Any Advantage for Americans Applying to International MBA Programs?

I'm just curious if there's an advantage for Americans applying to non-American programs, since it seems like most Americans would want to stick state-side.

I'd be particularly interested in INSEAD, HKUST, LBS, IMD, Said, and Judge.

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Yes, there are some. You are going to be considered an international student and will compete only with other Americans. However, I believe it is less competitive as many top-notch candidates would apply to US schools. Also if you are a URM or not doesn't matter much because you are going to be a minority anyways. (programs like LBS are like 91% international). In addition, European schools tend to like traditional candidates (IB/PE/consulting etc.) who are older and have more experience than H/S requires. Lastly, those programs have higher male-to-female ratios so it is advantageous if you are a female.

Now the disadvantages: At INSEAD, you better be bilingual because it is a requirement, as well as knowing a third language at an intermediate level. At LBS, just knowing somewhat a second language is as well a requirement for graduation. One more thing as an American you will still need to be competitive because you are going to be like an Indian IT, you will need to compete with all the other Americans that are applying, and there are many of them.

 

Thanks for the info.

So my understanding is that there will still be a lot of Americans applying to these schools, but the field of Americans may not be as competitive as those of top U.S. programs.

I'm not URM or female, and I'd like to apply with 4-5 years of work experience because I'm taking the GMAT as a college senior. Will have experience at a NY BB in PubFin + whatever I do for 2 years after. I can speak Hebrew as a second language, although not completely fluently. Likely could become fluent within 4 years if I tried.

 

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