THERE IT was, the e-mail he had long dreamt of: “You have been accepted into the Yale School of Business, class of 2011.” It was the culmination of a 10-year-old dream for Soumitra Sharma. “I’d wanted to study at an Ivy League university since I was in secondary school. I was elated,” says the 25-year-old, for- merly an assistant manager with Deloitte. But in April, Sharma will be packing his bags for Hyderabad, not New Haven, Connecticut state where the top business school is located. “It was a hard decision, but I’m attending ISB (Indian School of Business) instead. Going to the US in this economy is a big risk, even with a top business school like Yale,” he says. Sharma is not alone. Along with him are 34 other students from ISB’s incoming class who have rejected top American schools. Last year, there were only 15 such students. “The eco- nomic situation seems to be a huge factor in the way students are choosing business schools this year,” says Anoop Kumar, a Bangalore-based education con- sultant. And it’s not just India-based employees who are choosing India over the US. “One of my clients is an American passport- holder who gave up the Anderson School of Business at UCLA for ISB,” says Kumar. Vishal Chopra, a 26-year-old engineer from San Francisco, will also be heading back to Hyderabad, after turning down the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University . “The Obama government has adopted a scarily protec- tionist tone by not allowing fed- eral-aided companies to hire H1B visa-holders. Now even international students aren’t finding internships. How can I pay back a Rs 70 lakh loan without a job?” he asks. Another factor is the sudden scarcity of loans for interna- tionals. Last October, Citibank withdrew its loan-assistance programme that allowed inter- nationals to take loans with- out American co-signors. “All the top schools had tie-ups with Citibank. Suddenly the funds seem to be drying up,” says Kumar. According to figures released by GMAC (the body that administers the GMAT test required for internation- al MBA applications), there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of Indian stu- dents sending their scores to American schools. In 2004, the Harvard Business School (HBS) was the top destination for Indian GMAT reports, while ISB was at the 10th slot. By 2008, ISB had become the top destination while HBS had dropped to number two. ISB’s dean Ajit Rangnekar says, “The ISB has grown in popularity and acceptance among its international peers and has become a good choice for students looking for top- quality schools in India.” But ISB’s gain also signals the death of a long-cherished Indian dream: the much- desired foreign degree. Srinivas, a 25-year old first generation entrepreneur from a small village in Andhra Pradesh, would know. He recently rejected the Kellogg School of Business (one of the top five business schools in the world) for ISB. “With the economy the way it is, I’d rather play it safe with ISB,” he says. riddhi.shah@hindustantimes.com