“Change in all things is sweet – Aristotle” as the famous saying goes change is indeed a very sweet thing and brings with it newer opportunities as evident from the trends in the emergence of B-Schools from destinations once unheard or thought of in the MBA sphere, Most of the top B-Schools in the past few decades have been from the USA for obvious reasons such as financial mobility, booming economy, job opportunities and of course the “American Dream” , however in the past few years there have been some new Management Schools rising from different parts of the globe in sync with the shift and adjustments in the economics of the world , some of the most notable ones being Indian Schools of Business , University of Hong Kong , National University of Singapore , INSEAD , HEC- Paris etc.
One of the Statistics that support the fact that B-School aspirants are looking beyond US are the numbers from the GMAC® the official GMAT test conductors, the test which enables aspirants to apply to B-Schools across the globe, as per the latest survey conducted by GMAC® the number of score reports sent to Asian Schools increased from 19,695 in 2006 to 42,617 in 2010 which is an increase of 116% with scores sent to Indian School increasing by 142% , Singapore by 164%, and Hong Kong by 120% in the same time period, another interesting fact in the report is the increase of Non-Asian students submitting reports to Asian Schools which grew from 3% to 5.5 %.
If we have to dissect the report further and concentrate on the Indian Student’s pattern of score reporting it becomes even clearer that the Indian students are looking at different countries to pursue their coveted MBA, In 2006 more than 70% of score reports were sent to schools in the United States and the in the same year about 9% were reported to Schools in India, however by 2010 even though the highest scores were sent to the US Schools it dropped to 54% and India grew to 14+%, along with countries like Canada, Singapore, France, UK and Spain increasing in demand, based on the findings one can surely sense of the Indian aspirants looking for varied locations, some of the newer destinations that can be considered are given below:
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India
Obvious reasons such as favorable economy, lower cost, proximity to home and increased quality of education make the Indian B-Schools a hot favorite amongst B-School aspirants , there have been a lot of new B-Schools and some existing one’s which have redefined themselves which are growing in demand. The IIM’s obviously are still considered to be a pinnacle in management education and some of the IIM’s also accept the GMAT for select programs and for the first time IIM-A has been ranked at 11 in the global FT rankings for B-Schools, The Indian School of Business located in Hyderabad has also been one of the most sought out schools with impressive curriculum, faculty and encouraging placements , the ISB has also been in the Top-20 FT rankings for a while and is currently at an notable 13th rank worldwide and moving up constantly , yet another school that has established itself is the Great Lakes School of management in Chennai. Some of the other schools that have been on the priority list are SP-Jain and XLRI.
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China and Hong Kong
China being an aggressor in all spheres of the world today and clearly on its way to the top of the table has not been far behind any other country when it comes to Management schools, two of these schools stand out The University of Hong Kong ranked 6th in the world and the China Europe International Business School ranked 17th in the world. The Chinese Schools offer some of the most useful subjects and is especially useful for those who are looking at a career in the ever growing Chinese economy; another advantage is that these programs are relatively cheaper to the western counterparts.
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Singapore
Singapore has traditionally been on the target school list from a long time, and it has only grown bigger in the past few years with its friendly PR policies, proximity to India, lower fee and reputable universities Singapore is a very good choice to consider. Some of the Singapore schools that have always been in the reckoning are INSEAD which is also considered to be one of the worlds best (It also has a campus in France), National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technical University along with Singapore Management University and Sp-Jain (Singapore).
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Europe
Some of the European B-Schools are now considered to be pinnacle in business education; European schools have always been given lot of importance in the west, however only in the last few years have the Indian aspirants considering Europe as a top choice, with shorter durations, highly rated curriculum, strong alumni data and placements are some of reasons that European schools are growing in demand, some world class schools like INSEAD, HEC-Paris, EM-Lyon in France , IE , IESE, ESADE in Spain, Rotterdam Business School , Amsterdam Business School in Netherlands and SDA-Bocconi in Italy are just a few example of the varied choices available in Europe, one of the few disadvantages in some of the European schools are the limitations that International Students may face due to language.
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Canada
With one of the most friendly policies and stable economies in the globe Canada has also fast emerged a suitable B-School destination, Canada offers wide variety of Schools with multiple choices and programs to pick from , It’s proximity to the US is also an advantage apart from having its own stable economy and jobs. Some of the top B-Schools in Canada are The Rotman School of Management, Queens, University of British Columbia, McMaster etc.