Hi all,

Have looked around the various MBA options, and have narrowed my choices down to 1. an MBA in China eg. CEIBS, Tsinghua 2. INSEAD (for its campus in Singapore), H/S/W

I am leaning towards 1. as it will allow me to build on my mandarin (to which i've some ability with - can read papers albeit at a slower pace). Yet I'm being realistic here, my chances of landing a finance job in China post MBA are 50:50 at best and I will most likely end up in Hong Kong or Singapore, in which case, I might have been better off doing an MBA in INSEAD (lets disregard the difference in school fees) - but will never have that fluency in Mandarin.

Does anyone here have an inside feel of what the hiring perspective for Asians (into HK/SG) is like for both groups of schools (I should add that I'm considered a foreigner to Chinese MBAs)?

Say I choose to do my MBA in China, rate my chances in HK / Singapore against graduates from the international schools. I've got fairly decent work experience, 5 years IB/PE in London and HK.

tks.

If you plan to work in China mainland in the next 5 years. Tsinghua SEM-MIT Sloan program should be your top choice. More, you will find the IB/PE in China has been dominated by Tsinghua alumnis.

Go check the latest MBA ranking in China:
http://www.sino-manager.com/NewsShow.aspx?PostID=742

It would be more helpful if the above post actually describes why Tsinghua would be a top choice compared to other schools. If you go to the link provided (a 2008 link meaning 2007 data and below), Tsinghua is ranked number one over CEIBS on the merits of its faculty ability. CEIBS in this survey has a much higher score on salary increase - but keep in mind the salary rankings for Chinese school depend on students that get jobs in US, HK, Korea, Japan, and Singapore so that they can lift the salary up (especially Korean companies that send their employees to Chinese MBAs). The survey does not even include INSEAD.

If you spoke fluent Chinese already - I would recommend INSEAD. Why? The students you go to school with will normally have better chances to getting into top investment banks and PE firms. Even if they do not end up in Asia, the deals between China and the rest of the world are only increasing, especially outbound, so having these connections could provide useful. Tsinghua alums normally work for Chinese banks like CITIC and CICC, occasional smaller boutique banks like Hina or a Pipe Jaffrey. These firms still get good deals that can propel your career but moving up to Goldman Sachs level is only possible if you know people working in Goldman Sachs type jobs that can vouch for you.

If you need the Chinese, then Tsinghua could be useful and you will get exposure for many of the upcoming firms in China that will not only grow but will likely will start expanding globally by the time you graduate. Look at Geely, Tengzhong, or Fushi Copperweld - this is only the beginning of outbound in non-mining sectors - but if you go to their HQ in Anhui Chengdu or Dalian and don't speak Chinese fluently then you are worthless.

Analst, an article from FT will help you better clarify the reason why Tsinghua wins over CEIBS:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/57e3578a-f9eb-11dd-9daa-000077b07658.html

PS: Insead is not a b-school in China,not to mention the Chinese language environment.

Understood Tsinghua gets intake from those that did undergrad at Oxford and Ivy League. I believe CEIBS and INSEAD do to. I am considering going to Tsinghua myself but am dealing with the same issues addressed by the original poster. Yes- INSEAD is not in China, but as I mentioned, if you speak Chinese fluently already, it won't be hard to come to Shanghai following graduation. I believe there are 500 INSEAD alumn in Shanghai alone. 99% of these are Chinese background.

Vincentwang - You seem to be extremely pro Tsinghua - did you go there? If so, it would be great to get your personal experience. I would much rather rely on personal experience than website articles that tend to be one sided.

Analyst - same issues ie. not yet fluent in Mandarin and wondering if the 2 year investment is worth it?

I agree with you, that if I were fully functional in the language, I'd consider somewhere like INSEAD. Yet what is possibly one of the biggest pulls now for a China MBA, is also one of its biggest pushes - there is a huge risk that at the end of it all, it comes to nought... or not?