Hey,
I am a professional engineer with 4 years of experience, and a GMAT score of 700. I am half Armenian, hence I have a strong interest in working in the eastern European region.

I was wondering if CEU, Hungary, is a good option for an MBA. As per my understanding, CEU?s MBA is the best in the emerging region. So, theoretically, it should be a good option for professionals looking to find a niche in the region?s job market. I also read in the financial times, about a $7.5million donation that the university received recently; hence, they must be doing something right.

Any views on this University or its MBA Program will be much welcomed. Is it worth a shot?

Regards,
Anna

I talked with them during the Economist fair and they were honest enough to share the salary after graduation:
(I don't remember all the distribution but those was a part.. you can ask them )
AVG:47000e
30% 60-90000
30% 15-20000
....
Most of the students take an exchange program.

Anything interesting that you learnt about them from the Economist Fair? Would you recommend it to a person in my position?

Anna, I think the CEU is a great choice. It's excellent value for money, high quality, as a strong alumni network and is perhaps the oldest accredited MBA in central Europe. The transatlantic degree helps a lot.

There was also a Minnesota MBA programme in Poland, but that has closed to new students. There's a similar part-time programme at the WU in Vienna, which also has great connections across the east: http://www.executiveacademy.at/emba , and in Warsaw http://www.studiapodyplomowe.kozminski.edu.pl/index.php/en/

Thank you for your insight. value for money is indeed one of the stronger suits of CEU's MBA. One thing that i would like to ask is if the lack of accreditation for CEU will be a problem when i start my job search?
As per my understanding, CEU has the AMBA accreditation, but there are schools that have EQUIS and AACSB as well. How much of a factor should accreditation be in my final decision?

Hi Anna,

Let me intervene.
I assumed that you're looking for full-time MBA (considering you mention your relatively high GMAT score).
I think Duncan is a bit misleading re WU EA EMBA. I don't think you have enough experience for that. It's more like CEU\GISMA\Purdue\TN IMM MBA. Also WU EA EMBA price tag of Euro 39k+international trips is really value for money, but it's way up from Euro 15k CEU EMBA.
I'm personally applying for WU PMBA in Finance&Controlling (Oct'12). It's lacking AACSB accreditation and not as highly ranked as WU EMBA. But it priced at Euro 30k , have more applicable curriculum and better schedule for be personally. There are more specialization available for WU PMBAs (http://www.executiveacademy.at/mba_index).

Yuri

Yuri makes an excellent point that the work experience will be higher at an executive MBA. the Vienna EMBA needs five years or work experience and, by the time Anna would be admitted, she would have five years. In 14 months, the programme is as long as a full-time programme but would give her time to hunt for work. Considering the greater portability of the Minnesota MBA (which normally costs $90K) the 9K price premium on the EMBA is great value for money. As a woman with international experience and an above average GMAT, she would be a highly competitive candidate for the VEMBA.

However, I still think that the CEU degree is a strong choice. AMBA is well known, and CEU is a very strong brand in central Europe.

Thank you Duncan.
I could only add that one should not easily discount considerable travel costs at EMBA. Trips to Russia, China, India and US would easily add another 10k to the bill. It still would be a bargain even in comparison to CEU IMM (51k tag). But it's in no way comparable to 15k tag of CEU part-time EMBA

Definitely agree that CEU is a great choice, and a great value. But may I suggest a few others in the region, if you'd like to play the field a bit:

Poznań University of Economics (Poland)
Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School (Russia)
Univerza v Ljubljani - University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Koç University (Turkey)

I think that it would ultimately depend on where you'd want to end up. There are pockets of booming international business in the region: Budapest, Istanbul, Warsaw. Building connections in places like those could help immensely in finding a job after graduation. CEU does seem to be drawing a lot of American faculty into their fold, though: those could be good connections as well if you want to go to the States.

Hi Ralf,
As Russian, I agree that Vlerick is n1 in Russia. At least at below 30k price range. It's my n1 choice, if I make it. But I would not call it CEE oriented. It's more like standard Vlerick MBA, just located in St.Pete and with mostly Russian in class.
I checked out Poznan already. It's JV with Aalto, which is good. But all class is polish, so not much of diversity and even if it's presented in English, working language will undoubtedly be polish.
You mentioned Lyubliana, which I know nothing, but there is IEDC pt mba in Bled, which claim to be international and eastern europe oriented. IEDC mba is actively marketing itself in Russia via dual degree with local partner.

Hi.. are you intentionally forgetting Skolkovo? :-)
I supposed that in Russia they were n.1

Hi Maubia! I lost my reply on skolkovo and russia in general. Will try tomorow from laptop:)

yes.. I ve learnt to copy my message before posting here... if you take too much time to write you are logged off!
Probably admin should rise the time-out

Ok, my second try:)
Skolkovo is surely a nice place to be. It could be the best Russian MBA, but not the best MBA available in Russia. Especially for 90k. Skolkovo is great if you're a business owner and need "connections" within Russia's power circle. Or when your goal is to work for top Russian state-own enterprises. So for 90k you could buy a pass. But I'm not sure of it's transferability for international market. And it's a bit of vanity fair.
If one really need to stay in Russia and get a prime world-recognized EMBA, my top choice would be HEC\St.Pete University double degree EMBA (http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/2demba/key_facts). At 52k you can't bit it.
Then there is Robinson\Moscow University double degree (http://robinson.gsu.edu/moscowleaders/index.html). At $65k
Finally, there are Stockholm School of Economics EMBA programs (http://www.sserussia.org/index.php?tpl=second&mid=1;48&pid=38&lang=en).

At below 30k price tag - where I'm actually shopping - the top choice is Vlerick's EMBA. It may be ranked above the SSE one, but SSE is a better brand in Russia and has better connections to the Russian business.
Then I would place Antwerp Management School EMBA - double degree with Russian partner (http://www.engl.emba-uams.ru). But it presented mostly in Russian.
Also, there is a part-time Grenoble MBA program (http://www.grenoble-em.com/default.aspx?rub=1063). Double degree with Russian partner, partially in Russian. It's surely good one and a real value (Euro18k), but it's not EMBA.

By the way Yuri, I was just looking at the VU PMBA brochure http://www.executiveacademy.at/file-storage/01-mba-programme/pmba/download/dl_PMBA_brochure_1007.pdf and it does look like a really strong programme. Do you know, are all the PMBA options 30K?

As far as I know, there are some that cost less - around 27k - I presume ones presented in German. The top one oriented in Energy\Oil business cost 38k (if I remember right). I've been told that's due compensation for faculty, consisting of OPEC members from the Gulf region:)