Going Abroad for Your MBA: What You Need to Know

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Let's start off with a fast fact: According to GMAC's 2011 Application Trends Survey, 46 percent of all graduate business programs saw growth in international applications, with China and India topping the list of foreign applicants, especially for full-time MBA programs.

So if you're thinking of going overseas to pursue your MBA, you're certainly in good company. MyGlobalEducation.com chatted with Stefan Bielski, managing director of 2bschool.com, which guides and counsels students interested in pursuing an MBA abroad, for his insight into this growing trend.

MGE: In your experience, what are the top reasons why people would pursue an MBA abroad?

SB: People pursue MBAs abroad for varying reasons. For those in places where the programs are expensive (the United States and Europe), it's to get a more affordable MBA. For the reverse direction, it's to get a quality or type of education that is in short supply in their home country.

MGE: Is going abroad for an MBA more challenging? If so, why? And what particular skills come with being away from your home country?

SB: For nearly all, it's a cultural learning/stretching experience as well. Just about everything can be more vexing, from simply finding housing to integrating with classmates and job hunting. Of course, this develops cross-cultural skills to operate in an alien environment. Without your established support structures you have in your home country/community, you mustbecome more self reliant, as well as learn who you can count on for help and how to secure that help.

MGE: How do prospective employers view graduates who traveled for their MBA degree?

SB: While much of this may have to do with the perceived quality of the program they attended, the fact is that they stretched themselves in a new environment and met a different set of expectations and metrics. This can lead to greater responsibilities in general and more with international clients, suppliers and other partners in particular.

MGE: Can you give an example or two of how students might have an advantage in their home country after returning with their MBA?

SB: A better ability to relate to, understand the needs of, and so do business with individuals and companies not only from the country in which they studied, but perhaps anywhere. Leading MBA programs are incredibly international, so their classmates, professors and the cases they study will come from many nations.

MGE: Do you find that most students return home after getting their MBA abroad, or do they tend to stay in their school's country?

SB: The clear majority work (or seek to work) at least for a time in the school's country, to complement their classroom experience. This includes not only a summer internship, but even in strict places like the US, study visas typically allow them to work for a year or more in the school's country. A fair number use this foot in the door to try to emigrate eventually, but most plan and do return to their home country.

Some make their decisions by gauging opportunities at home versus in the school's country or elsewhere. They become cosmopolitan employees/entrepreneurs, much in the same way that Americans who go away to another state for college are more likely to consider the whole U.S. as a place to work/live.

MGE: So what about your personal MBA story -- did you go abroad?

SB: I decided that I didn't want to borrow a lot for my MBA, so I found a free MBA, by going to an innovative program in Mexico where the highly-paid professors were imported from top schools the world over. I'm also what MBA programs call a "poet." I was a history major at a liberal arts college, who then moved abroad, first as a journalist, before starting a publishing company. I've been an entrepreneur a couple times more, and lived 16 out of 17 years out of U.S.

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