ECONOMIC TIMES

More Indians make it to US top B-Schools this year; increase in financial aid, scholarships too

By Anumeha Chaturvedi, ET Bureau

15 May, 2015, 02.16AM IST

NEW DELHI:Ishvarya Raman had applied to Kellogg and Sloan School of Management two years ago, but got rejected by both. Not losing heart, the engineer from Bosch in Bangalore applied to seven business schools this time, including Ivy League institutions such as Tuck at Dartmouth, besides Kellogg, Sloan at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Chicago's Booth School of Business. Raman has gained admission to five out the seven B-schools she applied to. She's chosen Kellogg, declining $40,000 and $60,000 in scholarships offered by the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon and UCLA's Anderson School of Management, respectively.

If data gathered by ET through closed alumni groups, new admits, and admission consultants is any indicator, 2015 could turn out to be a watershed for Indian MBA applicants to top US B-schools. Not only have the world's top business schools accepted more Indian applicants this year for their class of 2017, but they may have also received more financial aid and scholarships for such institutions than last year.

While the Indian intake at Harvard Business School Harvard Business School would have gone up to around 47 from around 40 last year, according to some alumni groups, more Indian students have made it to schools such as Wharton and Kellogg as well. The academic session for most US business schools commences in July and the admission process is currently in its third round. Overseas admissions are almost over by the second round. Officially, most US schools do not comment on applicant information by geography, but data gathered through alumni networks reveals that while Kellogg admitted around 30 Indians last year in the first two rounds, this year's intake is hovering at 40+. Wharton too has noticed an uptick in new admissions from India — around 35-36 from 26-27 last year.

The numbers are for applicants from India and exclude 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, stated that India is a focal point for the school. "We have seen many strong applicants from this region," she added.

Yale School of Management (Yale SoM) has also witnessed an uptick 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," said Bruce Del Monico, assistant dean and director of admissions.

"2015 saw our students being spoilt for choice," Kagzi said. "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 said.

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