happened to be an alumna from close rival IMD. What a small & smash world!

What else? Thanks to CBS' reception @ the American Club & I attended the firt half and later joined St. Gallen HSG-MBA's 1st ever cocktail reception in a very cosy ballroom at the nearby Orchard Hotel. Extremely friendly staff & alumni, passionate staff Marie who's a master from LSE & migrated to Switzerland from her hometown Germany. That's just a glimpse of how international a European MBA can be, from its faculty, staff all the way to alumni:-)

Good luck to all, especially those who're on their ways to home after a long long Asia tour!