Indians to rule B-schools in the US soon

2015 is turning out to be a watershed for Indian MBA applicants to top US B-schools as world’s top business schools have accepted more Indian applicants this year for 2017.

If data gathered by Economic Times through closed alumni groups, new admits, and admission consultants is any indicator, not only more Indians were accepted but they may have also received more financial aid and scholarships for top institutions than last year.

While the intake of Indian students at Harvard Business School would have gone up to around 47 from around 40 last year, as per few alumni groups, more Indian students have made it to schools such as Wharton and Kellogg as well.

The academic session for most US B-schools starts in July and the admission process is currently in its third round.

The financial daily reported that officially, most US schools do not comment on applicant information by geography, but data gathered through alumni networks revealed that while Kellogg admitted around 30 Indians last year in the first two rounds, this year’s intake is over 40.

Wharton too saw an upward trend in new admissions from India—around 35-36 from 26-27 from last year.

The numbers are for applicants from India and do not include Indian passport holders based overseas.

While Wharton and Harvard did not respond to emails seeking validation of this data, Kate Smith, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial at Kellogg School of Management, told ET that India is a focal point for the school. "We have seen many strong applicants from this region," she added.

This year, 80 applicants that are clients of Admissions Gateway, a consultant, received over 150 admissions, out of which around 80 are from a top 10 US B-school.
"Overall, we saw a 20% increase in Indian admissions at most top B-schools. Our candidates received 107 offers to the top 15 schools, 80-plus to the top 10 and 20-plus to the top five," Rajdeep Chimni, founder of the admissions consulting firm, told ET.

Chimni added the scholarships received by their applicants this year total Rs 18.7 crore, which was more than the combined scholarship amount for the last two years, which was Rs 11.75 crore.

Bain consultant Aman Mittal took a hard decision when he had to select among The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, New York University's Stern School of Business, Kellogg and Cornell's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management.

ET reported that he headed to Stern after being offered $135,000 in scholarship.

"It was a tough choice, but I've finally opted for Stern as it would enhance my opportunities for a career in finance. Personally, my wife, who's a doctor, would be relocating to New York too, so it makes it easier for both of us,” he told ET.

Yale School of Management also saw a surge in the overall scholarship amount.

"Round three of the admissions cycle is still in progress and we don't release enrollment figures until the new class arrives... but overall, applications to Yale SoM have increased by about 25% year on year, and applications from India have increased too. All applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships and the school has increased its scholarship support overall," Bruce Del Monico, assistant dean and director of admissions, told ET.
Stanford is considered one of the toughest American business schools to get into and has less than half the batch size as Harvard Business School. Harvard Business School alumnus and founder of Reach Ivy Advisory Vibha Kagzi said 80% of her students got admission at more than one top US school this year.
“Many have been lured by top-ranked institutions with generous scholarships ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 from institutions such as Wharton, UCLA, and Tepper. Many have even received full funding from institutions such as Columbia, putting them in a serious dilemma as to which business school to choose," Kagzi told ET.

(Image: Reuters)