Every time I come across a profile of some one who has applied only to one or two schools, I feel a sense of panic within me. How on earth do I narrow down my school selection to one, two or at the most five schools?!
Like sure, maybe there are only a few schools that are my absolute dream schools, but what happens If I get accepted nowhere. :O I have seen way too many blogs of re-applicants who didn’t make it the first time. I do not think I have it in me to go through another year of this stressful application process.
So I sat down and did a LOT of introspection. I thought about every possible scenario and came up with a plan. But first let me talk about how I arrived at my conclusion.
Some things about me and how they factor into my decision:
- I currently work in India, but My family will be in LA next year, so I probably will want to make a move to the US anyway. It looks unlikely that I will move there through my company, so I need to consider alternatives, if I don’t get into an MBA program of my choice.
- I am from the Tech industry and I am looking to stay in Tech post-MBA. I want to be in either LA or the Bay Area ultimately, so schools with a strong West-coast presence make more sense.
- My family will be in LA. I want to be able to visit them at least every couple months if not more frequently. I also might need to keep traveling to the Bay area while hunting for jobs and internships since that’s my target destination. Connectivity is a major factor. I will be looking at schools that have an airport nearby with easy connectivity to LA and the Bay area.
- In the event I do not get an MBA, I might stay in the technical area of product development instead of moving to the management track. If that happens, I would need to look for opportunities to improve my technical expertise and grow, either on the job or through courses online or maybe even a master’s in a particular domain. However, this is the worst-case scenario when I cannot get an MBA and cannot go down the management track. So that’s my backup plan 😀 For now, MBA all the way!
- Financial aid – I earn very less when my income is converted into dollars. Now, by purchasing power parity I am quite happy with my income here in India, but since I will be paying tuition and fees in dollars I definitely need some good financial package if I want to attend. I can take on loans, but again since I have almost no savings, it makes me very uncomfortable to have debt upwards of 150k at this age. I’m only 22 and I don’t want to be tied down with such a huge financial burden at an age I want to live my life and have fun 😀
- Returning to India – I do not know how long I want to live in the US. Yes, I know that’s unusual, but I am actually open to returning here or elsewhere in the long term. If I don’t live in the US, it will be even tougher to pay back the loans, so I need minimal debt. That way I have the mobility to move anywhere I want, at any time. I don’t want to be tied down due to financial burden.
- I personally have several reasons to believe that this is the perfect time for me to head to B-school. I know I might have higher odds with more work experience, but right now I am absolutely positive I want to start my MBA program in Fall 2017.  If I’m unhappy with the admission results, I will accept the outcome, and move on to other things in life 🙂 But while I am trying, I will give it my best! 🙂 So, It’s now or never!!
So I have decided to apply to some of my dream schools which are ambitious and the world’s most prestigious, schools I absolutely love and also have a moderate chance of getting accepted to based on stats and schools where I might be above the average stats, but I think I really will love being a part of the school culture, and also have chances for getting a scholarship!
Either way, If I get accepted to any of these, I will be very happy to attend, and I can’t go wrong with my decision 🙂
If I do not get accepted, I will look for jobs in Tech in the US next year!
Chasing the MBA dream - A Young Applicant on a mission 