Dude, every post of yours is about Skema. Stop it!

Let me take a crack at it. You are asking between a fried chicken diet (SMU) and pizza diet (skema etc.) for losing weight (post MBA success). Doctors would recommend a grilled salmon diet with veggie (known brands MBA).

Now do all people who have grilled salmon lose weight? No, but chances are high that you'll lose weight. Do all people who eat fried chicken and/or pizza lose weight? well some do many don't.

Some people find fried chicken better, some find pizza better. Some don't have the money to buy salmon or the skills to grill it. Buying pizza is cheap and convenient.
You know some people who have lost weight on a fried chicken/pizza diet and you know some who have not.
Will you lose weight on a fried chicken diet? I guess the only way for you to find out is when you start eating. I would still suggest stick to salmon.

Let me take a crack at it. You are asking between a fried chicken diet (SMU) and pizza diet (skema etc.) for losing weight (post MBA success). Doctors would recommend a grilled salmon diet with veggie (known brands MBA).

Now do all people who have grilled salmon lose weight? No, but chances are high that you'll lose weight. Do all people who eat fried chicken and/or pizza lose weight? well some do many don't.

Some people find fried chicken better, some find pizza better. Some don't have the money to buy salmon or the skills to grill it. Buying pizza is cheap and convenient.
You know some people who have lost weight on a fried chicken/pizza diet and you know some who have not.
Will you lose weight on a fried chicken diet? I guess the only way for you to find out is when you start eating. I would still suggest stick to salmon.

Sorry but all these brands are pretty well known for their msc finance. Skema is in the top 10 of the ft. UCD is in the top 20. Cranfield is in the top 30. SMU is also a top regional school which is well known in the US.

Let me take a crack at it. You are asking between a fried chicken diet (SMU) and pizza diet (skema etc.) for losing weight (post MBA success). Doctors would recommend a grilled salmon diet with veggie (known brands MBA).

Now do all people who have grilled salmon lose weight? No, but chances are high that you'll lose weight. Do all people who eat fried chicken and/or pizza lose weight? well some do many don't.

Some people find fried chicken better, some find pizza better. Some don't have the money to buy salmon or the skills to grill it. Buying pizza is cheap and convenient.
You know some people who have lost weight on a fried chicken/pizza diet and you know some who have not.
Will you lose weight on a fried chicken diet? I guess the only way for you to find out is when you start eating. I would still suggest stick to salmon.

Typical Indian response dismissing what you have no knowledge about lol

Let me take a crack at it. You are asking between a fried chicken diet (SMU) and pizza diet (skema etc.) for losing weight (post MBA success). Doctors would recommend a grilled salmon diet with veggie (known brands MBA).

Now do all people who have grilled salmon lose weight? No, but chances are high that you'll lose weight. Do all people who eat fried chicken and/or pizza lose weight? well some do many don't.

Some people find fried chicken better, some find pizza better. Some don't have the money to buy salmon or the skills to grill it. Buying pizza is cheap and convenient.
You know some people who have lost weight on a fried chicken/pizza diet and you know some who have not.
Will you lose weight on a fried chicken diet? I guess the only way for you to find out is when you start eating. I would still suggest stick to salmon.

Sorry but all these brands are pretty well known for their msc finance. Skema is in the top 10 of the ft. UCD is in the top 20. Cranfield is in the top 30. SMU is also a top regional school which is well known in the US.

Even if Skema was #1 in FT it wouldn't change the value proposition it imparts on your profile. Take SMU for example. Strong regional school. What will you do after you graduate from SMU? Take FT, US News or any other ranking to a recruiter and say "Hire me"? "Sure I understand it will cost your company $2000 including USCIS filing fee non-premium and attorney fee, and the added uncertainty but hey don't hire the american undergrad with a finance major and economy minor who has MFin now and work authorization. Hire me because ..... ?"

Business Analytics is a different story. US needs techie or people who can run some sort of tool. Decades ago that tool was Excel, today it's Hadoop, tomorrow it will be ML. Don't see BA placement figure and sample size of 2 of MFin to base your argument. Talk to as many Indian students you can who graduated since 2013. See how many of them have climbed the corporate ladder? How many of them are held hostage with H1B et el and running sort of tool still. How many are in a position to hire and/or call the shots? How many Indians came back to campus after 3,5,7,10 years to hire?

International mobility of someone with a Australian passport is way different than Indian passport. I always advice people not to mix up immigration and education. Schools you mentioned will provide you with education no doubt. Immigration and hiring is determined by macroeconomics factors.
FT ranked Chinese and South Korean B schools as well. What will that do for an Indian or an Argentinian student?

If CFA is helping you get into your desired role, then do CFA. Why waste time and money in masters? I would beg to differ that narrowing down to UK/Ireland/US is not narrow enough. STEM designated or not. You'll be at mercy of USCIS each time you'll have to apply for i-539 or i983. STEM OPT doesn't guarantee work authorization.

Let me take a crack at it. You are asking between a fried chicken diet (SMU) and pizza diet (skema etc.) for losing weight (post MBA success). Doctors would recommend a grilled salmon diet with veggie (known brands MBA).

Now do all people who have grilled salmon lose weight? No, but chances are high that you'll lose weight. Do all people who eat fried chicken and/or pizza lose weight? well some do many don't.

Some people find fried chicken better, some find pizza better. Some don't have the money to buy salmon or the skills to grill it. Buying pizza is cheap and convenient.
You know some people who have lost weight on a fried chicken/pizza diet and you know some who have not.
Will you lose weight on a fried chicken diet? I guess the only way for you to find out is when you start eating. I would still suggest stick to salmon.

Typical Indian response dismissing what you have no knowledge about lol

Welcome to Find-MBA marcus1121 and thank you for your insight

Let me take a crack at it. You are asking between a fried chicken diet (SMU) and pizza diet (skema etc.) for losing weight (post MBA success). Doctors would recommend a grilled salmon diet with veggie (known brands MBA).

Now do all people who have grilled salmon lose weight? No, but chances are high that you'll lose weight. Do all people who eat fried chicken and/or pizza lose weight? well some do many don't.

Some people find fried chicken better, some find pizza better. Some don't have the money to buy salmon or the skills to grill it. Buying pizza is cheap and convenient.
You know some people who have lost weight on a fried chicken/pizza diet and you know some who have not.
Will you lose weight on a fried chicken diet? I guess the only way for you to find out is when you start eating. I would still suggest stick to salmon.

Sorry but all these brands are pretty well known for their msc finance. Skema is in the top 10 of the ft. UCD is in the top 20. Cranfield is in the top 30. SMU is also a top regional school which is well known in the US.

Even if Skema was #1 in FT it wouldn't change the value proposition it imparts on your profile. Take SMU for example. Strong regional school. What will you do after you graduate from SMU? Take FT, US News or any other ranking to a recruiter and say "Hire me"? "Sure I understand it will cost your company $2000 including USCIS filing fee non-premium and attorney fee, and the added uncertainty but hey don't hire the american undergrad with a finance major and economy minor who has MFin now and work authorization. Hire me because ..... ?"

Business Analytics is a different story. US needs techie or people who can run some sort of tool. Decades ago that tool was Excel, today it's Hadoop, tomorrow it will be ML. Don't see BA placement figure and sample size of 2 of MFin to base your argument. Talk to as many Indian students you can who graduated since 2013. See how many of them have climbed the corporate ladder? How many of them are held hostage with H1B et el and running sort of tool still. How many are in a position to hire and/or call the shots? How many Indians came back to campus after 3,5,7,10 years to hire?

International mobility of someone with a Australian passport is way different than Indian passport. I always advice people not to mix up immigration and education. Schools you mentioned will provide you with education no doubt. Immigration and hiring is determined by macroeconomics factors.
FT ranked Chinese and South Korean B schools as well. What will that do for an Indian or an Argentinian student?

If CFA is helping you get into your desired role, then do CFA. Why waste time and money in masters? I would beg to differ that narrowing down to UK/Ireland/US is not narrow enough. STEM designated or not. You'll be at mercy of USCIS each time you'll have to apply for i-539 or i983. STEM OPT doesn't guarantee work authorization.

I have sent you a PM. Could you tell me a better option then? I can't get into LBS or HEC hence I have these schools available. I have talked to a lot of Indians in the US. Everyone seems to have a different story. There are people from ASU mfin who have done well at JP Morgan and then there are people from Northwestern who returned home and are working at a startup in Mumbai so idk what to base my decision on. Kindly reply to the PM if you have the time.

I think you hit on a really good point: that there's never going to be 100% certainty with whichever school you choose. I mean, I'm sure that there are Harvard MBA grads who end up returning home because they can't find work in the US. It happens.

What I am trying to explain is that the placement statistics of a school particularly in the United States is a sample (snapshot) of time. Same goes for feedback given by students that is taken inconsideration by ranking agencies.

The political climate in the US has changed. In 2001, everyone who came to US got post study work permit - H1B. The number of people applying for H1B was less than the quota.
In mid 2000's the Demand vs Supply dynamics changed. More people started applying for H1B visas than there were slots (annual cap of 65,000 + 20,000) and thus USCIS started conducting Lottery.
In 2015, the year I graduated there were over 200,000 applicants for H1B for 85,000 or so visas. You understand the probability of getting picked in that lottery right?

Well getting picked (or not) in lottery is one thing. What companies got scared from is risk. A company goes through the trouble of posting a job and hiring a resource. That takes money, engaging HR, onboarding, training a resource etc. No one hits the ground running. On top of that pay $$ associated with H1B fees to USCIS and by the way hire a lawyer and pay fees as well. What if the application is not selected in the lottery? All that effort and money is down the drain for the company. Right?
So firms started rejecting candidates outright in the application process. They are simply not willing to take the risk for jobs that can be filled by US work force easily. Finance, Operations, Project Management, Marketing.
One area where there aren't sufficient candidates in US workforce is the tech sector. By extension Analytics. In such cases firms are willing to take the risk of losing money by virtue of a candidate's H1B not getting selected. Since they can't find resources with that skill set easily in US.

STEM OPT extension simply opens up a way for you to work for 2 additional years on top of 1 year default. You will still need to find an employer to sponsor your work permit. STEM OPT is little less risky as the company gets 3 tries (1 application each year) for your H1B petition to be picked in the lottery. In view of some companies that's still a risk they are unwilling to take.

School brand name can help you land an interview and maybe even get into a company. But you'll be on borrowed time in the US. To give an example, In my organization I had colleagues - first, an Indian who graduated from Tuck - Dartmouth; - second, an Venezuelan who graduated from Boston University. Both had to leave US since their H1B wasn't picked up in the lottery in 2017. Remember they found work, my firm took that risk but they had to return home. This was too painful. Company I worked for has since stopped recruiting candidates who need H1B sponsorship. We are not the only ones who has stopped hiring students needing H1B/GC.

Personally, I was lucky that before I graduated I not only had a job but also my H1B was picked up in the lottery. After working on H1B for 2 years I decided I don't want to live in US due to long wait times and uncertainty with Green card and path to citizenship. I moved to Canada in 2018.

With SMU MFin, understand what you are getting into. If the financial risk is acceptable to you then SMU provides wonderful education. My friend from undergrad did his MBA from SMU and is now working in NYC in Marketing Analytics. While he enjoyed his time there, he had to go through the same struggle as every other Indian (international) student trying to land a job in US.

Good luck!

That's a great overview of the situation. 200,000 applications for 85,000 visas means less than 50% odds. Not great, but not terrible either. Having the STEM extension and a company that supports you means fairly good chances, but again nothing is certain!