First Year Spending

The chart, as promised:

Now, I have a partial fellowship and have low living expenses. With the fellowship, I was able to nearly halve the school's projected budget. Tuition took up 41% of my budget, while room and board took up 22%. (When I say room and board, I mean rent and food expenses.) I even ended up with a significant amount of savings that automatically go towards initial expenses for internship relocation, and the next schoolyear's budget.


If I didn't have the fellowship:

Without the fellowship, tuition would've taken up 70% of the school's projected budget. And I couldn't afford that at all, so I wouldn't even be here writing this.


So if your MBA school's budget for the year is around 100,000 and it's halved because of the fellowship (for easier estimation), the tuition I paid for my first year would amount to $23,000. With a Php 43 exchange rate, that's nearly Php 1 million. Php 989,000 to be exact.

That's a lot of money to come up with on your own, but could be attainable if you have a high-paying job where you've worked for several years. But that's just your tuition. You still need money for the basic stuff -- remember food, clothing and shelter?

I guess when you're doing your research on the schools, you can come up with scenarios with regards to your fellowship. What if you get a $20,000 fellowship? What if it's half the tuition fees? What if it's 75% of the tuition fees? Can you afford what's left? What fellowship amount will enable you to accept a school's offer? If you don't get that (partial) amount, then flex your negotiation skills and ask. What if a lower-ranked school gives you a full ride?

Just don't think that it will be easy for you to land a full scholarship on account of your nationality. Save early and invest your money wisely. Know what level of debt you're comfortable with. (I have low debt tolerance myself.) Ask the MBA students of the schools you're interested in how they handled their finances. (There usually are links on the school's website; if not, then ask the admissions officer if you can correspond with a student.) Make sure that you run through best-case and worst-case scenarios in your mind before making financial commitments.

Negotiate your MBA offer!!!!

I cannot stress that enough.

I wish someone told me that back when I was considering accepting my offer. I mean, there's nothing to lose, right? If your school gives you that offer letter, along with the partial fellowship amount, and you really, really need breathing room, then ask for a higher offer. (I'm telling you right now that if you'll be asking for a full ride, you'll be rejected. Dream on, dude!)

But you can ask for $5k more. And maybe get $3k more. Something like that.

It doesn't hurt to ask.

It also doesn't hurt to say that you're considering this other school who gave you a better offer. 

Of course, state the reason why you're asking for the higher amount. And thank them, even if they cannot give you a raise. Hopefully, you're being honest -- and not just duping the school (and a more deserving classmate) of fellowship money.

Why I am giving this advice? Because I had a classmate who bragged about how he was able to raise his fellowship amount this way. I, on the other hand, was too giddy about landing the fellowship that I didn't bother to ask for more.

Internship!! Bow.

So it's been a week now since I started my internship with a multi-national US company.

I've moved to another state, dealt with storage issues, cleaned out my apartment and felt the rush of having steadier income once again, even if it's only for the summer. I cannot believe that I came to this country with two 23-kg suitcases and 1 bursting-to-the-seams carry-on, and now I have -- what, 15 boxes of stuff??? And that's not even counting the appliances, full suitcases and carry-on bag too.

I feel so blessed and fortunate to land this internship -- not every company offers its interns a housing and relocation package, and even cab rides to and from the office for those who don't drive. The apartment isn't shared, and is fully furnished. It's very spacious and is in a good location that if I had to search for an apartment, this would be way out of range for me. The salary I receive is also beyond my expectations. In short, this is my dream internship package, and I am so grateful to have it! (Thanks, Lord!)

How did I land my internship?

Well, I found it through our career services website. Aside from my resume, I have a customized cover letter for every application I make, which I then show my career coach for review. I have a list of interview questions that I practice my answers for -- my answers are usually stories from my work experience, and I follow the context-action-result format. I went through eight (yes, eight!) interviews, and received the offer the day after the last seven interviews. Amazingly, I did not have to flex my networking skills at all for this. I just asked my coach and some second-years for advice when it came to accepting the offer.

What advice can I give for the internship search?

Start early and do those mock case interviews. Have a shortlist of companies. Do whatever your career office tells you to do. Ask for advice and job leads from your coaches; they are paid to provide you with career advice so ask away. Go over your resume and cover letters as many times as needed. Ask help from second-years. Do those mock case interviews again. Networking can be a big help, but is not required. Finance and consulting positions typically open in the fall; a lot of other positions (including marketing) open in January. February and March are the months when most students have interviews, and receive internship offers. If you want to attend a major career fair, go to the one sponsored by the National Black MBA Association. For the minor ones, attend those in or near your school. And, finally, pray a lot and have lots of faith!



As of this writing, there are still international students in my class who have not landed internships. And they are smart, competent individuals -- which is why I feel really bad about their situation. I guess even if the US market is recovering and more jobs are opening up for MBAs, it really is much harder for international MBAs out there. Many companies who hire internationals as interns are already evaluating them for full-time positions, which means that these companies are of the kind that sponsor H1B visas.

Among my classmates who have not landed an internship position is one friend who spent the first semester flying out to Chicago and New York on weekends to network with alumni. He scheduled mock interviews and coffee chats one after another in a single day. Career services people say that this is how you do it if you want to land a job in investment banking. My friend received an offer for a corporate finance position back then, but he rejected it. Come second semester, he would be flown out to different states for face-to-face interviews, and he reached most last-rounds. In the end, however, he didn't receive another offer. These past few weeks, he has been applying to all kinds of finance positions that he finds, and has secured graduate assistantship positions for the time-being.

I guess everyone has to find the right balance between applying for specific positions and applying for every single opening, and between being a student and an applicant. I myself did targeted applications, and it worked for me, but I guess there was luck involved too. I had another friend who applied to every single opening he was eligible for, and the many interviews tired him out and disrupted his classes and group meetings. You are still a student while you're applying, and if learning is important for you (as it is for me), then you still need significant time for your studies and groupwork.