Monday, March 10, 2008

Fonty or SGP?

I've been thinking about which campus to start at. It was a really hard decision, but I've decided to stick with starting at Fonty. I had some personal constraints that required me to be in Asia as much as possible, but having done some research, I think I'll start with Fonty and evaluate the situation as it unfolds. My reasons

1. I have enough Asia experience. Really don't need it.
2. Fonty is more expensive, but I can live in a dump, cut my expenses, whatever's needed
3. Seems like the French Village + Chateau Parties + Crappy Weather defines the INSEAD experience... so why miss that?
4. P4 must be spent in Fonty. Recruiting is much stronger on the Fonty campus (I have a friend who does recruiting from a big consulting company and mentioned this as key differentiator).
5. Being of Asian origin, I can expand my network and career choices into Europe. I should be secure with Asian recruiting (so I think atleast).
6. If I'm wrong I can always switch to the SGP campus. Switching to SGP in P3 is supposedly hard. Taking a chance here - hopefully it will pay off.
7. If one wants to be in the European job-market than Fonty experience is must. I want to work in Asia but unlike others I don't really need the SGP stint to establish my Asia prescense.

I'm sure anyone who reads this needs to evaluate their own priorities against ground reality. The cons of Fonty are
1. More expensive than SGP. (living costs atleast)
2. Public commute supposely sucks
3. Crappy weather in P3/mid-P4.
4. Not enough exotic vacationing (e.g. Thailand, Malaysia and all those other warm places).

Would love to hear other readers analysis.

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