Hi,

I am an Indian working in the UAE over the past year( 1 yr workex) .
I have business undergraduate background. GMAT =700 and IELTS 8.0/9.0

I have admits from ESADE, HHL and WHU in their master in management programs. I am upto B2 in German, B2 in Spanish and B1 in French.

Can you please advise me the best programme that will offer me the best chances to get into the analyst position of a strategy consulting company of the likes of BCG, McKinsey, Bain or Roland Berger.

I would like to maximise my starting salary as I have some past debts.

I visited WHU for a open day and did not like the environment very much though the faculty were really good. But anyway, I would anyway want to give maximum preference to potential career prospects..

Please kindly help me with any information you may think will help me.
Thank you very much
Abhay

My guess it is the German schools where the salaries will be better. A programme with an internship will be better too.

PS check LinkedIn!

[Edited by Duncan on Feb 27, 2015]

Thank you Duncan.

Given that I want to attend a private school, where would I get the best quality of education : WHU or HHL.

As I said before, I have been to an open day at WHU and did not like Vallendar that much. Its a very small town with Frankfurt a 30 Euro and 1.5 hour ride away. WHU does not give placement statistics on its website. Do you have any idea of the average starting salary HHL average starting salary is 57400 Euro(2013 data). And it seems to have strong connections with Roland Berger etc. WHU seems to me more of an Finance school as most emphasis in careers is there..

My doubt is if I go ahead with HHL, will I face any regrets in future with regard to career placements in terms of recognition by employers etc? HHL is a very national school. Is it the same with WHU?

Thank you

These are similar schools: both are national leaders placing into German businesses. They are similarly well known by top b-school recruiters. WHU is oriented more towards finance and HHL more towards entrepreneurship, so salaries are higher at WHU because a notable minority of HHL students go to start-ups. LinkedIn can show you placement data quite well.

A few other thoughts. If you didn't like Vallendar, are you sure you will like Leipzig? I am a fan of the city, but its a different setting. WHU does have better data for careers and international mobility, It is closer to the big employers.

The schools are both great. They are #2 and #3 schools worldwide for MSc students with aims achieved. Having spent some time at HHL, I am very impressed with the quality and I think WHU is similar. Higher salaries and lower fees make WHU an easier choice. Personally I would pick it because of the better double-degree options. Maybe the small town setting will also make you study more and work on your German more? However, HHL's internship and longer scope makes it educationally more extensive.

Thank you Duncan for your insights. They are certainly helpful. Linkedin shows much much more alumni from WHU in consulting and big companies..may be since its been continuously operating longer and larger cohorts. I want to try and visit Leipzig but no time! I have to make my decision by March 15nth.

By the way,Do you have any idea of the salaries at WHU? and whether these schools provide enough support for Indian students in finding permanant jobs in Germany.

Thanks a lot

Hi abhayx123,
if you want to get an idea for starting salaries in the consulting industry in Germany, search for squeaker.net Einstiegsgehalt and the company name. You have to register on squeaker.net Although sometimes the data is a bit fuzzy and sometimes some years old, it gives a pretty good picture about starting salaries in the German industry.

WHU (private) and Mannheim (public) are the two leading business schools in Germany. HHL is not bad, but not that reputable as WHU from my point of view.

WHU is (and always was) the best choice for Investmentbanking and Consulting. Although you had the impression of a stronger finance orientation, WHU is well known for its consulting focus and placement into tier1 consultancies. From what I heard, you can split the class into 3 major sections: 1/3 will go into consulting, 1/4 in (investment)banking, 1/4 into startups. You can easily see this culture if you have a look at the company presentation schedule and on-campus recruitings. Only strategy consultancies and investmentbanks (twice a week), nothing else.

ESADE is the best business school in Spain, but due to the economic crisis starting salaries will be much lower compared to WHU oder HHL. There was a study some years ago which investigated that WHU graduates earned 230.000 $ p.a. in average 10 years after their graduation.

I think in terms of career opportunities and salaries there is no better place than WHU. No doubt, WHU is one of the major european target schools for the companies you want to work for. But as you already said, Vallendar is a boring town and even Leipzig (HHL) is probably way more exciting.

Thank you Guylo. Your info is really helpful. Guess, I should sacrifice lively city environment for better campus placements. Are there any comparable or better universities for my career aims than WHU? I can wait and apply next year..

The FT rankings show average salaries. WHU is a larger and older school, but it's the relative placement not the absolute numbers that matter. No-where near 25% of WHU students are going into start-ups. The salaries could not be so high if that was the case. WHU has one of the highest average starting salaries in the world for MSc.

Hi Duncan.

Thanks. Can you advise me on similar programs to WHU? I am thinking of LBS MiM and St. Gallen MiM and am pretty sure I can get in if I apply next year but am scared of the Visa situation for Indian students post graduation. In your opinion, what are the best countries and schools for international students hoping to work there for a few years after graduation.

I guess you have read: Best schools for international students' placement http://www.find-mba.com/board/41143

Were I you, I would start from language. Which of these languages are you really motivated to become perfect in? It's not just accuracy, but also a question of accent reduction and, to a degree, falling in love with those countries. You want to be obviously the sort of person who will flourish in the new setting.

Take the time to make the right choice, but remember that some schools will have a limit (eg LBS wants one year or less of work experience).

One thought: why not ESCP? Given that you have English, German and Spanish -- isn't that the school where an employer would go to recruit someone trilingual?

But the salaries at each are pretty low compared to hhl and whu. Even the ft rankings show this relatively. The escp grand ecole program in Paris is very difficult to get in and is 3 yrs long.

Whu is not there in the list in the link you posted. Is this something to be afraid of.

As per language, I think I want to become perfect in German.

Average salaries at ESCP reflect the five campuses. I don't see why average salaries in Germany will be too different, but you can ask them. The ESCP programme is three years only for people who have an associates degree or Vordiplom, rather than a batchelors degree. HHL and WHU's students are 3/4 German, so international mobility score cannot be very high there.

I'd say it really depends on where you want to work after graduation (geographically). If Germany, then go to WHU or Mannheim. However, internationally, ESADE is definitely better known and therefore has a better reputation. It is true that the Spanish economy is weak, but over 80% of the MSc graduates find a job outside of Spain after graduation. Their career service is specialized on placing graduates in all of Europe and also in Asia. Starting salary for MSc in International Management for ESADE is €52K if you work outside of Spain. The average salary gets pushed down by the alumni who stay in Spain. I guess the average starting salary for alumni in Spain is around 25k.

Hope that helps!

Starting salary for MSc in International Management for ESADE is €52K if you work outside of Spain. The average salary gets pushed down by the alumni who stay in Spain.

Starting salary for MSc in International Management for ESADE is €52K if you work outside of Spain. The average salary gets pushed down by the alumni who stay in Spain.

I'm just wondering: where did you find these statistics? The only info I can find on the program webpage is a general report that says that starting salaries are around 40k EUR.

Thank you everyone for your valuable advice. Finally, can you advise me which are the best european schools which will give me the maximum chance to break into tier 1 consulting. Since, I am a non-EU Indian national I have to consider post study visa situation. as far as I know one can work for 18 months after graduation in Germany, 1 yr in France, and 6 months in Switzerland.

I am looking at MiMs in LBS, LSE, HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, WHU, HHL, St Gallen, ESADE. Which fit my goals most? Are there any comparable programs in US? Thank you so much