As an American with German roots, I am very interested in doing my MBA in Germany.

My grandparents came from Germany and I have taken German classes in university. I did a study abroad semester in Bavaria, where I improved my language and cultural awareness.

At this point, I have been working in banking for three years and I want to transition from here (Chicago) to Frankfurt. I would stay in financial services.

As such I am looking at doing my MBA either at Frankfurt School of Finance / Management or at Mannheim Business School. I have also considered Insead as I know that this school is great for finance, but I am really interested about studying for MBA in Germany and not France.

I am aiming for fall 2019 intake.

Questions:

- is there anything I can do to improve my chances at getting in? I have not yet taken the GMAT but I will in the coming months.

- is it a realistic goal, working in Frankfurt in banking / finance as an American? I would say that I am fluent in the language at this point but my accent needs work still.

It sounds realistic but I think it's worth considering alternatives. For example
- The Frankfurt School MiF is a better course for financial services and classes run three days a week, allowing you to take up internships, project work and even start work before the end of the degree.
- There is some scepticism about the MBA, especially MBAs with a light finance content
- Is there a German-language program that interests you? I am thinking of the Frankfurt masters in M&A, for example. This would really help you with functional vocabulary and would be a major proof point with employers.

Looking on LinkedIn for MBAs in financial services roles, in Germany, it seems that the most common schools include:
ESADE Business & Law School
ESMT Berlin
HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
IESE Business School
INSEAD
SDA Bocconi
University of St.Gallen

Narrowing that down to Frankfurt:
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
ESADE Business & Law School
SDA Bocconi
Mannheim Business School

Thanks for the help! I have considered a German language program but so far I haven't done a lot of research into these.

It's a bit interesting to hear you say that there's skepticism around MBAs with light finance content. I will take this into consideration and look more closely at the curriculum for each program.

I have also heard of ESMT through my circles. I initially disregarded the MBA because it didn't seem very 'finance' oriented but I my reconsider.

The schools outside Germany like ESADE I am not so sure about.

Thanks again!

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management is the best business school in Germany. You can make an argument for ESMT or Mannheim but as far as trajectory they are not close to Frankfurt.

Mannheim has a very good reputation, yes. But they are held back by the bureaucracy of public institutions in Germany. Frankfurt School of Finance & Management is very progressive. They just opened their new campus in Frankfurt which had an investment of around 150 million euro. They also are employing a unique hiring strategy to attract top professors from around the world, similar to what Bocconi did several years ago to become one of the top European schools.

Frankfurt is better known for their Masters of Finance, their MBA is a newer program, but regardless the university itself is a target school for financial institutions and Frankfurt's career services program is top notch.

I think ESMT is better oriented towards consulting or corporate jobs which suits their founders/backers.

Lastly, if you want to work in Frankfurt it seems like the best course of action is to be in Frankfurt ;)

Errrrrm....

By what objective measurement is that the best school in Germany? Reading the FT ranking http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/european-business-school-rankings-2017 I see their order is:
- ESCP Europe
- Mannheim
- ESMT
- Grenoble
(Big gap)
- Frankfurt
- WHU
- HHL
(Bigger gap)
- Cologne

I am interested in the Frankfurt School, primarily because of location, but the fact that its MBA seems to be a relatively new program? is making me lean towards other options if I go the MBA route. However, the school's Master in Finance is tempting. Location-wise it's great bu I understand the ICE train from Mannheim wouldn't be too bad for networking / interviews / career-building events. I'm strongly considering the Mannheim MBA. I'm not convinced the bureaucracy is that big of a con.

All of these options will work but the MiF seems to have some huge advantages.