Hi everyone,
Hi Duncan,

I just made a progress with this school ( HFU Furtwangen in Germany ) for the MBA program. I need some opinion during this progress about the school, city and live style there. Do anyone can shares some advise please..

Many THanks..

There's plenty of opinion here: http://www.find-mba.com/boardsearch/61/q/Furtwangen Do you have a specific question that isn't addressed on those threads?

PS You don't mean "progress". What other noun are you thinking of?

Like Duncan mentioned, it would help if you had some specific questions about the school.

One thing - are you German, or if not, are you planning on trying to land a job in Germany post-study? Many of their graduates from abroad tend to go back to their home countries after graduation. However, there are cases of international students landing jobs in Germany post graduation - at companies like Allianz, GE, and even some manufacturing/industry firms.

The school itself is in the Black Forest region of Germany - you could use the location to make industry and corporate connections with companies in the area like Porsche and HP. It's close enough to Stuttgart and even Zurich to take day trips and set up meetings with local firms.

Hi everyone,
Hi Duncan,

I just made a progress with this school ( HFU Furtwangen in Germany ) for the MBA program. I need some opinion during this progress about the school, city and live style there. Do anyone can shares some advise please..

Many THanks..

Dear Duncan & Ezra

Thanks for the advise.
Progress I mean that they already had my aplication and I'm on a waiting of their confirmation. However, they just told me that iam accepted last night. I still haven't idea what would to say.

I'm indonesian, part of south east asia. To land a job in europe is not my priority but I will be open for any opportuniy.

So gentlemen, I already saw Duncan's link regard to HFU but I still cannot got the picture clearly. What is the major different between mainstream universities and applied sciences? I have a plan to set my own business in the future and had a few steps now.

Therefoie, how is their

Dear Duncan & Ezra

Thanks for the advise.
Progress I mean that they already had my aplication and I'm on a waiting of their confirmation. However, they just told me that iam accepted last night. I still haven't idea what would to say.

I'm indonesian, part of south east asia. To land a job in europe is not my priority but I will be open for any opportuniy.

So gentlemen, I already saw Duncan's link regard to HFU but I still cannot got the picture clearly. What is the major different between mainstream universities and applied sciences? I have a plan to set my own business in the future and had a few steps now.

Therefore, my concern is about the education quality ( ofcourse in the fit in with the price).

So what is your taught about their quality?


Furtwangen is a small city far frow berlin and that is industrial area, so how's live style there ? Are there any racism issues?

Hi TND,

Do MBA from HFU only if you want to learn German and work in Germany post MBA. HFU MBA will not help you open your own business because it doesn't have international reputation. It won't help you build contacts in Asia or secure investor for your business. Look at the accredited MBA program. They have better quality.

About Racism, its Probably best to discuss it in a non MBA forum. I lived in that part for a few months and I really liked it. Berlin is not where all the industries are. They are spread all over the country with bigger proportion in the West near Dortmund, Essen etc.

Hope that helps.

How should I call you bleeding guitar,
Anyway, thanks for the sharing , :))

Honestly, I can't afford accredited university, also gmat is my weakness. I tried to improve but no so satisfying so far.


So, what is another competitive points of doing MBA at HFU on your sight?

Given the choice between a MSc at an accredited public university like Erasmus or Copenhagen, which would be around 1000 euro a semester, or an MBA at Furtwagen I might choos the MSc. look at the FT MSc ranking.

Hi All,

Got to clarify some stuff. I'm an alumnus of the course. The HFU MBA program is an accredited program under FIBAA. I took the course in 2009. When I got back to my home country of Canada, I had an independent agency confirm that my HFU MBA degree was 100% equivalent to any other Canadian MBA program such as Queens or U of Toronto.

I've posted other info in the other threads, so you can read there too, but I can add to the life-style and racism questions here.

About racism, I did not witness any myself. Southern Germany is the wealthier half of the country, and people here are more relaxed about race than in the former East part of the coutntry where racism is still quite common. Because the school attracts a lot of foreign students, the locals here in Villingen-Schwenningen are quite accustomed to seeing and hearing students from all parts of the world. Spanish is like a second language here. There are also quite a few Asian businesses in the city: restaurants, grocery stores, etc., and you'll likely find no problems fitting in if you're from S.E. Asia.

As for the city, it is not a metropolis. If you must have big city excitement and shopping, you'll be disappointed here. If you want a charming smaller city that's got a lot of nature and history around it and is within an hour's train ride to big cities like Stuttgart, Zurich or Freiburg, then it has a lot to offer in recreation and liesure activites. Great cycling and hiking just outside your door into the Black Forest. And the local people I found were friendly if you learn to speak their language. The young Germans of course want to speak English, so you'll have no problem there.

And the program itself is very good. There are of course better schools with big names and big price tags, but the HFU MBA is excellent value. In the end, if you choose HFU, you walk away with a respected degree that is equivalent to other MBA's and an exceptional experience living in one of the most picturesque parts of the world.

Good luck in whatever you choose.

Will

Hi,

Interesting post. Life style wise I can also assure you that its one of the most spectacular areas in Germany; however, just to add a few points.
- FIBAA is not among the most respected agencies. The top three are AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA. In fact, the top business school don't even mention that they are FIBAA accredited.
- Would confirming with an independent agency help you broaden your alumni network? I guess not.
- Big courses have big price tags because they hire big teachers, they have big networks and their Career services put big efforts in organizing events.
It all boils down to what kind of program you want to take. If you want to see the countryside, travel around in Europe, chill out and have an MBA tag then HFU would be great. But if you want to leverage these studies to build your career then there are better choices.