a balanced perspective..

Going through so many blogs - current ISB students, R1 admits, etc. Reading so many posts on the isb-pgp Yahoo group. Views, opinions, counter views, contradictions...all about jobs after ISB & if joining ISB is actually worth it. Personally, I feel that the answer to this question, like the one to most serious questions in life is "it depends". Depends on where you are in life at this point, depends on where you want to be 1 year down the line, depends on what you want out of the course, depends on how mature you are about accepting the highs & lows that you will go through in this one year...in short "it depends". B-school education in India has been highly romanticized by the general public. People who get into an IIM are considered God level and are generally viewed to have 'made it' in life. I am lucky to have a perspective based on having come into contact with tons of IIMites (most of them IIMA including my dad, a '71 IIMA passout), having a somewhat balanced head on my shoulders and having faced enough failures in life to have a mature enough perspective to know that its completely illogical in life to only expect success. Having touched upon the abstract stuff, lets get down to some hardcore facts - lets get down to what I feel a top b-school (in India or abroad) can provide -

1. Toning down and realistic expectations - Most of us who go to a top b-school have never been in an environment where so many 'cream' people are there at one place. Slowly, we realize that no matter how good we are, there is always someone better. An important learning dawns which is best conveyed by a much used phrase - 'Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long & in the end its only with yourself.' Hence, we learn to lift our own level and accept that we too can make mistakes.
2. A fabulous network - At any top b-school, many of our classmates will be future VPs, Presidents, CxOs. This a terrific platform to form relationship with future top leaders.
3. Enrichment of perspective - This is the impact of top professors from around the world, classmates who have a wide diversity of experience and who are intelligent enough to translate these into valuable learnings which you can tap.
4. Ability to perform under tremondous pressure.
5. A platform for the top companies in any sector to look at you - The fact that you're into a top b-school is a de facto selection process for these companies. It indicates to them that you have substance in you and also that you have been able to convert it by being selected from a pool of competitive applicants. What salary you get after that is completely dependent on the work related & negotiation skills that you bring to the table.

As I was just discussing with a VP at work (he is a BITS Pilani, SP Jain combo with about 13 years of ex in companies including McKinsey Knowledge Center in India), an MBA from a top b-school has tremondous long term impact over a 30 year career. It would be quite wrong to try to gauge the immediate financial impact & hence evaluate a top MBA program.There are so many intangibles involved which will translate into tangibles only over a long term period. Be patient, stop discussing immediate salaries and look at the overall impact that a top b-school will have in your life.