Hi folks!
It's weird but I joined MBA in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Kharagpur.
The school is actually named VGSOM (Vinod Gupta School Of Management) after an alumnus who donated US$2 Million !!
http://www.iitkgp.ernet.in/vgsom/
As you might be aware, I took the GRE and applied for MS (in Electrical Engineering) in some US universities. While the decision from all 6 univs is pending (since my childhood
), I have been shooting arrows in the dark for alternatives in the meantime...
Writing entrance tests for M.Tech(M.S.), MBA, applying to jobs,.etc..
One of those struck. After a casual interview and group discussion, I almost completely forgot about it. Then oneday, I was in the waiting list. I had to make a decision or let go of the offer. I weighed my options. I hadn't too many.
(1) MS in US: I had (and have) pending, the admission decisions from all six universities I applied to. Say I'll get into one. Getting the Visa is still a gamble. My brother's Visa application has been rejected twice - rendering his year long prep+apping useless.
(2) MS or M.Tech in INDIA: I wrote the entrance test (called GATE) without prep. Got a score of 95.7 percentile which is neither too good nor too bad. I did apply to a few institutes, but there is still the crucial stage of interviews.
(3) JOBs: While some big names have recruited a few people into the IT sector from our institution, they strangely didn't want people from our discipline (Instrumentation). I applied to a few other jobs. One of them is - as a member of the hardware and software testing lab of India's best selling technical magazine - there is yet an interview stage to cross.
(4) MBA: On the positive side, the school (IIT-KGP) is ranked 15th best B-School in India and has a good placement record. The IIT-brand also has quite a good value.
I was definitely not interested in an MBA. Not that I am averse to it. I agree that one should have a target and pursue it with dedication. Some people know what they want and get it. Lesser mortals take what they get. I ended up in the latter, and I guess the larger, group.
Something tells me that it takes a different recipe for success in MBA than in Engineering or MS. But I'll try and tune myself to MBA. I know it's not going to be any easy. More, I don't know what exactly I am gonna do. But When your career is at stake, It should bring out the best in us. Hope!
"When there is nothing else,...
... there is hope."