I've got a $30,000 per year fellowship from Notre Dame. That almost covers the entire tuition fees of $34,000 per year. I had a telephone interview with them on the 4th of December and an email with an admissions offer on the 8th. I was really pleasantly surprised since they had announced Dec 20th as the notification date. Anyway, last night I got the fellowship offer.
I was obviously thrilled and could hardly sleep last night after I got the news. I kept worrying about not being able to sleep since I had a video conference interview with IESE today. I had the interview at Reliance WebWorld. It was my first experience in a video conference and it was a really great experience. The interview lasted for around 40 mins though they say it normally lasts for an hour. The interviewer said that I answered the questions very directly and to the point which made it shorter. Don't know whether it was a compliment exactly... They'll let me know the final decision on the 20th.
However, Notre Dame's fellowship offer has introduced a whole new variable for me to factor in. ND has given me the opportunity to finish the MBA completely debt free. At this point, it seems like an offer too good to refuse. Have to speak to someone who actually studied there I guess. Not that I've been admitted anywhere else so its not like I have much to choose from at the moment. But I don't even feel like applying to Chicago, CMU and Duke which I was planning to do in Round 2 and have even completed my essays for. It still hasn't properly sunk in, but without debt, I'm free to do anything I want or get any job I want after the MBA. I can move back to India faster if I don't have to worry about paying off loans and so on...
Anyway, I'm not complaining. So many more decisions are now to be taken.
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Congrtulations on the fellowship, that's a lot of money! These are the good kinds of decisions we all hope to be making once we get all the results from our schools. =)
I would still think twice before deciding not to apply to R2. $60000 bucks is a bug chunk of change but do you want to go to a nowhere school ?
think long term ! Think of when you might need captial for your new enterprise. That's when the Top tier, their faculty, the well placed alumni and you won class network comes in play. I understand debt-free is a great motivaton but then the ROI for other schools is much much larger. I agree you might have personal reasons as well for ND but still think .
hey! congrats-that seems like a huge weight off your mind! with this as a backup, u dont have anything to lose...that should motivate you to give your very best for R2 at Duke/Chicago etc...dont slack off man...leverage this event to the max! all the best!
Hey there!
Congrats!! Thats really good news!! Well done!
Markose
Congrats. When does the program start - assuming you accept.
Dude, It is awesome that you can do your MBA debt free. I don't really agree with the earlier comment about a 'nowhere school'. Notre Dame ranks in the top tier business schools in the US, atleast according to USNews. It kinda depends on what your plan is, after your MBA...
Thejus.
How did you apply for the fellowship at ND. I was not given that option in my online application. If I was I either missed it or they never got back to me about it. I am participating in the Executive MBA at ND Class of 2008.
Hi all, thanks for the encouragement.
asiangal: well it looks like I wont have to make many decisions either, seeing that I haven't been admitted anywhere else.
inblue: regarding ROI, I calculated that if I get into Chicago or something in R2 without any aid, it will take me around 13 years to make up the amount in difference in salaries and so on...
anonymous1: is ND really a nowhere school?
thejus, afty, markose: thanks. btw afty cilanne got here yesterday. and i also heard from reliable sources that you are thinking of giving in to the power of the dark side.
anonymous2: i just had to tick somewhere on my app saying that I want to be considered for fellowships and had to send them a signed fellowship release form.
Closing remarks: Wanted to know 10 years down the line in my career, how much the brand of my B-school will count. I hope to be successful enough in my career that I will be known for my accomplishments and capabilities, and not cause of which school I went to. The same applied to my undergrad institution and I hated people who clung on to the brand and felt that it was enough to make them better than everybody else.
I guess a lot depends on what you plan to do after an mba and how long you want to stay in the US. If you end up going to a higher ranked and more expensive place with no funding you're more likely to get a great job easily but will have to spend a long time paying off your debts. Since an mba means meeting and networking, going to a top B-school means you'll get to know people who'll be useful in the long run.
At Brandeis, the B-school is not well known and I know a lot of people who went there. Most of them graduated with little or no debt but had a hard time finding a good job. But if you try hard enough it's not impossible to get a break and I know 2 people really well who've done as well as a few other people I know who went to MIT or Wharton. They've got no debt to pay off and might not have the elite stamp on their resume.
I don't think it makes much of a difference which B-school you go to except in how easily you find your first job. After that it's all up to you.
I don't know if I've said anything original here.
Say hi to Cilanne. Actually, between her and Markose you can probably gauge how it's easier to find a job in the dark side than in academia. There's also the money factor....
hello! came here from beks blog. firstly- congratulations! you should know that it is RARE for MBA grads to get such a delish tution waiver. and i say that cuz ive lived here for 5 yrs and kinda/sorta seen it all.
secondly- id still apply to cmu and duke and if you get acceptance there, tell them abt the waiver at nd and ask them if they can match it.
lastly- to graduate from an MBA, debt free is..lets just say - you deffy want to do this.
and then ofcourse get the $100k job and stay in amrika. :))
Congrats on the admission and fellowship.
I recently completed an MBA from a top US school with a massive loan, so I know the freedom of being able to do it debt free, but do apply to the other schools for round two and talk to alumni from India before you accept the ND offer. I had the luxury of choosing between an offer like yours and the one I accepted and the unanimous view was that its better to take a top school with debt.
Having completed my MBA, I totally agree. After all you're going to study just once. It takes only 4-5 years to repay the entire loan and the experience and network of a top school is worth it.
All the best with your decision making.
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