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| Gyaneshwor | Posted
on 31-Jul-03 07:52 AM
http://www.collegejournal.com/mbacenter/mbatrack/20030214-alsop.html Doors Are Closed For International M.B.A.s By RON ALSOP Special to CollegeJournal.com It's a moment Peter Veruki won't soon forget. Two M.B.A. students from China were conferring with him about their dead-end job search last spring when they suddenly broke down in tears. The two women at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Management had impressive entrance-exam scores and grades, plus one had earned a doctorate degree in biosciences and the other, a master's degree in economics. How was it, they asked Mr. Veruki, that they couldn't even manage to get on the interview schedules of campus recruiters? They were devastated to be treated so coldly by recruiters. Mr. Veruki, executive director of admissions and career planning at the Houston school, tried to explain the effects of the economic downturn and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on recruiting, but he felt terrible that he couldn't offer the women any consolation. Mr. Veruki told me about his distressing experience to help explain why the number of foreign students declined so much this year at the Jones School. About 21% of its first-year students are foreign, compared with nearly 30% of its second-year class. "I felt I had a moral obligation to reduce the number of international students," Mr. Veruki says, "with companies acting in such a nationalistic way by refusing to even look at talented foreign students for U.S. jobs." As if tougher student visa policies and stiffer competition from U.S. applicants weren't enough, M.B.A. hopefuls from abroad also are finding it harder to win admission to American business schools because of the continued recruiting slump. Like Rice, some schools are purposely limiting the number of international students because they currently have such limited career opportunities in the U.S. During the boom years of the 1990s, some schools clearly allowed the percentage of foreign students to spiral too high, sometimes exceeding that of U.S. students. Now, schools aren't meeting the needs of the many recruiters who will hire only domestic students. Nor are they satisfying foreign students who want to stay in the U.S. after graduation. "It's just not fair or ethical bringing international students here thinking the streets are paved with gold," says Lisa McGurn, assistant dean for career management at the University of Rochester's Simon Graduate School of Business Administration. Rochester has slashed the percentage of foreign students: The first-year class is 37% international, compared with 55% a few years ago. Schools also are well aware that they need to keep recruiters happy, now more than ever. "You make it difficult for companies to want to come back to campus if you have 40% or 50% international students and they are looking only for Americans," says Tom Kozicki, director of the M.B.A. career-resource center at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The Marshall School has become more rigorous in screening foreign applicants on their English skills and the quality of past work experience. Consequently, just 21% of Marshall's first-year students come from abroad, compared with 27% of the second-year class. About 40% of the students at the University of Connecticut School of Business in Storrs are international, still a high number, but much less than the 56% a few years ago. Connecticut is trying to pick the most employable foreign applicants -- those with a strong business background rather than experience in government and not-for-profit organizations, as well as people with expertise in information-technology or engineering. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Business ended up with fewer international students in the first-year class -- 43%, compared with 47% in the second-year group and 50% in the graduating class of 2002 -- but that was mainly because of a bigger crop of highly qualified U.S. applicants. This year, says Mary Miller, associate dean of the M.B.A. program, "we may purposely have to reduce or be much more selective in the type of international students we admit." -- Mr. Alsop is a Wall Street Journal news editor and senior writer. He also is the editor of "The Wall Street Journal Guide to the Top Business Schools" (Wall Street Journal Books, 2002). His "MBA Track" column appears twice each month exclusively on CollegeJournal.com. More about Mr. Alsop. . . To e-mail questions or comments to him, click here. Home E-mail to a Friend Print-Friendly Format Write to the Editor Top of Page Copyright © 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy. |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 31-Jul-03 08:40 AM
it is obvious for companies giving priority to its country men... |
| Gyaneshwor | Posted
on 31-Jul-03 09:01 AM
Bhunte ji, Not quite as obvious to me. If this article had come from any country besides the US I might have be inclined to think of it as obvious as well. But considering that the US has been a country that has always promoted and rewarded competence and intillegence as opposed to nationality I do not see it quite as being obvious. Take Care. |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 31-Jul-03 03:13 PM
policies here are dynamic ...however, when USA feels more demand for MBAs, definitely most of the qualified MBAs from overseas will be absorbed in job mkt...recently US economy has shown some signs of improvements...let's hope for best |
| Real Matrix | Posted
on 31-Jul-03 08:30 PM
Hello Gyneshwor, As much as the new policies seem to be against the international students, and the job market against international job seekers this act seems to be a very obivious to me. Even though these policies and trends work against me (being international and an MBA student) I think when I look at it from their (Americans) perspective I would do the same and expect my country to do the same. Your comment "But considering that the US has been a country that has always promoted and rewarded competence and intillegence as opposed to nationality I do not see it quite as being obvious" is very true. But think about it this way, with consumer market production moving to Asia especially China, and IT industry outsourcing to India the market in the US has shrunk. Initially US was blessed with large job market which could promote and reward competence and intillegence. With the shrunk market their choices have become very limited hence selective and competitive. Its not like US companies don't hire foreign nationals anymore, its just that it has become more selctive. Don't be dis-heartned by the above article. The B-schools are just reacting to the market so that they can remain marketable. The most important thing for B-schools to stay competitive is to provide their graduates with jobs. Its just that we international students have to be confident and competitive. We have to work really hard to earn the respect of the people in this country. Thats how I think of it. Real Matrix reloaded |