MBA or Master of Finance and at which schools?

lucas

1 2

Posted Apr 27, 2011 14:52

Hi,

I have a question on which program to choose and which university.

I'm 30 years old. I have the following educational background, BSc in Physics with Honours from former Soviet republic where I'm originally from, then MSc in Engineering from one of the Scandinavian universities, and around 8 years of work experience (2 years before graduation of my BSc in a bank in software development, and 6 years after MSc studies in software development in a startup company in Scandinavia).

Last year I decided to study MBA or at least another MSc program more related to either business or finance.

So I started studying Bachelor's courses in economics and business at a local university to prepare myself for masters in parallel with my work.

I have not taken GMAT yet, but the GMAT test program I took 680 without any preparation (49 in quantitative and 34 in verbal).

I'm planning to apply for MBA or Master in Finance for 2012 intake.

Please advice, which is more suitable for me, MBA or a Master in Finance? I want to study 1-year program.

In USA there are mostly 2-year MBA programs, so if I apply for MBA I'll apply in Europe.

How important are the university grades when applying to MBA?

Which are the universities that will suite a person with my educational and professional background?

Thank you.

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exec

9 17

Posted May 06, 2011 23:38

I would say that you should definitely apply for an MBA. There is no use for you to go back to school and get another MSc. An MBA degree would be much more beneficial and would give you a better job placement. The fact that you don't have a business background actually works for you because MBA programs love diversity. I would say that you should apply for 5-10 top MBA programs in Europe, and try to get a scholarship. Some school's admission is on rolling basis, so you could even actually apply now. Others open the admission early in the fall. You should apply as soon as they open the admission.

You will need your transcripts translated in English and officially sealed or mailed directly from school, two reference letters, an application form and so on. These things are very time consuming, so if you apply to many schools, you'd better start early. The application forms are the most extensive because they include many short answers or essay questions. And you should take a GMAT sooner rather than later. But even if you scored well on the prep test, you should study because prep tests are not always accurate.

This is a global ranking of MBA programs by Financial Times as an example: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings-2011

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lucas

1 2

Posted May 07, 2011 16:39

Thank you for the detailed answer.

I have started gathering information about different MBA programs, mostly in UK.

Which program would you recommend?

So far I've been considering Judge (Cambridge), Saïd (Oxford), Cass, Imperial, Cranfield.

London Business School is extremely expensive, and London School of Economics does not seem to offer any standalone MBA program.

Are there any other MBA programs in Europe outside UK that are as good as or better than British ones? The FT MBA ranking ranks couple of programs in Spain, France, Switzerland very high. If I am not Spanish/French-speaker, should I consider them as well? I am planning to work in an English-speaking country after the MBA (UK or USA).

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exec

9 17

Posted May 07, 2011 21:51

Thank you for the detailed answer.

I have started gathering information about different MBA programs, mostly in UK.

Which program would you recommend?

So far I've been considering Judge (Cambridge), Saïd (Oxford), Cass, Imperial, Cranfield.

London Business School is extremely expensive, and London School of Economics does not seem to offer any standalone MBA program.

Are there any other MBA programs in Europe outside UK that are as good as or better than British ones? The FT MBA ranking ranks couple of programs in Spain, France, Switzerland very high. If I am not Spanish/French-speaker, should I consider them as well? I am planning to work in an English-speaking country after the MBA (UK or USA).

Yes, you should definitely consider other European schools because some of them like IESE, IE, ESADE, HEC are even better than the ones in the UK. All MBA programs are in English and there is no requirement to speak the local language. If the school is highly ranked and tripled accredited (accreditation is very important), then you could get hired anywhere. They have very good job placements. Regarding to your desire to work in the US is a bit concerning. Are you aware that in the US most companies hire people mainly from the best American MBA programs? The only school in Europe that most employers know is LBS. I lived in the US myself and I have been to many MBA meetings/tours and met many people. I was told that if you want to work in the US, then you should go to an MBA program in the US. If you want to work in Europe, then you should go for an MBA in Europe. You should think about it. And you should not limit yourself to only English speaking countries. Large international companies use English as their main language and they would hire you despite if you don't know the local language. Eventually you can learn it too if that bothers you personally but it should not be a problem when it comes to getting a job in a big company and especially if you graduated from a well known school.

<blockquote>Thank you for the detailed answer.

I have started gathering information about different MBA programs, mostly in UK.

Which program would you recommend?

So far I've been considering Judge (Cambridge), Saïd (Oxford), Cass, Imperial, Cranfield.

London Business School is extremely expensive, and London School of Economics does not seem to offer any standalone MBA program.

Are there any other MBA programs in Europe outside UK that are as good as or better than British ones? The FT MBA ranking ranks couple of programs in Spain, France, Switzerland very high. If I am not Spanish/French-speaker, should I consider them as well? I am planning to work in an English-speaking country after the MBA (UK or USA).
</blockquote>

Yes, you should definitely consider other European schools because some of them like IESE, IE, ESADE, HEC are even better than the ones in the UK. All MBA programs are in English and there is no requirement to speak the local language. If the school is highly ranked and tripled accredited (accreditation is very important), then you could get hired anywhere. They have very good job placements. Regarding to your desire to work in the US is a bit concerning. Are you aware that in the US most companies hire people mainly from the best American MBA programs? The only school in Europe that most employers know is LBS. I lived in the US myself and I have been to many MBA meetings/tours and met many people. I was told that if you want to work in the US, then you should go to an MBA program in the US. If you want to work in Europe, then you should go for an MBA in Europe. You should think about it. And you should not limit yourself to only English speaking countries. Large international companies use English as their main language and they would hire you despite if you don't know the local language. Eventually you can learn it too if that bothers you personally but it should not be a problem when it comes to getting a job in a big company and especially if you graduated from a well known school.

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