“Harvard will admit you in 4 years, don’t go to run-of-the-mill IIMs” said the partner at the consulting firm I had an offer from

As a 20-year-old in 2013, the words of a senior partner in a consulting firm weighed heavy. Most of my “star” batchmates also believed that US B-Schools are the real deal

“Top IIMs have no diversity. It will be like IIT Bombay. IIM A barely ranks in the top 20. HBS is at the top. Be the world’s best” he added

I ended up going to IIM A anyway

My friends first ended up at consulting firms, living the high life, while I went through small dorm rooms. A few years after I graduated from IIM A, many friends started to get calls from top US B Schools.

As they shared pictures of global-looking classrooms while getting stellar internships, I feared I had made the wrong call

But in 2017, I was beginning to see India transform. When I joined IIM A, startups were nascent. India was a pretender to the superpower title. But I truly believed that India was the future.

Indian business schools would be the gateway

I also underestimated the diversity at IIM A. India isn’t a country but a continent. We’re a sum of different nations and cultures. Just because we grow up in it doesn’t mean it is any less.

As a fresher, the diversity of thinking I saw was incredible

The Indian ecosystem exploded in 2020. Most of my friends in US business schools had their heads turned. Seeing the incredible energy of India compared to the cold divisions in the US, many began to return.

India wasn’t just their home, but the world’s future

Friends also began to realise the significant cost trade-off they made. A 2 Cr loan at 28 is heavy, which was 1/10th at IIM A. Most of my IIM A friends squared their loan in 2-3 years of graduating.

If you intend to come back to India, education in dollars is an albatross around your neck

By 2023, I also began to see friends careers play out over a longer time frame. I was surprised to find those who had returned from the US, and those from top IIMs at the same position.

The ones that remained in the US had an advantage, but it evaporated in India

I can never know how life would have been in the US or would have even made it to a US BSchool. But I learnt that conviction on what will work for you matters the most. Being in India, close to home, in the fastest growing economy was my conviction.

I bet my career on India, and it no longer seems a pretender to the superpower throne