Logo
    Search

    #86 Financing your MBA Abroad & International MBA Loans with Ricardo Fernandez, Insead MBA '06

    enMay 09, 2016

    About this Episode

    How do you plan to finance your MBA? This can be a very challenging process, especially for students from developing countries who have less access to competitive MBA loans. Ricardo Fernandez, Head of Business Development for Prodigy Finance and Insead MBA '06, discusses financing options for students pursuing their MBA outside their home country, as well as how Prodigy is trying to innovate in this underserved marketplace. Prodigy has processed more than $140m USD of loans for over 4,000 MBA students in 112 countries since it launched 9 years ago.

    Darren and Ricardo also talk about the value of the MBA 10 years after graduation and whether MBAs are beneficial for entrepreneurs.

    About Our Guest

    Ricardo Fernandez is Prodigy Finance's Head of Business Development, working between Madrid, London and New York. After getting his MBA from INSEAD he worked in management consulting for 8 years with Accenture, BCG and KPMG. He then shifted his focus to consult for startup companies in the fintech space, and joined the Prodigy Finance team in 2014. Ricardo got a B.Eng Mechanical Engineering and Material Science from UC Berkeley.

    QUESTIONS

    • How can students fund their MBA educations abroad? (3:37)
    • Why was Prodigy started? (8:16)
    • Prodigy's rates, investment model and community benefits (15:35)
    • Last tips for financing your MBA (24:50)
    • Looking back at your career, 10 years after you got your MBA, what is the biggest benefit you’ve gotten from Insead? (27:30)
    • Insead's alumni network and what to look for in alumni networks (29:58)
    • At least 50% of Insead graduates start or run their own company at some point in their career - why do you think that is? Are MBAs conducive or even necessary for startups? (34:14)
    • How do investors view MBAs? (40:00)

    This episode of Touch MBA is brought to you be Prodigy Finance – the leader in education loans for international postgraduate students. Visit prodigyfinance.com to learn more.

    Recent Episodes from The Touch MBA Admissions Podcast

    #220 GLOBIS MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Tomoya Nakamura - "Find Your Kokorozashi"

    #220 GLOBIS MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Tomoya Nakamura - "Find Your Kokorozashi"

    Sometimes, it's hard to differentiate MBA programs. That is not the case with GLOBIS University, Japan's number 1 MBA, which prizes entrepreneurial skills, societal impact, and helping its students find their kokorozashi (personal mission).  

    Professor Tomoya Nakamura, President of GLOBIS USA, discusses what makes the GLOBIS MBA unique, the school's admissions process, career opportunities and more.

    Started by Harvard Business School MBA graduate and entrepreneur Yoshito Hori in 1992 as a single marketing course in Tokyo, GLOBIS has grown to become Japan's largest MBA program, consulting with 60-70% of public Japanese companies with learning hubs in 5 countries. Listen on to learn what makes getting an MBA at GLOBIS - and in Tokyo - unique.

    Topics

    • Introduction to GLOBIS and Tomoya Nakamura (0:00)
    • Program Highlights - What Makes the GLOBIS MBA Unique? (6:30)
    • GLOBIS MBA Admissions & Scholarships - How to Improve Your Chances? (33:30)
    • Career Opportunities after GLOBIS - What to Know & How to Prepare (55:00)

    About Our Guest

    Tomoya Nakamura is President of GLOBIS USA. Tomoya started his professional career at Marubeni Corporation, reorganized an investment company at Advantage Partners (a buyout VC firm), and was the Senior Managing Director of Sun-Life Corporation. He served as Dean of the English MBA Programs at GLOBIS University while also starting the GLOBIS global training business and continues to serve as the main facilitator for various corporate clients. He primarily lectures on leadership, kokorozashi, and globalization.

    Tomoya graduated from the Hitotsubashi University with a Bachelors in Social Studies before getting his MBA from Harvard Business School.

    Show Notes

    Touch MBA's Summary of the GLOBIS Full-time MBA: 

    https://touchmba.com/globis-mba-program-admissions-interview-tomoya-nakamura/

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

    #219 From Military to MBA, Consultant & More with Beau Gresham, NYU Stern MBA '20 - "Find Your Champions"

    #219 From Military to MBA, Consultant & More with Beau Gresham, NYU Stern MBA '20 - "Find Your Champions"

    Beau Gresham, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Mastercard and NYU Stern MBA '20, shares his journey as an applicant, student, and alumni of NYU Stern. How did Beau transition from the military to consulting through the MBA? How was the NYU Stern Full-time MBA experience? How did Beau break into mergers & acquisitions consulting at Deloitte, and then land his current job at Mastercard? And how does Beau view the MBA three years after graduating?

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Beau's Background (4:00)
    • Beau's MBA Application Journey & Lessons: School Selection, GMAT, Career Goals (6:30)
    • MBA Application Resources for Military Veterans (20:30)
    • Beau's #1 Tip: Finding "Champions" (23:30)
    • Beau's NYU Stern MBA Experience (33:30)
    • Breaking into Consulting- How Beau Landed his Internship & Job with Deloitte (39:00) 
    • The NYU Stern Network in NYC & Study Abroad Trips (53:00)
    • Beau's Post-MBA Career with Amazon & Deloitte (1:00:00)
    • Advancing at Deloitte & Transitioning to Mastercard (1:07:00)
    • Beau's Last Tips for Applicants (1:21:00)

    About Our Guest

    Beau Gresham is Director of Strategic Initiatives in Cybersecurity at Mastercard. Previously, Beau worked as a Senior Consultant & Manager in M&A Strategy for Deloitte. Prior to his MBA, Beau served in the US Army in a variety of leadership, operational and combat roles, including as a Company Commander in Afghanistan.

    Beau got his MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business with specializations in Finance, Strategy & Management, his Masters in Management and Leadership from Webster University and his Bachelors in Political Science & Government from the University of South Florida. He currently serves on the Stern Alumni Council.

    Show Notes

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

     

    #218 Lessons from Listeners (Vol. 2): Drawing a Roadmap for Admissions, Prioritizing Conversations, Prematurely Applying, Being Strategic Yet Flexible

    #218 Lessons from Listeners (Vol. 2): Drawing a Roadmap for Admissions, Prioritizing Conversations, Prematurely Applying, Being Strategic Yet Flexible

    Darren shares more hard-earned application lessons from four listeners (now graduated MBAs): drawing a roadmap for the admissions team, prioritizing conversations when picking schools, "prematurely applying" and being strategic yet flexible

    Want to share your hard-earned application lessons? Contact us at https://touchmba.com/contact

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Tips for the Untraditional Applicant - Kate, Texas McCombs MBA (2:30)
    • Rankings Don't Matter. Go Where You'll Find the Conversations You Want to Have - Eileen, Oxford Said MBA (10:00)
    • Five Things I Learned When I Applied to Business School - Anonymous, NYU Stern Tech MBA (13:50)
    • Be Strategic, Yet Adaptable - Jasper, McMaster DeGroote MBA (20:15)

    Show Notes

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

    #217 Lessons from Listeners (Vol. 1): Working for Unknown Companies, Determining Best-Fit Schools, Dealing with Dings

    #217 Lessons from Listeners (Vol. 1): Working for Unknown Companies, Determining Best-Fit Schools, Dealing with Dings

    Touch MBA's goal has always been to offer you evergreen content that will help you shortlist and get into best-fit MBA programs. We invite listeners to share lessons from their MBA application journeys not just on the podcast, but in written form, too. These short reflections are full of timeless application wisdom!

    Darren shares three lessons from three listeners that have stood the test of time: how to overcome working for a relatively unknown company, how to research and find best-fit b-schools, and how to deal with dings.

    Want to share your hard-earned application lessons? Contact us at https://touchmba.com/contact

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Working for an Unknown Company - Daming, Northwestern Kellogg MBA (4:30)
    • Determining Best-Fit Schools - William, Texas McCombs MBA (10:30)
    • Dealing with Dings - Bren, Emory Goizueta MBA (17:30)

    Show Notes

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

     

    #216 The GMAT Focus Episode (GRE, too)

    #216 The GMAT Focus Episode (GRE, too)

    How are top business schools using the GMAT Focus exam, which will replace the GMAT in January 2024? What do you need to score and on which sections? Do schools prefer the GMAT, GMAT Focus, or GRE?

    Darren asks Admissions Directors from two top schools – Toronto Rotman (#1 in Canada by the Financial Times) and IESE (#1 in Spain by the Financial Times) – tough questions about the GMAT Focus test and GRE. Listen on to get your GMAT Focus questions answered and to understand how top b-schools use standardized test scores when making admissions decisions.

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Toronto Rotman MBA - Agnes Mak (4:20)
    • IESE MBA - Tomofumi Nishida (30:20)

    About Our Guests

    Agnes Mak is the Assistant Director, Recruitment & Admissions managing the East Asia region for the Full-Time MBA program at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. She has over 20 years of professional experience in higher education and business advisory. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, she was a Partner at KPMG Canada and held numerous leadership roles to attract and promote international talent.

    Tomofumi Nishida is Deputy Director (Asia, MBA Admissions) for IESE Business School, where he has been since 2016. Prior to IESE, Tomo worked for NTT DOCOMO as a strategic investment analyst and account manager in corporate sales. Tomo got his B.A. in Occidental History from the University of Tokyo and MBA from IESE.

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

    #215 Frankfurt School of Finance & Management MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Dr. Adrian Buss

    #215 Frankfurt School of Finance & Management MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Dr. Adrian Buss

    Professor Adrian Buss, Associate Professor of Finance and Academic Director of MBA Programs at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, discusses what makes the Frankfurt School’s MBA unique, the school’s admissions process, career opportunities and more.

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Program Highlights – What Makes the Frankfurt School MBA Unique? (4:20)
    • Frankfurt School MBA Admissions & Scholarships – How to Improve Your Chances? (20:45)
    • Career Opportunities after Frankfurt School – What to Know & How to Prepare (36:15)

    About Our Guest

    Dr. Adrian Buss is Associate Professor of Finance and Academic Director of MBA Programs at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Prior to joining the Frankfurt School, Adrian taught as an Associate Professor of Finance at Insead for over 10 years.

    Adrian graduated from the University of Mannheim with a Masters of Science in Mathematics and Business Informatics before getting his PhD in Finance at Goethe University Frankfurt.

    Show Notes

    Touch MBA's Summary of the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management Full-time MBA: 

    https://touchmba.com/frankfurt-school-finance-management-mba-program-admissions-interview-adrian-buss/

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

    #214 Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Prof. Wan Wongsunwai

    #214 Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Prof. Wan Wongsunwai

    Professor Wan Wongsunwai, Associate Dean of MBA Programmes and Director of MBA Programmes at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School, discusses what makes the CUHK MBA unique, the school's admissions process, career opportunities and more.

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Program Highlights - What Makes the CUHK MBA Unique? (4:30)
    • CUHK MBA Admissions & Scholarships - How to Improve Your Chances? (27:30)
    • Career Opportunities after CUHK Business School - What to Know & How to Prepare (47:20)

    About Our Guest

    Professor Wan Wongsunwai is Associate Dean of MBA Programmes and Director of MBA Programmes at CUHK Business School, where he has worked for over 7 years. His research interests include financial reporting quality, corporate governance, entrepreneurship and private equity. Before coming to CUHK, he taught and researched at Insead and Northwestern Kellogg

    Professor Wan earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics at Imperial College and later received his Doctor of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. Prior to obtaining his doctoral degree, he worked at KPMG in London, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Hong Kong and then as an equity analyst with ABN AMRO Bank in Hong Kong, covering software and information technology.

    Show Notes

    Touch MBA Episode write-up and overview of the CUHK Full-time MBA: 

    https://touchmba.com/chinese-university-of-hong-kong-cuhk-mba-program-admissions-interview-wan-wongsunwai

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

    #213 Duke University Fuqua MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Shari Hubert

    #213 Duke University Fuqua MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Shari Hubert

    Shari Hubert, Associate Dean of Admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, discusses what makes the Duke Fuqua MBA unique, the school’s admissions process, career opportunities and more.

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Program Highlights – What Makes the Duke Fuqua Daytime MBA Unique? (6:55)
    • Duke Fuqua MBA Admissions & Scholarships – How to Improve Your Chances? (29:10)
    • Career Opportunities after Duke Fuqua – What to Know & How to Prepare (59:30)

    About Our Guest

    Shari Hubert is Associate Dean of Admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She has been with Duke for 6 years. Previously, Shari served as Associate Dean of Admissions at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business as well as Director of Recruitment for the Peace Corps. Shari has also worked at Citi, GE, NBC Universal, The Boston Consulting Group and Merck in a variety of recruiting, consulting and marketing roles.

    Shari graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA and majored in French at Dartmouth University as an undergraduate. She serves on a number of HBS Alumni Boards, Pyxera’s Global Board of Directors and is a Forte Partner Advisory Council Member.

    Show Notes

    Touch MBA Episode write-up and snapshot/stats of the Duke Fuqua Daytime MBA: 

    https://touchmba.com/duke-fuqua-mba-program-admissions-interview-shari-hubert

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

    #212 Georgia Tech Scheller MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Jonathan Clarke

    #212 Georgia Tech Scheller MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Jonathan Clarke

    "We pride ourselves in being at the center of business and technology... We've asked employers, 'How would you describe our students?' and most often the words we get back are 'humble, hardworking and good problem solvers.' I think that's fantastic and that's how I would describe our students as well."

    Dr. Jonathan Clarke, Interim Dean at Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business, discusses what makes the Scheller MBA unique, the school's admissions process, career opportunities and more.

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Program Highlights - What Makes the Georgia Tech Scheller MBA Unique? (4:00)
    • Scheller MBA Admissions & Scholarships - How to Improve Your Chances? (17:20)
    • Career Opportunities after Georgia Tech Scheller - What to Know & How to Prepare (32:20)

    About Jonathan

    Jonathan Clarke is Interim Dean and Associate Professor of Finance at Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business. From 2012-2018, Dr. Clarke served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, where he helped raise the school's profile. Dr. Clarke was named to the Poets and Quants 2018 list of Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors, and also voted the 2009 and 2013 MBA Core Professor of the Year. He has taught custom programs for NCR, Clorox, Georgia Pacific, Lockheed Martin, and the National Football League. Dr. Clarke is on the board of the Eastern Finance Association, on the editorial board of The Financial Review, and edits the Handbook of Modern Finance.

    Dr. Clarke received his PhD from the Katz Graduate School of Business and the University of Pittsburgh and his undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Indiana University in Bloomington.

    Show Notes

    Episode write-up and snapshot/stats of the Georgia Tech Scheller MBA: https://touchmba.com/georgia-tech-scheller-mba-program-admissions-interview-jonathan-clarke/

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

    #211 Vanderbilt MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Sue Oldham

    #211 Vanderbilt MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Sue Oldham

    Sue Oldham, Associate Dean at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management, discusses what makes the Vanderbilt MBA unique, the school's admissions process, career opportunities and more.

    Topics

    • Introduction (0:00)
    • Program Highlights - What Makes the Vanderbilt MBA Unique? (4:40)
    • Vanderbilt MBA Admissions & Scholarships - How to Improve Your Chances? (19:30)
    • Career Opportunities at Vanderbilt - What to Know & How to Prepare (39:45)

    About Sue

    Sue Oldham is Associate Dean at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management, where she is responsible for recruiting and admissions, enrollment management, academic and student affairs, and the career management center. Previously, she worked at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business as Executive Director of Recruiting & Admissions and Alumni Engagement. Before jumping into higher education, she worked over 10 years as a consultant. Sue got her B.A. in English from Rice and her MBA from Vanderbilt.

    Show Notes

    Episode write-up and snapshot/stats of Vanderbilt MBA: https://touchmba.com/vanderbilt-mba-program-admissions-interview-sue-oldham

    Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com