Hindi Hip-Hop Video Dispels ‘MBA Hype’ For Non-English Speakers

You write in your video blog that you noticed a disconnect between what applicants expected in an international MBA and what the schools could offer. What some of those misconceptions were?

A quick clarification before we jump into the answers. Though the rap video is focused on international MBA programs, it has lessons for a large number of applicants aiming for non-MBA programs too. Many of them face similar issues.

The disconnect starts at the conceptual stage and carries on throughout the lifecycle – from admissions to graduation, and beyond. Here are a few specific ones.

• Eligibility for the top programs: A huge number of queries we get are from new and impatient undergrads with no work experience. Many are not aware of why international b-schools expect work experience (many Indian b-schools that offer 2-year MBA programs don’t insist on it).
• Choosing the right degree, country, university/b-school: Very few spend the time to carry out the in-depth research on the programs that best fit their profiles and career goals. Many simply rely on program recommendations from (equally ignorant) friends, relatives or from aggressive marketing agencies that represent mediocre institutes.
• How the admissions process works: Many assume an English proficiency test score is sufficient to get not only admits, but scholarships too. They don’t realise that this may work for low calibre programs, but the process for the good ones is far more involved.
• What to expect in the classroom: For Indian students who’ve studied in a traditional teacher-driven, lecture-based setting, the diverse and practical pedagogy and the peer learning process in international b-schools is unfamiliar.
• How recruitment happens: Many underestimate how difficult it can be for an international student to get a job in a new country. They’re unaware of the humongous effort (networking, cold calling, informational interviews, attending events) they need to proactively put in to give themselves a fighting chance.
  

  Sameer Kamat, founder of MBA Crystal Ball

• The overall cost of attending an international program: Many applicants don’t think about ROI and how to finance their degrees, assuming finances will sort themselves out magically in the end. Several aren’t aware of all the other expenses they need to factor in other than the tuition. The concept of opportunity cost is alien to most.
• Life after graduation: The big assumption is that their life will be sorted and upgraded for sure after they complete their degree. Very few prepare for the worst-case scenario, so they don’t have a risk mitigation plan either.

Do you have a sense of how big the population of Hindi as first language speakers is (among Indian b-school candidates)?

There’s no survey that answers this specific question directly. But here’s what a back-of-the-envelope calculation tells us.

In 2016, around 440,000 Indian students went abroad for higher education. In 2019, this number shot up to 770,000. According to projections, this number could reach 1.8 Million by 2024 with a whopping $80 Billion market.

After adjusting for some over optimism in those projections, we can conservatively assume that around 2 out of 3 of these students speak or understand Hindi. We’re still looking at a pretty big number that overshadows the total number of GMAT test takers globally by several magnitudes.

The reason for using a testing company’s data as the benchmark is to highlight the fact that many students join mediocre universities where the admissions criteria isn’t very stringent and test scores don’t matter. Students who graduate from such programs are more likely to experience what I share in the rap video.

Are you a native Hindi speaker?

I can read/write/speak 4 languages, including Hindi, with native proficiency.

You write about some in your audience being against creating a video in Hindi. What were their reasons?

The primary reasons they shared were:

• Someone who doesn’t understand English is unlikely to apply to international universities. So, a Hindi video doesn’t add much value.
• Our Youtube channel attracts a substantial number of international (non-Indian) viewers who expect English content.
• While a large number of Indians understand Hindi, there are many who don’t.
• It may not be in the commercial interests of an admissions consulting firm to proactively highlight the negative aspects of studying abroad.

Why a rap song?

Since this was meant to be an experimental video, I thought why not take the experimentation a notch higher. Instead of just switching the language, I presumed it would be fun to switch the delivery style too. If nothing else, it’ll be a good entertaining break from the serious videos we produce.

I’ve already tried out other forms of MBA content – micro-content (social media updates), blogs, voiceover videos, a full-fledged book and memes.

Rap seemed like an interesting medium to communicate a complete story in under 3 minutes and include many inputs shared with me by MBA graduates who couldn’t or didn’t want to do it publicly.

Do you plan to produce more Hindi content/videos?

There are no such plans for now. We’re back to creating English videos that our regular followers expect.

Having said that, we take our subscriber suggestions seriously (the Hindi video idea came from a subscriber request). So, if anyone comes up with a fascinating idea, we’d be happy to evaluate it.

Will we be getting an English version of the rap?

No such plans, since we have English subtitles on the video and an unusually high proportion of the viewers of this video are watching it with subtitles.

Unlike other companies in this space that have a dedicated content creation team, MCB is very small. This compels us to be extra judicious with our limited capacity.

Who did the music/beats for the video? Do you write all the lyrics?

I picked the music from the YouTube audio library.

Yes, I wrote all the lyrics. This was the trickiest part of the project and took the longest time, with multiple iterations.

What do you think of your rapping skills? Did you know you had that in you?

Real rappers would be offended if I call it rapping skills!

I have no shame in admitting that I’m not musically inclined, and I have no technical knowledge about music or rapping.

From my perspective, this was less about aiming for a Grammy and more of an opportunity to learn something new, activate some dormant neurons and find the best way to communicate a disturbing reality and raise awareness.

Before I started working on the song, I spent a considerable amount of time watching how-to videos to understand how a rap song is structured, the meaning of bars/verses/flow, the types of rhymes, rapping styles, the importance of wordplay. The video has thousands of views now. But I cringe every time I hear the song, knowing all the musical sins I’ve committed with my first and rather amateurish attempt.

My viewers have been far more forgiving though. I guess they appreciated the intention behind the video and glossed over the flaws, knowing that no other team in the higher ed industry has been as forthcoming in cautioning aspirants about the risks.

What were your big takeaways from the project?

Across the world, higher ed content has always been presented in a serious (no nonsense) manner. But the consumers of this content are usually students and young professionals with a higher degree of acceptance and appreciation for creativity, for a wide range of topics that were traditionally considered ‘serious’.

I often post memes that incorporate important messages, with a sprinkling of humour. Like the rest of our (serious) content, these bite-sized creative memes are also quite well-received by over 150,000 MBA Crystal Ball followers across various platforms.

My video experience has only strengthened my belief that it doesn’t hurt to experiment with innovative ways to communicate with the young and open-minded higher ed audience.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’d encourage other teams in the MBA space – consultants, education loan & test prep companies and also business schools – to start talking about the not-so-pleasant aspects of higher education, without worrying too much about whether & how it’ll affect their revenues.

Being transparent and balanced in the messaging will only improve their credibility in the eyes of prospective clients and supporters.

At MBA Crystal Ball, we’ve been talking about these issues for over a decade – through our book, blogs, videos, memes – and it hasn’t put us out of business yet.

And it’s also perfectly fine to have fun in the process. It’ll make the journey more enjoyable for both sides.

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