IIM Ahmedabad vs Harvard MBA: IIM-A dropout breaks down cost, pay, and careers

Choosing between an Indian MBA powerhouse and a global Ivy League giant is a dilemma many aspirants secretly obsess over. What does the price tag really buy you? Does a higher cost guarantee a better outcome? A recent collaboration between a Google product manager and a top-ranked Chartered Accountant has reignited this debate, offering a rare, side-by-side look at what an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and Harvard Business School actually delivers in terms of money, time, and career paths.

Abhijay Arora, currently a Product Manager at Google, holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Before that, he completed both BTech and MTech degrees in Computer Science from the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. Not many know that he also began an MBA at IIM Ahmedabad, but eventually dropped out. Recently, Arora teamed up with content creator Kushal Lodha, a qualified Chartered Accountant with All India Ranks across all levels of the CA examinations, to break down how these two elite MBA programs compare in the real world.

The discussion started with costs. An MBA from IIM Ahmedabad comes with a total expense of around ₹25 lakh. In contrast, completing an MBA at Harvard Business School costs roughly $200,000, translating to about Rs 1.8 crore. Despite the vast difference in investment, both programs take the same amount of time to complete: two years.


When it comes to earnings after graduation, the gap widens. Graduates from IIM Ahmedabad earn an average annual package of about Rs 34 lakh. Harvard MBA graduates, on the other hand, see an average compensation of $250,000, or approximately Rs 2.25 crore per year.

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Internship earnings during the MBA also differ sharply. Students at IIM Ahmedabad typically earn between Rs 2 to Rs 3 lakh per month, depending on the company. At Harvard, internship stipends can go up to $10,000 a month, roughly Rs 9 lakh.


Career opportunities after graduation show more overlap than expected. IIM Ahmedabad graduates find roles across private equity, venture capital, consulting, product management, HR, and several other fields. Harvard offers access to similar career tracks, with the added flexibility of global exposure and even the option to build a career as a content creator.