Thanks Abhishek.. but my admit e-mail clearly says that there is an option for online payment . But i dont find anything there... 
.. I have sent them an e-mail regarding this and am waiting for a response... lets see .. i guess ill try to get the draft done neways .. seems like a safer approach 😁
hey!!! .. I have also got an admit for the S3 Asia program. I am pretty inclined to take it up ...had a few questions regarding it
1. What about the medium of instruction ? I am assuming it is english , but some people told me to ascertain that before I accepted the offer. Are we SURE that there will be no communication gaps while studying in China and Korea??
2. What about cost of laptop etc? Is that included in the estimated expenses they have given ? Atleast I did not see it in the FAQ's. Also, is there any specific configuration ? And are there tie ups between the university and the laptop manufacturers so that students get better deals ? or does it make sense to buy one frm India itself ?
3. I tried to click on the link for online payment, but it opened up my application homepage in which the status still says interview and I did not find any link to pay. Have any of u paid online ??? Making a draft and all is a BIG overhead :sad:
4. The admit e-mail from April Ngern says that the tentative date of orientation is 28th july and that the program commences on august 29th . I am a little confused regarding this.if orientation is on 28th july , does that mean tat i have to be in Shanghai by then ? And if so, what will we do for one complete month !!! - this has kinda psyched me out since I have not even resigned yet !
5. Are there any gals who have accepted this till now? or am i gonna be d first one ??? 😛 ( this ones not gonna change my decision , just asking for information 😉 )
Please Help !!! And pray tat online payment thing works.. i gotta accept and send all the stuff by 26th june !!! No TIME :crazyeye:
Hi Pragnya
Don't mind my short answers - am in a little hurry
1) medium of instruction -english
2) laptop - preferable to get your own. it is not covered in the fees. About tie-ups between univs and manufacturers, good point - best to ask the univ themselves.
3) link for online payment - I had the same problem too. Just send a mail to April and Richard (NUS admissions folks)...and they'll enable it.
4) dates of the course - please see : A-MBA
5) there are other "gals" (you seem to be the only Indian gal though) .....get into the S3 yahoo groups: http://www.s3-asiamba.com/listener.do and you will see many of the other candidates who have joined.
- Ashwin
Prags.. I made an online payment a couple of days back and it worked fine for me. I guess it has got something to do with your status.. It should be "offer made" and not "interview". check with Richard about it.
yeah.. I sent an e-mail to them , and they then changed the status to "Offer Made"... now the credit card payment link shows up properly .. 😃
What's the latest news with S3 Asia? Is the course doing well?
Where are the Puys who went there?
Is it worth applying to?
All these questions and MORE!
What's the latest news with S3 Asia? Is the course doing well?
Where are the Puys who went there?
Is it worth applying to?
All these questions and MORE!
Hi Sharan,
Well, most of the people who have posted on this thread till date are very much alive and are a part of the first cohort at S3 Asia MBA...
My views here are absolutely my own and others might share differing views:
In one line...the course rocks!
That conclusion is drawn out of different factors: 3 different locations, small class-size (31) with equivalent representation of 5 nationalities and getting the best of business education in 3 rising asian companies.
As ours is the first batch - there were a lot of teething problems - come on....its logistically an impossible task for 3 universities in 3 culturally-diverse countries to come together and form one course. Plus we didn't have any seniors to fallback upon for info...!
The main concern that most of the students had in the first semester was getting winter internships - which is very rare.....however, all the students who opted for internships managed to get them - that too with a lot of help from KUBS...hence, most of them interned in S. Korea before the start of the 2nd batch. Some students opted to intern in their home countries (for me, India) and some just decided to take a personal break and spend time at home.
OK, some hard facts - the course content at Fudan wasn't the best....we were somewhat disappointed. Maybe that was also a result of ours being the first batch. We have been giving a lot of feedback to the program management and they are working on improving the content. However, since the day our 2nd semester started in KUBS, we've not had the time o breathe - my opinion of the program has taken a quantum leap and am sure of the success of this program.
KUBS is a highly professional university with excellent professors, mix of class room lectures and case study analyses, and good curriculum.
I don' think we need to discuss NUS here as there are zillions of forums to receive feedback here.
Hope this info helps....!
Keep posting your questions here, we'll try our best to answer them - asap!
Regards,
Abhinav
PS: It is a misconception that vegetarians cannot survive in China/Korea - our class has 6 indian, vegetarian students....and they are very much surviving...! 😃
Hey Abhi,
Thank you so much for replying, that too so fast.
The more I know about S3, the more I'm starting to lean towards it.
I'm looking at a very Asia focused career, as a strategy person and later on, an entrepreneur.
I've emailed NUS to find out if I can apply for both the NUS MBA and S3, cause I don't have all the information right now to pick just one.
If you have the time I'd like to talk to you and find out more about the program.
Please PM me your contact details and when would be a good time to get in touch with you.
Thank you,
Sharan
Btw- I'm Non-vegetarian.. Muahahahahah.. MEAT!
EDIT:
Ok, I think it would be a good idea to add questions here, so that everyone can read their answers.
1. What do you think was the problem at Fudan?
2. Do you feel the small class size can be a disadvantage for Networking?
3. What kind of exposure does the class get to business in the 3 countries?
4. How do the colleges help you network in each country?
5. How did the colleges help you settle down and familiarize yourself with each new country? (personally, I wouldn't need them to help, I like exploring things. But it's good to know what signs mean - Monkey Brain Hot Dog. Some people don't like Monkey brains)
6. How do you see your job opportunities unfolding? How are their placement cells?
7. What's the class like? From which countries? Profiles?
8. How are the Entrepreneurship courses?
9. In your own words - Could you tell us more about S3, why you like it, why you chose it, and why you would recommend it.
Thank you again,
-Sharan
Hey Sharan,
I am not sure if abhi has already replied to your queries directly. But just in case if he hasn't -
1. There was no particular problem as such. I would call it differences of expectations.. It seems that our Chinese classmates didn't have any problem with the 1st sem..
2. Smaller the class, stronger the bonds within.. moreover we get to interact with students from other MBA classes in respective universities..
3. Our curriculum is structured in a different way.. we will study business in asia all the 3 semesters.. As far as meeting with industry ppl is concerned, not much activity on this front so far but we expect a lot of from KU in this semester..
4. you can participate in the events organized by the respective univs.. Fudan couldn't prove of much help because most of the events were in Chinese although everyone was considerate enough to recognise our presence.. but thats about it... :)
5. You can count on all the 3 universities on this front.. The burden is more on them than on us.. We are getting special treatment everywhere.. ;-)
6. I will keep mum on this topic, thanks to the global recession... One thing is for sure.. we will not have any different fate than regular MBA folks..
7. 5 countries.. India, China, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, USA..profiles are as different as they can be (except us Indians.. hehehe.. most of us are obviously from IT)... overall a good mix of students...
8. Will have them in the 3rd sem as electives..
9. Asia MBA is anytime better because of the sheer scale of "Asian business" exposure..
I agree with Abhi when he says his perception about the course has changed since the time he has come to KU.. Most of our classmates have the same opinion...
There is nothing to lose by selecting this course. Its pure gain... an open field.. What to gain and how much to gain is upto you..
Cheers!
Gaurav.
Hey Abhi,
Thank you so much for replying, that too so fast.
The more I know about S3, the more I'm starting to lean towards it.
I'm looking at a very Asia focused career, as a strategy person and later on, an entrepreneur.
I've emailed NUS to find out if I can apply for both the NUS MBA and S3, cause I don't have all the information right now to pick just one.
If you have the time I'd like to talk to you and find out more about the program.
Please PM me your contact details and when would be a good time to get in touch with you.
Thank you,
Sharan
Btw- I'm Non-vegetarian.. Muahahahahah.. MEAT!
EDIT:
Ok, I think it would be a good idea to add questions here, so that everyone can read their answers.
1. What do you think was the problem at Fudan?
2. Do you feel the small class size can be a disadvantage for Networking?
3. What kind of exposure does the class get to business in the 3 countries?
4. How do the colleges help you network in each country?
5. How did the colleges help you settle down and familiarize yourself with each new country? (personally, I wouldn't need them to help, I like exploring things. But it's good to know what signs mean - Monkey Brain Hot Dog. Some people don't like Monkey brains)
6. How do you see your job opportunities unfolding? How are their placement cells?
7. What's the class like? From which countries? Profiles?
8. How are the Entrepreneurship courses?
9. In your own words - Could you tell us more about S3, why you like it, why you chose it, and why you would recommend it.
Thank you again,
-Sharan
Hi guys,
I am interested in both Nanyang and NUS MBA programmes, in particular in the NTU-Waseda and NUS-PKU or S3 ASIA MBA. I have a good technical background and working experiences. I want to improve my managerial skills by doing an MBA. My mid-term goals are working for an European company in Asia. What do you suggest me and why? what about the career possibility (recruiters, salary, ROI)?
Are there any students or alumni of those programmes?
Thanks
V.
I am interested in both Nanyang and NUS MBA programmes, in particular in the NTU-Waseda and NUS-PKU or S3 ASIA MBA. I have a good technical background and working experiences. I want to improve my managerial skills by doing an MBA. My mid-term goals are working for an European company in Asia. What do you suggest me and why? what about the career possibility (recruiters, salary, ROI)?
Are there any students or alumni of those programmes?
Thanks
V.
Hi V,
Congrats on getting so many offers. The choice of program depends on your future career choice...
If you want to specifically work in China alone - then you can apply for the PKU-NUS or S3 Asia MBA program. The S3 program has better reach in the sense you get to experience 3 dynamic cultures - China, Korea and Singapore.
If you want a career in Asia, I would strongly recommend one of these double degree programs where you study in multiple locations.
Btw, I forgot to mention, I'm from the first cohort of the S3 Asia MBA :)
Regards,
Abhinav
Hi Abhinav,
many thanks for your helpful answers!
Do you know anything about NTU-Waseda program? or have you heard something from your network? I mean about the ranking and/or opinion of recruiters.
I have found (i think) both your linkein profile and also your blog. May I contact you and ask your feedback on S3? if yes, could you provide me with your email?
I need some information before proceding with the acceptance.
many thanks!
Hi Guys,
Hope the people who joined S3Asia are doing fine . I am too interested about the course . can anyone tell me about the placement prospects , ROI and acceptability of this course in Asia and abroad .
Thanks
Hi Folks,
I am writing this post as a current student of the S3 Asia MBA program. The main intent of this post is to give you - the prospective candidates - some updates from ground zero about the course and try to address some general queries that they might have.
Having said that, I completely understand your situation as I had the same queries when I was selected for this program about a year back. In retrospect, it seems that most of those fears were exaggerated. Most of us have this fear of ROI when we invest anywhere, especially in a somewhat expensive course like the S3 Asia MBA. Before you finalize your decision, I would recommend that you do an analysis of your expectations from an MBA degree. There are a lot of b-schools to choose from and, to be frank, it's the R part of ROI is directly proportional to the I! 😃 That is, depending upon how much you choose to invest in your own education will decide what kind of returns it gives you. And please bear in mind that the investment is not just in terms of course fees and expenses. it is also inclusive of the amount you would make while working if you chose not to pursue any course, the increase in your work experience, onsite opportunities etc, as well as, on the plus side, the exposure you will receive in the course.
In my opinion, the USP of the S3 Asia MBA course is the amount, quality and variety of exposure it provides. It simply changes the way you look at things around you and believe me, if you are interested in Asian Business as you have mentioned, this course might turn out to be the best decision you ever make!
Let me elaborate a little on how this course changes your thinking. First, since you get to travel to three cities very different from each other, you get to see how China, South Korea and Singapore work. As much as these cities are greatly different from each other, they are poles apart from the way things work in India. Also, since your classmates come from different countries, mostly in Asia, their inputs, both inside the class and outside it, go a long way in helping you develop a close understanding of the Asia Business Scenario.
After the exposure, comes the quality of teaching. All the three universities are among the best in Asia and highly recognized globally. If you do a little research, you will come to know the kind of rapport these universities have in the industry. This is a direct outcome of the way they design course material, appoint faculty and conduct classes. I am about halfway through the course and have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of teaching I have received so far.
In any b-school, an important part of your learning comes through peer interaction. If you study in India, your classmates, professors and society consists of mostly Indians. Since we all come from the same social system, our outlook, opinions etc are largely similar. on the other hand, in a program like the S3 Asia MBA, everyone have their own way of thinking and as you listen to them and learn, you also prepare yourself for future when you might have to deal with clients and colleagues from these societies. Needless to say, it also makes you appreciate how diverse and amazing Asia - which is going to be the economic driver of the 21st century - is.
Now let me try and address the core of your concerns, i.e. the ROI. In terms of hard money, the course is slightly on the expensive side, especially if you compare it to the tier-II b-schools in India. I say tier-II because ISB, IIM - A and B end up charging you somewhat similar fees. If you compare the fees to the American or European B-schools, the fee and the overall cost is much lower. For the placement information you can contact the placement offices or websites of NUS since I do not have any information but as far as I know, everyone has been placed and people are quite happy with what they have received. Since my batch is still in the second semester, we have not started worrying about that as of now. But all three universities are extremely respected, well-connected and proactive in getting the students placed.
Regarding the choice of your second degree, the program gives you enough time to see things and then make an informed decision when you are ready. So don't worry about that until you sign up for the course. All I can tell you is that it is a really difficult choice since both Fudan and KUBS have extremely attractive incentives! 😃 About the interview, just be yourself and try to have a clear cut idea of your career goals and your expectations from the course.
Hope I have answered some of your questions. In case you have any further queries, feel free to PM me anytime. Ill try to respond to the best of my capabilities.
Best,
-dreamer1811
Hi Folks,
I am writing this post as a current student of the S3 Asia MBA program. The main intent of this post is to give you - the prospective candidates - some updates from ground zero about the course and try to address some general queries that they might have.
Hope I have answered some of your questions. In case you have any further queries, feel free to PM me anytime. Ill try to respond to the best of my capabilities.
Best,
-dreamer1811
Hi dreamer,
Awesome post 😃 Thanks for the info. Im shortlisted for the S3 interview and may have it in the next couple of weeks. What according to you is the adcoms expectation? Thorough understanding of Asian economy? Any further inputs about the same would really be helpful. Thanks 😃
Hi dreamer,
Awesome post 😃 Thanks for the info. Im shortlisted for the S3 interview and may have it in the next couple of weeks. What according to you is the adcoms expectation? Thorough understanding of Asian economy? Any further inputs about the same would really be helpful. Thanks :)
hey reconadi,
congrats on getting a call. like i said in my post, adcom mainly focuses on how well you know what you want and how this course can help you get there. for me the questions mainly concerned stuff like why this course, what are your expectations etc. but as the course matures, i think the adcom might expect the candidates to be more in tune with socioeconomic developments in Asia. but please bear in mind that this is just my guess.
Good luck! :)
-dreamer1811
hey reconadi,
congrats on getting a call. like i said in my post, adcom mainly focuses on how well you know what you want and how this course can help you get there. for me the questions mainly concerned stuff like why this course, what are your expectations etc. but as the course matures, i think the adcom might expect the candidates to be more in tune with socioeconomic developments in Asia. but please bear in mind that this is just my guess.
Good luck! :)
-dreamer1811
Thanks man..Can you give an idea of class composition. Course rigour in general and your experience in Fudan and KUBS till now?
reconadi SaysThanks man..Can you give an idea of class composition. Course rigour in general and your experience in Fudan and KUBS till now?
since each of the three universities recruit select their own students, the class profile is quite evenly distributed across them. reg the experience, please read my original post.
dreamer1811 Sayssince each of the three universities recruit select their own students, the class profile is quite evenly distributed across them. reg the experience, please read my original post.
What is the number of students in the program in your batch? How many Indians?
Thanks.
What is the number of students in the program in your batch? How many Indians?
Thanks.
the usual strength is around 20-30 students. our batch has total 26 students ot of which 7 are indians.
Hi Folks,
I am writing this post as a current student of the S3 Asia MBA program. The main intent of this post is to give you - the prospective candidates - some updates from ground zero about the course and try to address some general queries that they might have.
Having said that, I completely understand your situation as I had the same queries when I was selected for this program about a year back. In retrospect, it seems that most of those fears were exaggerated. Most of us have this fear of ROI when we invest anywhere, especially in a somewhat expensive course like the S3 Asia MBA. Before you finalize your decision, I would recommend that you do an analysis of your expectations from an MBA degree. There are a lot of b-schools to choose from and, to be frank, it's the R part of ROI is directly proportional to the I! 😃 That is, depending upon how much you choose to invest in your own education will decide what kind of returns it gives you. And please bear in mind that the investment is not just in terms of course fees and expenses. it is also inclusive of the amount you would make while working if you chose not to pursue any course, the increase in your work experience, onsite opportunities etc, as well as, on the plus side, the exposure you will receive in the course.
In my opinion, the USP of the S3 Asia MBA course is the amount, quality and variety of exposure it provides. It simply changes the way you look at things around you and believe me, if you are interested in Asian Business as you have mentioned, this course might turn out to be the best decision you ever make!
Let me elaborate a little on how this course changes your thinking. First, since you get to travel to three cities very different from each other, you get to see how China, South Korea and Singapore work. As much as these cities are greatly different from each other, they are poles apart from the way things work in India. Also, since your classmates come from different countries, mostly in Asia, their inputs, both inside the class and outside it, go a long way in helping you develop a close understanding of the Asia Business Scenario.
After the exposure, comes the quality of teaching. All the three universities are among the best in Asia and highly recognized globally. If you do a little research, you will come to know the kind of rapport these universities have in the industry. This is a direct outcome of the way they design course material, appoint faculty and conduct classes. I am about halfway through the course and have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of teaching I have received so far.
In any b-school, an important part of your learning comes through peer interaction. If you study in India, your classmates, professors and society consists of mostly Indians. Since we all come from the same social system, our outlook, opinions etc are largely similar. on the other hand, in a program like the S3 Asia MBA, everyone have their own way of thinking and as you listen to them and learn, you also prepare yourself for future when you might have to deal with clients and colleagues from these societies. Needless to say, it also makes you appreciate how diverse and amazing Asia - which is going to be the economic driver of the 21st century - is.
Now let me try and address the core of your concerns, i.e. the ROI. In terms of hard money, the course is slightly on the expensive side, especially if you compare it to the tier-II b-schools in India. I say tier-II because ISB, IIM - A and B end up charging you somewhat similar fees. If you compare the fees to the American or European B-schools, the fee and the overall cost is much lower. For the placement information you can contact the placement offices or websites of NUS since I do not have any information but as far as I know, everyone has been placed and people are quite happy with what they have received. Since my batch is still in the second semester, we have not started worrying about that as of now. But all three universities are extremely respected, well-connected and proactive in getting the students placed.
Regarding the choice of your second degree, the program gives you enough time to see things and then make an informed decision when you are ready. So don't worry about that until you sign up for the course. All I can tell you is that it is a really difficult choice since both Fudan and KUBS have extremely attractive incentives! 😃 About the interview, just be yourself and try to have a clear cut idea of your career goals and your expectations from the course.
Hope I have answered some of your questions. In case you have any further queries, feel free to PM me anytime. Ill try to respond to the best of my capabilities.
Best,
-dreamer1811
Hey Dreamer
Thanks for the highly informative write up. It was very helpful.I got an admit today for the S3 Asia Program. Would like to talk to you. Please message me your contact where I can talk to u.
Thanks