Hello,
I'm from Venezuela and I am looking for a MBA in Spain. Somebody could advise me?
I have a degree in economie from Universidad Central of Caracas and some workexperience in the banking sector. After the MBA I definitely want to go back to Venezuela, so increasing my job perspectives in Europe is not the issue.
Thanks in advance!
Katalina

Hey Katalina,

Undoubtedly the top 3 MBA programs in Spain are (not necessarily - but probably - in that order):

1) Instituto de Empresa (IE)
2) Iese Business School
3) Esade Business School

For more information about the ranking of these schools, check out http://rankings.ft.com/rankings/mba/rankings.html

Personally, I think Instituto de Empresa (IE) is the most internationally reputed business school in Spain.

There are some more good business schools in Spain, such as EAE, EADA, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF-IDEC) and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. There are about 10 MBA programs in Barcelona alone, not all of them can be recommended. Be sure to take a closer look at the professors and lecturers, accreditations etc.

Maja

Hi Katalina, As I was suggesting to Mario in the other forum about EADA, there is a 4th school which is also accredited which is EADA, again in Barcelona.

This school also guarantees quality, but being low positioned in the FT and the Economist Ranking, has a much more affordable price.

If you can afford more, in my opinion the top one is IESE, Barcelona, very severe and religiuosly oriented, but extremely rigourous.
Then ESADE which is also very goos and very entrepreneurial. Concerning IE, Madrid, I differ form the previous comment, because despite is still a good school, is not as good as it is positioned in the ranking. Anyway write to the school, taste them, it is very important the sensation you gat, you have to spend lots of time in an MBA, so you have to like it 100%.

At your disposal.

Partially agree with James,
IESE is propbably the most rigirius, but the international Marketing made by IE is not comparable, they are excelent, so they are probably better known to the mass.

Then EADA has a strong international network of agent/representative abroad and lots of alumni around the world as the big ones, as also ESADE has.

EAE is investing a huge quantity of money in advertising, but the quality of the school is so poor that I doubt it will attract a different candidate to the low level one is aiming to.

Hi James and Ben, as I said, I was just talking about Empresa's international reputation, ie "brand name". However, I have to concede that IESE has seen a strong rise in the international rankings in recent years. It even topped last year's Economist international ranking of MBA programs. There is an interesting article ("IESE ends US run") at http://mba.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=view_article&eiu_article_id=1139444099

Hey all,
thanks a lot for this detailed information! Well, now I will have a closer look at these top schools you advised.
But as I want to go towards a specialization in finance, I was wandering if BBB in Barcelona might be something, cos they offer this MBA "Global Banking and Financial Markets"?

Kata

Katalina,

I do not even know what is BBB, so I can not help. Be careful on unknown product. Regards

I guess you mean BBS, right? Check out this thread: http://www.find-mba.com/board/2444

Hi Katalina,
I'm from Barcelona, if you want to search more information about mba's you can take a look at this webpage:
http://www.emagister.com

It's the most important Spanish learning website .

Good luck!

Hola todo el mundo.
Yeah, sure, I didn't mean BBB but BBS... But it doesn't sound good what I read in all the posts - I guess I should focus on the accredited schools, obviously. Thanks for the hints guys.

I was wondering about the living costs as well. Barcelona seems a great place, but so expensive! I have a friend who could only afford a flat in the outskirts, and he has to do one hour journey to go downtown every day, what a waste of precious time.

Is Madrid better in terms of housing costs etc?

Hello Katalina,

I'm from Barcelona and just finished and MBA part time at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF-IDEC).

As you have been told, the two best MBA programs in Spain are IESE anb ESADE, the only "problem" is that both cost around 60.000 ?, and that's a lot (you should take into consideration also, as you have been told, that IESE is an Opus Dei ultra-catholic dependent university, maybe you should take that into consideration also).

IE (Instituto de Empresa) is doing thing very well in the recent years, his reputation is increasing a lot and probably is the third bes MBA program right now.

IDEC-UPF has a very good program also, probably one of the the 5 best in Spain, and its very specialized in finance (althoug it have lacks in other business areas), so it could be a very good option for you.

Hope my comments help you!

Thanks for the infos!
So what do you say about the MBA at UPF-IDEC, how was your experience? Are there a lot of latin american students? Always interesting to seen how is the popularity of a school from a latinamerican point of view..
But I would not do the same as you, for me it would be more interesting to do the one-year-full time option - that could actually be perfect for me, strong in finance, one of the 5 best MBAs in Spain. What else can you say about this program? I'll appreciate any information!
How about fees? Because its true that compared to the fees, the question of living costs becomes quite secondary.

Thanks very much in advance, your information is very helpful for my research!
Kata

Pompeu is an excellent University, but is not fair to use its UNI brand as a MBA Brand, it does not have any accreditation and is totally unknown at the international level, MBA wise of course.

Now each not accredited school in Spain is claming to be the 5th after the 4 accredited one, I was also falling in the trick when searching for schools, EAE, IDEC, LASalle, BBS, BMI.... Barcelona has several self claimed MBA, but if they offer teachers, theay are not international or not connected with a real job network, Offering an MBA is a seriuos fact, can not be invented.

I was astonished by the low quality of many MBAs of Barcelona, apart form the famous three.

AMBA EQUIS are serious institutions and the only ones which garantees the MBA in the world.

Hello Mario, so finally there not so much choice in Spain to do a good MBA. But its true that you can't find out like that - I am happy that I asked this question here, and that I go all these comments to guide me and not fall in the trick!
Kata

Yes Katalina, in total accordance with the previous comment, if you want to have a look in Spain, investigate betweem IESE, ESADE and EADA in barcelona, or IE in madrid, where anyway the cost of living is much alike barcelona.

In both cities consider at least 700 euros a month for a shared flat, meals (cooking on your own), small drinks and small small travelling.

Good luck

At least 700 Euro for living, you mean per person? I thought you can find something for 400 Euro, if you're ready to share and don't need the highest comfort, at least thats what I hear from Barcelona. Wrong?

Katalina, the average for a decent shared room is 350 Euros, then you should consider at least 250 for food, some 150 for getting out, flights, phone calls...

Of course you can reduce it, but you need to respect strict rules to live on 400 monthly budget.

I am very open to help, but I guess you should have also friends living in Spain, it is full of venezuelan people which can give you advises.

Hello James,
I know that in Spain I wont be the only one from Venezuela, its quite a fashion! I know some people, so sure, I'll ask them about the more general questions, but thanks James for your kind offer.
I was just a little shocked about the 700, if it was that expensive we'd better all go to London instead, right?

In London for 700 euros a month you hardly pay the rent. Do you have an idea of what means expensive in Europe Katalina?

Regards

Oh sorry, I didn't read you guys properly. I thought we were talking about rent only.
700Euro for living besides tuition, thats what I imagined for Spains big cities. And I'm aware that you don't live in luxury with that.
In the whole yes, I do have sort of an idea about living costs, many of my friends have spent some time studying or travelling in Europe.
Besides, you know, Venezuela is not a third world country, price level is quite high, higher than elsewhere in Latin America, more like a southern Europen country. Has to do with oil - but I am not gonna go into politics here...
Thanks anyways for warning me!
Have a great day! kata