Conflicted between going abroad to the US for Undergrad or MBA

As my college application season is winding to an end, I've come at a crossroads where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for education. I know that I plan to work in finance, and I plan to study Economics/Finance in college. However, I'm a bit conflicted on *where* I want to go to college. I've been accepted to a US T20 that places well for High Finance (this university does not have a stem-opt econ program, which means that I only get 1 year of work-ex), and I have also been accepted to Ashoka University in India (I am an Indian Citizen), which is arguably one of the best humanities college in India. I have a ~ $400k lifetime education budget for my undergrad and postgrad, and I obviously am not in the spot where I can demonstrate aid.

The consideration comes down to the fact that the T20 college will cost $320k+ as I will be a full paying international, while the cost for Ashoka should not cross $50-60k over 4 years. From my research, I have inferred that MBBs do recruit from Ashoka to some extent, and that Ashoka does place well into consulting in general. What I want to know is that whether doing an MBA in the US would be more impactful in comparison to an UG, given the fact that due to my budget, you only get to do one of the two.

Some of the questions I'm thinking about are:

- How easy/difficult is it to get a funded MBA from a company?

- How much will my T20 college not being stem-opt affect recruitment/how difficult will getting a H1B be with only 1 year to stay in the US?

- Is the consulting industry in India growing at a good enough pace that I will be able to get a good ROI from a M7 MBA, or will I have to stay in the US to maximise my return?

- How different is MBA as compared to an UG in terms of experience?

From the people I have talked to, I have understood that plans may change and the world might be a different place 10 years from now, but I think I still need to make a decision based on some kind of plans at the very least.

Also, most of my research about these industries has come from online research and talking to people in the consulting field in India, so please do correct me if I have said something wrong in my post. Thank you for taking your to read.

3 Comments
 

speaking as an American who went abroad for undergrad — American undergrad is the way to go if you want to work in America in the immediate future. 

 

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