MBA Abroad – Admission, Application, Entry exams, Post MBA Job & Salary

MBA Abroad – MBA is one of the most sought-after courses to pursue in today’s time. The most important thing for an Indian student to keep in mind is that studying MBA abroad is not only acquiring a business degree from abroad but also going through a two-year long journey of exposure to a different education system, exploration of skills outside generic disciplinary domains and life experience of living and working overseas. A 2-year MBA program in the top B-schools of India will cost INR 10-20 Lakhs while overseas, MBA courses can start off at INR 30-40 Lakhs for one-year programs and go up to INR 75-80 Lakhs for the top US MBA programs. An MBA from a prestigious institution like the Kellogg School of Management or Harvard Business School is a great advantage when compared to an MBA from Indian institutes in terms of international exposure to different course curriculum, culture and lifestyle. This helps applicants to look at problems with different perspectives.

In this article, we will explore top places to study MBA abroad, admission requirements, MBA entrance exams, salaries and much more.

MBA Abroad – Top Places to study MBA abroad 

The QS global rankings are based on some criteria which form the basis of five key indicators: Employability, entrepreneurship, alumni outcomes, return on investment, thought leadership and diversity.

• Harvard Graduate School of Business
• INSEAD, France
• HEC, Paris, France
• Stanford Graduate School of Business, US
• London Business School, UK
• The Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, US
• MIT Sloan School of Management, US
• Columbia Business School, US
• Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK
• IE Business School, Spain

MBA course programs in Australia and Singapore are also popular apart from the above-listed countries.

To get 2019 updated information related to MBA, visit our category page here.

MBA Abroad – MBA Admission Requirements

Before deciding to get admitted into an MBA college, you need to adhere to the following eligibility requirements.

Academic

• Basic level of Bachelor’s degree like B.Tech, B.Sc. or B.A

Note: A MS or PhD degree is also good to have after graduation and many students who have gone abroad for an MS work for a few years and then take up an MBA.

Work Experience

Work experience is essential to apply for an MBA abroad. The colleges abroad have strong requirements while selecting applications for MBA interviews such as the applicants must have worked and gathered some experience in a relevant field.  They are required to gather technical and managerial skills. It is recommended to leverage pre-MBA work experience highlighting the meritorious achievements, professional accomplishments and leadership qualities at work in your MBA application. Most MBA abroad programs like the ones in the US require you to have 5 years of experience before applying for an MBA.

Good work experience for B-School admission include:

• Leadership skills – Applicants should be able to demonstrate formal leadership experience which weights quality over quantity.
• Transferable skills – MBA applicants can possess soft and technical skills but the skills required for an MBA program and post-MBA should be the ones which are transferable.
• Professional maturity – Applicants need to be dynamic and show professional maturity for eg. showing the ability to manage conflicts in geographically spread teams or dealing with teams having members from all over the world. It is difficult to show this on the CV and hence, the applicant needs to mention this as part of their applications/essays.

Want to study abroad Apply for overseas course programmes on study abroad admission page.

MBA Abroad – MBA Application Procedure

Generally, MBA applications are more elaborate and time-consuming than job applications. They require a lot of introspection and preparation before you start filling in the application. The application form consists of general information, sections for essays, recommendations, and MBA entrance exam scores.

General information – Applicants need to fill in information related to age, bio-data, experience, test scores, languages known, etc.

Admission Essays - MBA application includes questions focusing on what the applicants have done in their career so far, why they are thinking about an MBA degree at this stage, post MBA career goals, strengths and weaknesses, and other questions that allow the admission committees to see them as real persons.

Recommendations – Admission committees require applicants to submit 2-3 recommendation letters. Every B-School has its own format.

MBA Entrance exam scores – GRE or GMAT score is a key entrance exam score required for admission into MBA abroad. For English proficiency, TOEFL or IELTS scores are needed.

Would you like to apply for Scholarships? Check out our MBA Scholarship page

MBA Abroad – Competitive Exams to Study Abroad

There are two kinds of entrance exams for overseas MBA programs. The first category is designed to test the aptitude for business management. The second category is meant to test the comfort level with the English language as the mode of communication in the corporate or business world is mostly English.

Due to an increase in the number of B-schools accepting the GRE exam scores, candidates with vague post-graduate plans may wish to opt for the GRE rather than the GMAT. This would enable them to go for an MBA, M.S. or dual degree program or even a PhD. If a candidate is sure about pursuing an MBA, then taking the GMAT would be an advantage for them.  The time-tested GMAT score has been considered a better indicator of a student’s capability and preparedness for a tough MBA program.

TOEFL is quite popular among students as it is widely accepted as an English proficiency test. The official guide to the TOEFL iBT is a good resource for those who are already proficient in the language, as it serves as a good repository of different types of questions that can be expected in the test.

MBA Abroad – MBA Starting Salary 

An MBA is a major investment and many students incur huge debts to pursue this business degree.  The competition has increased triple fold and there is an abundance of MBA graduates. When it comes to ROI (Return on Investment), doing MBA from abroad is the best bet. The Financial Times Rankings places 40% weightage on ROI of the schools. The average annual packages at IIMs, ISB and other top B-schools are around INR 19 Lakhs, while the average annual pay package offered at top B-schools abroad is around INR 78 lakhs.

Comparison of MBA starting salaries for Indian and abroad MBA B-Schools

MBA Abroad – MBA in France

France is one of the most-sought after European country to pursue higher education. It is popular for its MS and MBA programmes.  Courses like Fashion, Designing, Merchandising and Luxury Brand Management (in cities like Paris- the Fashion Capital of the World) is being offered to students interested in the field of fashion and branding.

Popular colleges/universities in France where tuition fees are affordable and has less stringent entry level requirements for foreign students are. Check out the intake dates to apply for 2019-20 session:

• France International Graduate Schools
• SKEMA Business School
• ESSEC Business School
• Toulouse Business School
• Kedge Business School
• EDHEC Business School
• BREST Business School

MBA Abroad – MBA Scholarships

To help many such students who come across financial constraints, various B-schools and institutions offer MBA scholarship. Whether you want to attend a business school in India or abroad, you can find an MBA scholarship to meet your requirements.

Read MBA Scholarships article which lists all Indian and international scholarships to pursue MBA programs in India and abroad.

The applicants need to first list out their objectives regarding their career plan, budget, the country where they want to apply, etc. and prioritise them. Once they have done that, deciding whether they should do an MBA abroad or in India becomes an easy task.