Don't do an MBA in India unless you do it at the top 3 IIMs or ISB/FMS type top 5 colleges.

FMS is probably the best cost to value program. IIM program has the best alumni network (A/B/C).

A thread on MBA degree.

1. Almost nobody does an MBA for gaining knowledge. For knowledge, you can read all the MBA related books, and 1/2 years of reading Harvard Business Review and the Economist will give you much better knowledge than a run of the mill MBA grad.

2. MBAs in India are especially tricky. Just by the virtue of having an MBA, a person who has one doesn't become a master at business administration. Contrary to what the degree is expanded into, nobody becomes a master at business administration doing an MBA.

3. The best colleges to do MBA in India:

IIM A/B/C - hands down the top most.
FMS/IIM I/L - almost equal to the second level
There are few other colleges in the top 10 that can be added here.

4. FMS degree costs < 75k both years combined in tuition fee. It's the best cost to value program there is, in India.

IIMs used to charge around 12 lakhs for 2 years 20 years back. Now the fees is around ~30 lakhs.

The average annual pay at IIMs have only grown marginally while the tuition fee has been increasing year after year steadily. They have increased the fees in 2020 also.

Those who attended FMS say it's the best cost to value school, teaches a lot of practical things, and also helps you get placed without a debt burden. Almost all the companies who visit top 3 IIMs also visit FMS, barring some companies and some profiles.

5. By doing an MBA, people don't become experts at understanding businessIf an MBA actually taught people the practical skills of understanding businesses, B-School deans would be the richest investors, b-school students would be the best entrepreneurs.

6. IIM brand carries a huge value. But only if you're from A/B/C. Not all IIM brands are equally perceived. IIM A/B/C students look down on I/L/K students. IIM A students look down on B/C students. Collectively IIM students look down on anyone not from IIM when it's brand wars.

7. The alumni network is what you pay for. That said, just by the virtue of being from an IIM doesn't mean your alumnis will help you make great career shifts by default. That rarely ever happens. Coz, it also depends on your first job after the MBA.

8. What you pay for is also for the quality of minds that come to B-Schools. Because of this one factor, top 3 IIMs top out. They get the best students from across the country, and put them inside a boiler room environment and teach them to handle pressure and manage time.

9. B-School life is also super-competitive. But if you're lucky, you end up making one or two really good friends for life, who will later become business partners, or co-founders in your adventures, if you ever start something.

10. The downside to this at IIMs is that, the average age of students in an IIM is around 23-24. Most people who come into IIMs have almost no experience in the corporate. They come straight from their bachelor's. This has been steadily shifting, but ISB has broken that.

11. Those with significant work experience tend to go to ISB and FMS type of colleges where the average age of the batch members is around 27-28. ISB (established by Mckinsey's top management) is very good for consulting profiles, not much for other profiles.

12. The curriculum for any MBA program from Wharton to IIM is openly available online - with the prescribed books, topics, materials. So, the tuition fee you pay is for getting access to the minds of professors like Sanjay Bakshi, Raghuram Rajan, etc., in the top colleges.

13. With Covid changing the scenario, not sure how the colleges are going to conduct MBA programmes. That said, if it is going to be online, it's worth 1/20th the actual cost you'd end up paying if you were attending it on campus. So, avoid joining if your classes are online.

14. When the value is for the brand and the network, with some hacks and at 1/10th the cost, you can create a better network, while practically hustling in the field. And, whatever you end up doing practically, will get you places that you want to go - if you do it masterfully.

15. So, if your aim is to become an entrepreneur, skip the MBA, put the 30-40 lakhs in savings deposit, start a test business (preferably online) and learn the nuances of running a business inside out.

The actual business experience will teach you 100x more than the MBA classroom. Use that experience to launch your next business if you failed in your first one. And, do it right the second time.

If you succeed in your first one, well you don't need any advice.

16. There's a difference between the cost you pay and the value you get. At the end of the day, MBAs don't have that much of a value proposition to make, especially with the current scenario around the world. So, skip it if you can, and get real world business experience.

17. If you want to do an MBA to get access to companies like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc., and want to work in IB or M&A, PE, VC, etc., well then - by all means choose an MBA, but try to get your foot into the top 3 IIMs.

18. If you're already working and with over 4 years of experience under belt, it's way better doing a GMAT and going to ISB or a better university abroad. Over the last few years, ISB has highly increased the quality of professors and their on-campus experience.

19. With ISB, it's also a 1-year program, so your opportunity cost is lesser. But, their fees for 1 year is also absurd, last I heard was around 42 lakhs rupees - which doesn't make sense as most ISB graduates don't get a significant pay bump from their previous job.

So, in today's day and age, even an ISB degree doesn't make sense. It's hard to switch streams too. You don't have 5y experience as a software developer, join ISB, and become a Private Equity analyst at a popular PE firm. Happens in exceptional cases, very rarely.

20. IIM K/L/I people like to convince themselves that they have the IIM tag too. But they are almost never perceived at the same level as the A/B/C people. The tag still has some value, so you weigh out the cost benefit in value that it would create over your career and decide.

21. Finally, the only people who keep telling that IIM is way better than FMS or other equally good colleges are only IIM graduates. Either they like to do that to convince themselves they made a wise decision, or it's just like with IITians - fierce brand defense.

22. And to conclude, you can find smart people everywhere. Lot of smarter people have not gotten the chance to go to IIMs because of the bullshit government like reservation rule in a privately run college that has to be driven by merit. So, don't judge the smartness just yet.

23. When I said that IIMs get the best minds in the country - I allude to the fact that these are the best minds for topping competitive exams, hacking interviews, etc. Not necessarily the best minds to run businesses.

24. So, not getting an IIM (people do 3-4 attempts) is not the end of the world. You'd do better if you put that effort into building something tangible in the real world, rather than studying for a competitive exam and missing out, especially if you're a General Engineer Male.