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However, the first step is to be smart about where he applies. Specifically: he should apply somewherebesides the schools were every other person in his demo is applying.
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Most international students are drawn to schools in huge, renowned U.S. cities. This is natural as students assume they will find people and cultural markers that allow for an easier integration.
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The downside is that everyone is thinking this way, so as a result, programs in New York and Los Angeles and Boston and Chicago and the Bay Area are oversubscribed with international students - and particularly Indian males from an IT background.
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The counter to that is to look at schools in smaller cities and even small towns. They might make someone from India squirm, but they present a huge opportunity because a fraction of the applicants from that demo are applying there. Rough estimate here, but I would venture to guess that about a third as many Indian males apply to Ross as they do to NYU, despite the fact that the schools are roughly the same size and have similar admissions profiles. I would say Tuck gets half as many as Haas. Duke half as many as Kellogg. The list goes on. Schools that are "out of the way" often have a harder time generating a rich and deep pool of students outside of the U.S., making it a prime opportunity for international students - particularly our Indian male test case - to stand out more easily.
Now, this is just one of MANY ways you can play demo-lition derby. It works for gender, race, industry, function, academic profile, age, and a variety of other factors. It should not be the only guiding factor (I helped a client with a profile similar to the one above decide on his list of Rd 1 schools today and while it did include Ross, Tuck, and Texas, it also included MIT, Kellogg, and Haas), but it's just one more way to create the smallest of advantages for yourself in the process. It's all about putting yourself in the shoes of the admissions officer and understanding what it is like on that side of the desk. What are their realities, challenges, and desires as they shape a class? One thing you can do to make their job easier - and yours, in the process - is to make yourself more visible, more diverse, and more desirable ... simply by applying to schools
MBA Admissions Consultant - Amerasia Consulting Group