ECONOMIC TIMES

US Bschools, eager to attract the best candidates, are finding many of them in India. Candidates themselves are leveraging their networks and putting together application packages that stand out.

ReachIvy reported a 35-40 per cent rise in scholarships offered with the colleges keen on admitting candidates who they judge will maintain their academic credentials. Other beneficiaries include Rohit Sudheendranath, who was offered $100,000 by Harvard and $120,000 by Kellogg; he picked the first. Swagnik Bhattacharya was offered $100,000 by Kellogg.
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business' Sara Neher, who is admissions dean, said it's focused on providing scholarships to more students and Indians in particular.

"We are lucky to have very high-quality applicants from India. We would also love to see more diversity in terms of gender, work industry, undergraduate major." Consultant ReachIvy's students have received $500,000 in scholarship money in the last three years. About 40 per cent got some form of aid or grant this year, up from 35 per cent last year.

Merit-based scholarships awarded to Indians have risen across the board at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Virginia, Dartmouth and other schools. In the 2015-16 academic year, Yale University told ET it spent around $5 million (Rs 33 crore) of its own funds to support students from India, who numbered 179, third after China and Canada.

"The average Yale scholarship grant was $43,989 for the 2015-2016 school year," said George Joseph of The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University.

Fees too high
ReachIvy head Vibha Kagzi said business schools have realised that an annual tuition fee of $50,000 is too high for many candidates. That number will go higher when living and other costs are added.

Scholarships are up 40 per cent from last year. The quality of Indian students has led to an increase in the number of scholarships on offer, consultants said. That's key to improving standards and maintaining academic rigour, said Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner, education and skill development sector, KPMG India.

Several schools have also adopted a common-application model, which means students can use one form for seeking aid, making the process much less cumbersome. Kagzi said, however, that some schools still require students to apply separately for each scholarship.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

ReachIvy is a premium education and career advisory that helps aspiring students get accepted into top tier educational institutions globally. We have successful admits at MIT, Columbia, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, London School of Economics, University of Michigan, Oxford, University of Chicago amongst others.

Vibha Kagzi, Founder and CEO, ReachIvy, holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a Bachelor of Science from Carnegie Mellon University. She has also pursued courses at the University of California, Berkeley, the London School of Economics and the Indian School of Business.

Our global team of counsellors have also acquired their degrees from premier institutes and are passionate about sharing their experiences with students worldwide.

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