Hi everyone,
I, recently, have been accepted by following two schools for their MBA programs. I am focusing on quality job opportunities on completion of the program.For me both the schools appear similar in terms of placement, quality of teaching, reputation, and the tuition fee. Kindly give pros and cons of each one of these schools and advice which one I should go for.

1. ESLSCA Paris France
2. Paris School of Business Paris France

Thank you.

I see experts giving their input on almost all the posts. Please, any senior on this forum help me choose one college out of these two.
I have to reply to their mail in a few days.
Any information is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Why not take an extra year and go somewhere better?? Neither of them have strong MBA programmes.

Thank you for taking time to reply Duncan.
But I see that Paris School of Business is IACBE accediated and ESLSCA is a member of AACSB.
Also both of them have a placement % of more that 90 in 2010.
Are these not the criterias to look for when need to choose one of them?

Anyone can *join* AACSB. It's only accreditation that matters. IACBE is not a notable or widely-respected accreditation.

Placement percentages are not very informative. Perhaps 90% of the students had jobs three months *before* the programme as well.

At a school with respected international accreditation (http://www.find-mba.com/accreditations) you'll find schools that publish detailled placement reports (https://www.google.com/search?gcx=c&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=EDHEC+placement+report#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=MBA+placement+report+filetype%3Apdf&oq=MBA+placement+report+filetype:pdf&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=serp.3...3834.9630.1.9921.15.14.1.0.0.0.153.1252.11j3.14.0...0.0.S20GrudaSr0&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=9b68d2a2b44aa7ab&biw=1531&bih=819).

These schools without respected accreditation are harder to place a value on, and are generally lower quality. It's not that much harder to get into an accredited programme, so why not attend one of those instead?

Dear all,
I am having a similar problem, I would apreciate your help.
I am a Peruvian designer who wants to specialize in the fashion and luxury business.
For that, I am considering an english master in France (not over 18000 euros)
Among my possible options are:
SKEMA business school
ISC paris (International Master in Luxury Business)
PSB paris school of business
The program at Skema seems good but I am a little concern with the fact that it is not located at paris where most luxury companies operate.
On the other hand, PSB ans ISC are in paris and that would allow me a wider network, however I dont know how good is their reputation and education program.
I know that the best masters are the ones at Essec, Bocconi, Emlyon, HEC but unfortunately I cannot afford to pay more that 20euros.
Thank you in advance, I am looking forward for your opinion.
Susan

Hi Susan,

Have you asked those more expensive courses about financial aid? I would imagine that you could be a very interesting candidate.

Of the schools you mention I do recommend Skema. Also look at the AMBA accredited MBA in Paris with a fashion track (I think with Esmode): MBA - Manager D'entreprise (MBA) Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

However, I recommend that you take a MSc programme that's not in fashion, but which will give you the business skills fashion people need. Some suggestions under 18K:-
-Business Development or Strategic Marketing (M.Sc.) Grenoble Ecole de Management
-Master in European Business (MEB) ESCP Europe Business School ? Paris
-International Management (MIM) Reims Management School
-Marketing Management - in Partnership with Unilever (M.Sc.) EDHEC Business School - Lille Campus

Dear Duncan
Thank you very much, I really appreciate your response; it is really good to have an expert´s advice!!
Indeed, I asked for the financial aid, but on this matter (masters taught in English at France) there is not much available.
Sorry I forgot to tell I am an industrial designer, not a fashion one. Hence I do need the luxury business topics.
What surprise me is that you say that is actually better to study an Msc in marketing rather than a luxury orientated one? I was not aware of that, for sure I would start looking for options that still haven?t closed their deadlines dates.
So you think it is not that important to study at Paris for a luxury program? I already got admitted to SKEMA luxury program but was doubting because it was not in Paris (good network and nearby luxury companies)
I have also heard that ISC luxury program is good but the French one; I have no references about the English program because it is new.
Regarding PSB I have heard it is good because it is member of the pole ESG and gives the possibility of a dual degree (Luxury & marketing and international relations) but nothing else.
Well, thank you again. Your feedback was incredibly useful.
I will continue looking and hopefully I will be on France this August.
Best wishes for you!!

A friend of mine has a scholarship from ESSEC for their Luxury MBA. There might not be much available, but it is there.

Search the board for the long discussion on luxury. Masters programmes are not an effective route into the luxury industry. To get in, you need to offer something different and that should be your background in industrial design. What the top luxury programmes have - at NYU, HEC, Bocconi and ESSEC - is a rock-solid MBA toolkit of general management skills.

In France the prestige of the college is really important. ESCP is one of the top business schools in the world (and the oldest business school in the world). It will have a more potent network in the fashion industry than ISC, even if it is less specialised.

Why are you set on France?

Dear Duncan,

Thank you, I just read the luxury discussion board. Well, definetely I will have to sit and think for a moment because truth is I already apply to Skema, ISC and PSB and was specting to start studying this year on September.

To be completely honest with you, I choose France and Paris not only for education matters, but also because I want to get a life experience in such place, experiencing the culture, the parisien fashion and luxury way of living. Of course I think that education is really important but in order to get a balanced life is that I also thought of enjoying while being in a master program.

Regarding why I choose a specialized program, well I have to mention that in Peru we dont have such a strong a luxury market at all, and that is why I thought it was going to be better to learn the marketing skills within the luxury industry (since the beginning of the master) rather than waiting one year of general marketing studies.

I want to thank you for all your pieces of advice, I think that what I would do is to first take one of this specialized affordable masters and later when I get a job experience on the field(in europe) I would jump for a top MBA. Altough my age does not help so much (28) we will see if it all works ok, maybe when I am 31 I can do a top MBA. What do you think?

I will keep you inform of my career if you want.

Best regards,
Thank you very much.
Susan.

Hi Susan,

I think Paris is a great place to study fashion, but as a rule of thumb I suggest that students study at the best school they can, and not attend an inferior school, or one that does not fit with their plans, just because of the location. You can imagine: Indians love to study in Britain; Chinese love to study in the USA; Brazilians love to study in Iberia... and so on. But these are not always the best choice. It might be better to study somewhere less exciting, and then that will allow you to be more successful. Paris will always be there.

Applications are open at Cnam for the next week: http://iim-en.cnam.fr/mba/ It has a AMBA-accredited MBA in Fashion Business Development, with the specialisation taught at ESMODE, one of the oldest fashion schools. I have put the ESMODE brochure online at https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2A1G7E0DzmUSFV2UFdKWjhzalU

The Fashion Business Development classes are:
? Management of innovation
? Fashion product strategies
? Trend Management
? Managing the fashion environment
? The creative process.

I have uploaded a few of their documents:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2A1G7E0DzmUQmdHazRMRU1XVzg and
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2A1G7E0DzmUV2FmLXRLb3J4dmM

PS I wrote a few comments about my visit to CNAM here:
http://www.find-mba.com/board/21775

It's a beautiful building, but very much like an old fashioned school.

Hi Duncan,
Indeed, I re tought about this matter and I realized that you are right, I decided to follow your advice.
I will apply to cnam!!.

However, I was looking at the "classement" ranking and just found that SKEMA has a well position for their marketing program...(even better than cnam)

http://www.meilleurs-masters.com/master-marketing.html

Taking in consideration their good position, do you think their master in luxury and fashion would be also good? It does not have the amba because it is not an mba, but actually I am planning to direct my career more to the marketing area rather than the management area. That is the reason for believing that maybe Skema would suit better my career goals? what do you think??
You are very right, Paris will still be there and Nice is not that far, moreover, my career is more important in other to be succesfull later.

thank you very much!

Dear Duncan,
I was very surprised just now, I just found that the paris school of business is also well ranked for their mba program...

http://www.graduate-forum.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/SPRING-2012-MBA-RANKINGS.pdf

Do you know if this CEO magazine has an accurate ranking? If so, I think an MBA at Paris school of business would be a good asset right?

Best regards,

Personally I would also choose Skema or ESCP over Cnam.

There are other accreditations for MSc degrees, and AMBA and Equis do both offer those.

The "CEO magazine ranking" is subjective, unknown and meaningless. PSB is, really, not very well known.

PSB is, really, not very well known.

Dear Ezra and Duncan.
Thank you very much for your pieces of advice.
Indeed, more people have been telling me that PSB may not be a good option. It is really helpful talking to people like you, with more knowledge about this matter. If it was not for that, I would be probably applying for the wrong programs!
I have been talking to an ISC alumnae and she told me that Skema and ISC programs were fine. She got an internship at Prada & Valentino marketing department !! .
She also stated that it was helpful to study at Paris for the wide network available.
I guess my decision would be among Skema and ISC.
Best regards,

I agree with Erza. I would recommend Skema or Cnam.

I looked into CEO magazine; it's not the CEO magazine I am familiar with, but one produced by some graduate career forum. Not a serious ranking at all.