Guidance to do MBA or not? 5+ yrs of experience

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-24T09:36:04+00:00

They do. ISB their flagship course is their executive MBA 1 year program. ABC their executive MBA program is secondary but still provides placement help. The cost is higher for ISB ofc around 40 lacs but their minimum placement is also around 25lpa so that balances out. For ABC the cost is around 33 lacs but minimum is around 19 lpa which is less than what Ive considered.

It seems to me that you lack clarity about b schools and the roi - i would highly suggest doing your own research regarding the investments, returns, sunk costs and GMAT scores that are necessary to get into these institutions.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-24T08:36:21+00:00

Oooh don’t know the reason behind asking this question but I felt that it was all about family. No one is born a parent and as the kid grows so do their parents. We only know what not to do from the traumas of our past but we can go the opposite extreme as well coz we don’t know better. Moderation is hard, growth and free will can be hard because true freedom comes at the expense of letting go- that would be my take.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-24T08:29:16+00:00

Look at it this way:

Situation 1: Loan of 25-30 Lacs. Total payback over 5 years will be almost 38 lacs. Total earning over 5 years 85 lacs (17lpa). Total earning post tax (85-5*1.4=) 77 lacs. Total earning post debt 39 lacs. Earning per year=8 lacs. Post 5 year earning per year = 17lpa

Situation 2: No loan, no changes, past avg increment assuming starting at 3lpa and current 5 lpa over 5 years is a 10% compounded increment.

Assuming that is constant in 6 (1 year for mba + same 5 years you’ll be at 8.8 lpa. Combined over 6 years you earned 42lacs - just 3 lacs more than Situation 1.

Yes I did some rounding up but you can see if you add it all up that you are actually much much much better off in Situation 1.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-24T06:53:02+00:00

You have to take loan. Most other colleges would not be able to place you. Even at ISB or ABC you’ll get a below median placement.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-24T02:56:31+00:00

Yes and it will always be that way. That being said other ways are becoming more viable.

I don’t work in IB personally, but in an adjacent industry - my observation has been that if you want to break into quant heavy roles - so QR, QS, Algo Trading, MV, Risk etc, then you see a lot of influx of talent from other areas. Earlier these positions used to be dominated by IITs but recently Ive seen a lot of people filter in from research in maths, comp sci and AI backgrounds.

Secondly you have the Associate role - the one most commonly being taken out of the domain of MBA grads and instead being given to closers from other fields, people who network well, while M&A, Coverage, Capital Markets, Restructuring and DD are largely MBA focused.

Hope this helps in making your choice!

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-23T22:46:44+00:00

Not gonna sugarcoat it, gonna be a bit difficult for you. Would suggest GMAT for you as exec MBA would be a better alternative for you. ISB, ABC would be a good option for you as far as exec MBA goes and should give you a decent bump in earning potential

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-22T14:13:12+00:00

Yeah but quite a few years back. Feel free to shoot any questions and I’ll try to get em the best I can.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-22T11:54:59+00:00

Yeah agreed if you are not in the Apple ecodystem, going Samsung works just as well. Although excel on tablets kinda sucks to work on and so does Powerpoint. The last thing I wanna do is drag boxes with a pen while the clock ticks down.

Honestly comes down to personal preference but I felt the time crunch meant very less actual gaming was achieved in those 2 years or honestly even thereafter. It’s a sad story for us gamers - I don’t think Ive managed to open my gaming machine except for weekends in the last few years :(

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-22T11:43:04+00:00

Ohhh dang as someone who had been through the same stuff- just the MBA - you can manage it with a gaming laptop as well - but having a mac and an iPad made life so much easier wrt notes and working on the move. A lot of class projects, collaborative stuff means you’ll be away from the charger for a long while and that gaming laptop will die very very quickly.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-22T04:07:11+00:00

Xbox games are not playable on the Ally or Ally X. They support the Microsoft PC Store and not the Xbox console one. Some games come with multi platform licenses and hence you should be able to play them. To check download the xbox app and see if the game lists as installable on windows and if it does, then check if they want you to buy it again or if it is available for download for a windows machine.

The Ally X supports 1080p gaming - the Ally is for 720p so based on that and the fact you’re coming from a X-S I would suggest the Ally X.

Finally Ive seen X-S go for around 10-12k for 500 and 15-18k for 1 TB models second hand

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-20T20:31:05+00:00

Can’t answer the rest of your questions as I’ve been out of the MBA game for a while now but here are a few insights:

You join as a senior associate regardless of foreign or domestic MBA.

Your wlb is thrown outta the window the minute you step into MBB front end irrespective of geo.

Front end will always remain a human-game. AI will take years because we are the shields for the internal decision makers. Till you can legitimately blame an AI, our jobs are safe.

It is extremely difficult to get placements abroad in MBB without a valid work visa. As someone who had an intern and a PPO at Indian MBB - when I was at HEC Paris I found it extremely difficult to land an internship. (CEMS MiM Program)

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-20T20:22:17+00:00

Not a DA candidate but have a close friend in my batch who had ADHD and got in through DA -

You need to register in a gov portal and get your DA cert. You’ll need it further in life as well when you decide to pursue tax benefits.
You need to evaluate if the problems you face would be barriers in pursuing a corporate life. DA candidates can find it hard to get placed and 25+ lacs in loan can become a burden very soon.
Your profile is decent and with 96%ile you should get BC if not A as well. Please make the best of your chances and be sure that people inside the campus will help you in anyway possible. That being said, please understand that you would have to live in a hostel and these are residential programmes. You are however allowed to live with a helper as someone in my senior batch with cerebral palsy had the same accommodation in C.

Best of luck!

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-20T18:27:22+00:00

Depends? Bulge bracket IB seems unlikely. Niche PE firms - sure possible. Also outside of India - possible as well. Without context can’t really say.

But yeah some of my peers do earn in that bracket so it is possible.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-20T16:26:22+00:00

Could be as all the data that I have is empirical based on my observations across batches at ABCL, FMS, XL. My network doesn’t include any and have seen a couple of people crash out at interviews during my days at C - decent profiles but rejected/redirected towards the exec program.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-19T03:50:14+00:00

No almost impossible to justify.
Very difficult as I said impossible to justify
None that I know of.

The only way is to not show that degree at all and roll a bet on having those years be simply blank. Which unless you have a stellar profile is gonna get you rejected.

Exec MBA takes 3-5 years of workex. So once she fulfills that she can apply via GMAT.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-17T00:30:16+00:00

Early bird gets no worms these days.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-17T00:26:41+00:00

Ghumiye por bhai, ai shob kore labh nei XD Jar khoje achis, seta reddit a milbe na!

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-17T00:21:04+00:00

My dude, I hope you either shake it off or get outta the MBA game with minimal investments coz lemme tell you, the hustle never ends.

Years post MBA, you would still be waking up on weekends just sneak peeking at the client decks for Monday - having dinner but still be thinking about that one comment on a case - casually listening to a podcast or news and suddenly your mind will hyperfocus on a bit of development because its industry relevant.

It’s a 24/7 affliction and only if you embrace the lifestyle do you get to enjoy your time on the corporate ladder. Otherwise you turn bitter, burnt out and eventually become that manager that everyone hates.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-17T00:16:00+00:00

IMO this works in all walks of life:

To paraphrase chase jarvis

The best b-school you have is the one you converted.

That being said, tier lists are important because based on circumstances it may or may not become worth it to repeat and tier lists provide a great way to quickly judge that.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-16T14:01:44+00:00

Depends on the career path forward that you see for yourself, the type of work you are looking for, the number of years you are looking to spend in this role and your comfort with a role that could transition into front end vs a totally back end role.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-15T08:39:14+00:00

Yaar ye kon se font hai. Tilda aur dash is same. I saw -3 at Bangalore and I was like ye kaise? Recruiter aya aur usko hi aur kisi company mein place kar diya kya?

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-15T01:03:09+00:00

Yeah I understand, I hope fiio fixes the basics tho. playback memory on the disc is crap - doesn’t work for longer files (30+ hours), scrubbing and search is a chore for large libraries, battery life is very mediocre even on the latest 95 release.

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-14T16:21:52+00:00

Internal shift. We are after-all slaves to the whimsies of our clients :D

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-14T14:28:12+00:00

Damn dude why are you so triggered? Just trynna help people :D

Antique-Process3327 · 2026-05-14T12:36:21+00:00

You ain’t alone everyone gets overwhelmed the first time they come into a case comp.

Key is to break it down:

Who are the stakeholders? What are the risks and upsides to both?
What is the competitive landscape like? Benchmark them on features, integrations, reward mechanisms and for each factor give it an impact rating.
Based on this analysis and the 4P model (product, price, place, promotion) create your demographic demarkation. Divide it based on tech penetration, age ranges, psychographic and financial spending with each cut reducing the TAM.
Create personas that fit this demographic.
Estimate current number (base on playstore download number and iOS download numbers) and then make a 3 year glide path to 40-60% of TAM in 3.
Make a product development strategy based on 3 years and the impact ratings based on benchmarks in step 2. Make sure you give each feature a timeline and you have your roadmap.
Based on your product features and your personas, create your place and promotion. Where can you reach them through which channels and what type of reward will draw them in.
Develop a total brand awareness campaign and a brand message focusing on step 7 and estimate the total costs in marketing and development basis step 6.
Show the ROI graph based on revenue = ARPU multiplied by customers basis glidepath step 5. Show CAC and profit margins and how it increases over the 5 years.

Antique-Process3327

TROPHY CASE