I have done countless hours of research on all of the Spanish MBA programs and have found numerous privately owned schools with little international exposure, and on the other end, I have found the 4 schools that are internationally renowned and ranked as some of the best in the world by FT.com, and all of you who have done your research know who these schools are. I am possitive that I could get into a couple of the top 4 schools in Spain, however, there is no way in hell that I can finance the ~50,000 Euro tuition and living expenses. I have about 4 years of Pharmaceutical/Medical sales experience and have a BSc in Biochemistry and minor in Spanish. I have also just finished my first masters degree, MHA Master of Health Administration, here in the USA, and am applying to schools (fall 2008) in Europe to enjoy the lifestyle and hopefully get a job with an international company so that I can live and work in Europe after I graduate. I have found that Carlos III de Madrid is AMBA accredited, but would the school get me where I want to go (living and working in western Europe)? And I have no information as to what the average salary is after graduation from UC3M? Anyone know? Or should I just do the MEB at ESCP-EAP because of its international reputation with companies/recruiters (London-Madrid route)? I can afford both, but which will be the best investment of my time and money and have the highest ROI?

Thanks, as I have pondered this for weeks

Top Spanish MBAS have loan agreements with Banco Sabadell to cover tuitition fees. Also you may be granted by the schools or other institutions if your application has and edge. At least try this option, you may have a chance for it.

Regarding Carlos III, Ive seen lots of positive comments on this forum, probably biased and not very objective.

I would also recommend that you check whether you can finance your MBA at one of the top schools. However, I'm not sure you would be able to get a loan from a Spanish bank, unless you live and have some credit history in Spain. If you live in the US, you should probably check there.

If you are sure that you don't want to spend so much money on an MBA, then I think both ESCP-EAP and Carlos III are good options, but you should notice that the two degrees are quite different: the MEB is a pre-experience degree, whereas Carlos III's is a proper (post-experience) MBA. If you want to compare things that are comparable, you should compare Carlos III's MBA and ESCP-EAP's MBA. Since you have 4-year work experience, I guess you are looking for a post-experience degree.

If you choose ESCP-EAP, I would recommend to go to one of their main campuses, like France or Germany. I'm not sure they offer their MBA in Madrid, and in any case their faculty and facilities are quite modest in Madrid compared to the other campuses. In fact, they have signed some kind of strategic agreement with Carlos III to develop their school in Madrid. If you want to do your MBA in Spain for some reason, then I would be more inclined to recommend Carlos III.

I hope I've helped you, even though I don't know the answer to your ROI question.

Thank you for your words, you offer some good points. I have no credit history in Spain, so it is very doubtful that I would get any financing in Spain. Both programs accept USA federal student aid, but it is only $20,500 per year, but that would not be enough for tuition and to live, assuming th exchange rate stays the same, if it doesn't get worse. As for not considering the ESCP-EAP MBA, it is 35,000 euros and it is an executive MBA. So add another $20,000 for living expenses, and it gets expensive. The whole program would cost around 80K, and I'm not looking to spend that much. On top of all that, its in Paris, they don't offer it in Spain. So you think that the MEB would be a "step back" in my career? And why Spain you seem to ask? I speak Spanish, my great grandparents were from Spain, and need to perfect it in a business environment. I want to live and work in Either London, Spain, or Latin America when I graduate. Also I have been to Spain several times and I love it. Love to do an MBA in London but it is just way to expensive. So you see how the MEB London-Madrid track would be idea, if it were an MBA, but its not. But I guess its not essential that I go to school in Spain, I have looked into other MBAs, in your opinion, what are the top MBAs for the money in mainland Europe? All must be around or below $20-25,000/year tuition and be in a good place to live for a year, I prefer larger cities, and want to stay away from Germany, been there numerous times and just don't feel it. And all schools must not require the GMAT, don't want to take it. Also what do you think about the Grenoble MIB? Although, I would deff prefer an MBA.

I would not recommend a pre-experience degree, given that you already have some work experience. It would be a pity, I think. In an MBA, you learn a lot from faculty, but you also learn a lot from your classmates. If they have some work experience like yourself, you will learn more, I think.

Given your preferences (nice place, continental Europe, $25,000 tuition maximum, no GMAT, and -I guess- accredited) the school that fits best is Carlos III. They do not require GMAT, the city is nice, and the tuition is low (?9,000). There are other options that you could also consider, although I'm afraid they do require GMAT. In Lisbon, there's an AMBA-accredited MBA offered jointly by U. Nova and U. Catolica. It costs ?16,000. In Belgium, you have Vlerick, which costs ?17,000, and in France you have Audiencia (Nantes) which costs ?19,000 but is not as well known as Vlerick. I don't think you'll find other accredited MBAs in continental Europe with the tuition range you have in mind. Among these ones, I think Vlerick has the best reputation, but I'm not sure it is the kind of location your are looking for.

Thanks, I have pretty much narrowed it down to (cost in Euros):

1. Vlerick Leuven Belgium MBA cost = 17,000
2. Carlos III Madrid MBA cost = 9000
3. Catholica Nova MBA cost = 16,000
4. Solvay (Brussels) MBA cost = 16,950

I am going to apply to all of these schools for fall of 2008. They are listed in my order or preference with regards to ALL of the factors combined and through my extensive school search, although the price of UC3M is quite tempting, Vlerick just has too good of a reputation to say no to if I am accepted. Thanks to everyone, hit me up if you find a school that you think belongs up in my list because it is by no means permanent yet.

Ben

Hi Ben,
I don't come up with any other option (yet), sorry. But I wanted to ask you about Solvay, because I have not heard about it until now. Why is that in your list? Which accreditations does it have, is it ranked somwhere?
Thanks, Juanito

Hi,
I was going to give you some other MBAs with low fees, but they are in Germany, and I realised that you excluded Germany - so sorry no news here, I just didn´t know how to delete the empy post..