@duncan, I am generally trying to shortlist the best of each country in europe(with scholarship highly in mind) for a full time MBA .my goal is entrepreneurship

would SDA and MIP be the right ones from italy?.

I think SDA, MIP and ESCP, as the best schools in the country, are good for everything. In Italy there's a challenging interaction between family business and entrepreneurship and, to a degree, one interchanges for others. Bocconi has a big advantage. However, I would really recommend that an Italian should go abroad to learn it, and that a non-Italian should not choose Italy.

As I wrote before I can see no reasons why a foreign should come to Italy ... everyday new troubles:
1) economy hasn't been growing for a decade
2) financial world is trying is best to take advantage from our huge debts
3) politics is totally unable to do anything
4) corruptions is everywhere
5) from latest stats: in Italy there is the same difference between riches and poors that exists in the States BUT there is the same chance to move between the 2 categories that exists in Scandinavia (where poors are a small part and people have generally good services, incomes, ecc)
6) in the UE only Spain,Portugal and Greece are normally following us in the stats :-)


.... If I were you I'd look for something in Germany, France, ecc


You can move to Italy when you'll be rich ..... :-) that's the best way to enjoy my country

I noticed that Durham is offering the "fast track" option which includes 8 residential modules; comparing a little:

1) Durham 16000e + 8w+800e(around) = 23000e
2) Euro*MBA 26000e+ 6*800(around) = 31000e
3) Warwick = 21500e + 4*800 = 25000e

+ the 1st starting week which is mandatory (adviced) for each choice;
Between Durham and Euro*MBA there are 8000e: does this difference worth, in your opinion?

As I wrote before I can see no reasons why a foreign should come to Italy ... everyday new troubles:

maubia, I think the time in class will be broadly similar between Durham and the Euro*MBA, around 30 days in class. The Durham-EBS course is 60 days. I really think the pricing of the Durham Global MBA is astonishingly low: around half the price of the EBS programme. That has to reflect the lower cost and value of a distance learning programme.

wbsat, there's a big difference between the placement success of these programmes. In Europe the leading schools for placement are Cranfield, ESADE, IMD, IE, IESE, Imperial, INSEAD and LBS: they are in the top half of the FT 100 when it comes to placement, and students tend to have very high international mobility. Bocconi is part of the top quarter of the bottom half which includes Cass, Cambridge, HEC, Lancaster, Manchester, Oxford and Rotterdam. However, the international mobility of Bocconi is lower than most of the other schools I've just mentioned.

Thanks duncan.so you are talking about the very best schools as far as intrntional mobility is concerned. so a univ like bocconi can be a backup application for me?

i am surprised that you are ranking hec france in less than top tier of placement when its rankings have been consistently top tier.,

i am not thinking of english schools at the moment due to lack of scholarship options

It's not me who ranks HEC's MBA placement that way; it's the Financial Times.

I ve contacted manchester school ... it seems that they supply a very good career service even for the distance learning program (that they call "global MBA").

http://www.mbs.ac.uk/programmes/mba/global/global_mba_accelerated/global_mba_student_support.aspx

I don't know if I meet the admission criteria but I m waiting the answer
Actually I ve decided to avoid italian masters .. I ll try the admission to euro*mba and to one between Manchester and Warwick (the main problem for me, will be to get the 2 presentation letters :-))
My only concern with euro*mba is that the 6 universities being part of the programs are located in countries where english is not the official language; I can speak some French but nothing more.
I consider very hard to find a job in Poland, Germany, Spain, ecc without knowing the local language

These are all really good choices, and they will all impress major Italian employers. I think you should pick the one where you feel at home, but Warwick and Manchester will have a better network in Italy than the Euro*MBA schools. However, all the Euro*MBA schools run schools in English because there is demand for international talent to help international businesses. Their networks also will make you valuable.

I suggest you speak with some alumni and sit in on some classes if you can.

I must say that manchester mba is my top choice at the moment .. I m waiting their answer if I meet their application criteria.
I would say:
1) Manchester
2) Euro
3) Warwick
Manchester accelerated program starts in September, Euro*mba in Jan/September, Warwick Jan 2012.
Actually I ve some times to study and get a decent TOEFL.. Yesterday I tried it at home (through a Barron's Toefl text) and got 570.. it should be quite easy to jump to 620-630

Some feed-backs from Manchester:
my cv might apply for the global mba and exams are taken in Milan (8 exams....!) so not too far from me;
actually career development is similar to what Warwick offers (honestly both Universities seems very similar basing on programs/assesments/career/ranking/time to complete the mba).
Euro*mba diverges for the assesments which don't require typical written 3h exams. This might be a good point (even considering that the program lasts 2y).
IE lasts around 15 months, very expensive but maybe the difference could be rewarded in the future.
My main reason to get an MBA was a career switch: the safest way to get this would be to take a full-time mba but i m already 33, and leaving a quite safe job for a sabbatic year (+ a 30000-40000e loan) is a very hard decision.
IE just confirmed me that they consider my experience as "relevant"; maybe this is a risk (costs here are quite impressive: 39000e) that I could find reasonable.

As a career changer the full-time MBA has lots of advantages, including the internship possibilities. I don't know if you firm would give you the chance to take off one or two summers if you were able to get a paid internship: that would be great experience.

Warwick has a great advantage that you can move between modes really easily so, if you want to, you can go full-time for the final term and try to get into the hiring pipeline.

IE is great if you speak Spanish, but I think it's not a great investment if you don't. I also think that, for job hunting on 'mainland' Europe the Euro*MBA gives great advantages.

Well no way for me to have summers free ...
The main disadvantage of italian companies is that top management positions are few and mostly covered by family members. That's why even in a very rich company like the one I work with it's very complicated to move up the career.

IE seems good for intrepreunship and this could be the way to change my career, more they have a short program (15 months), 2 residential weeks and one of the best learning structure (following ranks). The disadvantage is their location: Spain... bad economy at the moment and even cost (39000).

British universities are really demanding in term of exams and lasting time: 3y seems very too much. On the other hands they play on UK a respected and actractive markets (with views on middle-east, europe, ecc.)

maybe euro*mba is the mix.. but the 3 weeks/year will be hardly accepted for my boss :-)

Within the end of the year I ll try to get TOEFL and GMAT and then I ll decide. If I perform well I could even go for a full-time experience (at 33 I think to be in the range yet)

With all the Spanish schools you need to be very careful about rankings. They do well in the rankings because of the shortage of good managers in fast-growing Latin America. Their graduates will earn two or three times more there than in Spain. That pushes them up the rankings. The same outcomes will not be available to someone who does not speak Spanish.

Also, it really is the case that study on campus is different and in most ways better than distance learning. The group work and face-to-face contact makes a big difference.

Don't underestimate your boss. Often if you explain that you'd like to move on, but that you understand that means leaving the firm when the opportunities run out, then that can change things. They might want to offer you come opportunity. If they cannot give you three weeks (unpaid?) leave to do business study that makes you a much better manager then they really are not very good.

probably for me it would be easier to entry IE since they are likely to accept people even coming from "familiar" companies (so they say in the podcast)... more the admission center (they have an italian following italian requests) sounded much more enthusiastic than Manchester and Warwick (which are not so sure about my profile and would require a stronger executive flavour).

Euro*mba are quite neutral...and said that I have good chances.

I've also exchanged some email with IMD admission center who has proposed me to send my application..but this is more a dream than a real idea (when I told them that my profile has nothing in common with the top managers they put in the brochure/presentation.. they replied me that this is mostly for companies/recruiters lol)


By the way
http://www.gmba-eng.ie.edu/pdf/brochure.pdf
pag 23

half the students (i suppose that they mix stats with the spanish version too) shouldn't speak spanish

A long time is past since the first post. I want to personally thank Duncan and this forum ... before coming here my career was quite depressed. Now, even if lots of work is expecting me, I see some good opportunities and ways to succeed!
Happy new year to you all.

I was actually looking at stats here;

http://www2.euromba.org/view.asp?view=page&show=JNOQFPC0&mmid=54&sid=222

this course looks very effective

Hi Duncan ,

Probably I should have started a new thread. I am 37 yrs,Indian National and plan to do an Internatioal MBA. Amongst many colleges I have sifted I am considering MIP MBA.
Could you through some light on current scenario on doing MBA from MIP in terms of job prospects in Italy / Europe (Including UK).
Teaching quality I heard from couple of post MIP grads as quite good.
Regards.Anup

Anup, if you are a non-EU citizen who is not fluent in Italian I cannot really recommend it. A much better investment will be a country where you speak the working language. What other schools are you considering?