Hello,

My name is Jorge Campal. I am an industrial engineer (2 years of postgraduate experience) currently working for a multinational automotive company in Spain while finishing my second bachelor in mechanical engineering. I started looking for MBAs in the german-speaking Europe a while ago, as I have had German education (15 years at a german school with C2 language level + 2 internship in Frankfurt and Hamburg + 4 exchanges with German families all around the country). Hence, I am planning on doing an MBA in Germany for the 2021 or 2022 intake given that I will have enough experience and savings to make the most of it.

I have looked all over the internet and for the best business schools with the most suitable programmes in Germany:

-mannheim b.s
-frankfurt school of finance and management
-whu
-ESMT (discarded as)
-HHL Leipzig
I did visit the Mannheim b.s in November of 2017 and the Frankfurt school of finance and management in August of 2018 with positive opinion.

My thoughts on the schools:

I like the HHL Leipzig programme but their fast track option, which is 21 months long and really complete, maybe too much and the 12 month option lacks a bit of insight and focuses only on normal courses. In addition I find it to be inclined more on start ups than general management and its reputation is not as good as the other ones

Mannheim b.s : Seems to be the most reputed one. Its programme looks nice but I have been in the city of Mannheim a few times and the city does not have much to offer.

WHU: I do not have much info of this one, only their brochure. Their campus is fairly new and located in Düsseldorf, which is a city with a high standard of life.

Frankfurt School of Finance and Management: Their programme is relatively new but I did like what I saw. The campus is really new (built in 2017) and located near the financial district. In addition they do offer accommodation on campus and the Frankfurt airport is nearby (with 2h direct flights to my hometown). On the contrary, their teaching programme does not seem as strong as the other ones and I still do not know where the alumni of the MBA have landed after the programme.


I would like to know your opinions concerning their teaching programmes and which one would you choose. I am really open minded as of what job sector is concerned after the programme. Any feedback would be really appreciated.

Hello,

May I ask why you discarded ESMT? I am choosing between rotterdam and esmt and have been unable to make a choice. I like the focus on Analytics that ESMT has but I am not sure how the program is.

[Edited by villaltajulian on Jul 11, 2019]

What are your goals?

I would say WHU and Mannheim are the best 'generic' choices, for most typical MBA careers. ESMT is worth considering as well if you're more tech-focused or want to work with one of the school's founders (Allianz, SAP, Siemens, etc.)

I wouldn't discount Mannheim just due to the location. It's one of the best business schools in the country for good reason.

Although the MBA at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management is relatively news, the school itself has been around for more than 60 years and has deep roots in Germany's financial services industry. It's worth a look if you are finance-bound.

Hello all,

First of all I would like to thank you for your feedback.
Concerning the ESMT topic, from all the data I have been collecting in the last months, I feel that the ESMT MBA is more inclined to the IT industry and I come from a manufacturing background. In addition to that, the average work experience is around 7-8 years and that may be a bit more for what I am considering. In my case I would be applying with 3-5 years of postgraduate experience. Last but not least i have read that their MBA programme has been loosing momentum lately.

I do not mind changing sectors after the MBA if a good opportunity appears. More accurately, I would be willing to work in an international environment, as I have been focusing my efforts on learning other cultures an languages in the past 10 years and I would be more than happy to get a job that gets me to travel to different locations,not being always in the same office. As for the sectors, manufacturing,consulting are a viable option. IT is also to be considered but not in in my firsts positions.

The only variable I have yet to study is where all the MBA students of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management have landed after the programme. It is fairly new (2014), but looks somewhat promising and in the open day I attended it seemed to have a "young atmosphere" i really liked. The one thing I do not know is how serious its carrer service is and if the recruiters will really contemplate an MBA in the FSFM as "above average".

For the time being the FSFM and the Mannheim B.S are my top 2 options but I still do have to review carefully the W.H.U anf HHL programmes.

Regards

ESMT placements are a bit more well rounded than just in IT: look at the school's list of founders to get a sense of the variety of industries that grads can go into. I agree with you, though, if you're at 3-5 years of work experience this will probably put you at a disadvantage there. I disagree that the program is losing momentum, though.

WHU warrants serious consideration if manufacturing is in your career goals.