I've been shocked by some opinions about RSM in this site. There are some things that I could not understand. How can a Business school to be so bad if?
1. It has been consistently highly ranked in the FT and Economist rankings.
2. Runs an EMBA in conjunction with schools such as The University of North Carolina.
3. It has partnership with top european and world business schools and universities such as Esade, St Gallen, etc.
4. It is supported by the top class Erasmus University.
5. It is considered Nº1 Business school in Europe.
Tell me something that I could understand, and If there are some RSM alumni over there please come up and speak for your shool.

To be silent is to give the reason to those that spread the rumors. Come on!

I don't know anything about the program there. I have heard good things about the EMLE program taught at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (along with partner schools). I would hope that the university has good standards for all of their programs. Is the business school accredited? What do graduates say?

After a quick search on the forums of this site, I found one thread from a graduate. His opinion seems to be pretty negative:

http://www.find-mba.com/board/12548

If you are trying to decide whether or not to go there, then look for several opinions. Look at all they have to offer and decide if the program is the right fit for your life. What are your goals? How will this program help you to achieve them? Are there other programs which you are considering? What are the pros and cons of the various programs?

I am a current MBA student at RSM and I definitely do not agree with the graduates opinion that you posted... in fact I am very puzzled about the content of his/her post because it is very inconsistent with my experience.

The program is top-ranked and consistently climbing in ranks for many reasons, but I won't go into that. I will share with you my experience so far with the program now that Term 3 has just ended so you can get an understanding of 'The REAL truth about RSM' which is a far prettier picture than my disgruntled alumni friend has shared.

Since arriving at RSM I have felt like I am part of a very special group, - a diverse group from 40 some odd countries of nearly unparalleled diversity with respect to work experience, career background, life experience, languages, beliefs etc. This group has become my family and we have grown together, learned together and yes, partied together for the last 8 months and I will be sad to part ways with them come end of the program.

The content has been excellent; very enlightening, very relevant and very well-taught by exceptional professors who come from different corners of the globe to bring us knowledge with an international flavor, sharing experiences and key developments from their countries of origin. For example, in BSM (Business Society Management) the teacher comes from Costa Rica where he also teaches at INCAE and has tons of relevant insights and first hand knowledge from the workings of large fruit/vegetable producers (ie. Dole) on their quest to become Carbon Neutral in alignment with the governments impending regulations for a C-neutral country by 2020. This kind of local insight was very enlightening and something that can only be obtained in an international program like RSM's where teachers, not just students, embody the internationalism of the course.

Regarding the Career Office (we refer to it as CDC)... to say it is non-existent is absolutely false. They do exist, and they are an irreplaceable asset in the program. They have undergone some restructuring this year in order to ensure that they are working in alignment with MBA Participants needs and desires, and this has all been carried out in the most transparent of ways as they have consulted and worked with students to make this happen. They have coached me through my first interview of the year (also my first application) and I have no doubt that this was extremely valuable and allowed me to shine in ways I know I otherwise would have missed or overlooked. The CDC is continuously getting companies on campus for workshops and presentations based on a 'wish list' of companies the MBA class compiled and this has been excellent. They have also begun organizing visits to company offices and operations for groups of students interested which has been very valuable at building external relationships and learning first-hand, on-site, how many of these companies operate.

I am currently on holidays in another country so I will cut my reply a little shorter than my passion for the program wants, but I felt compelled to reply after seeing the 'opinion' you posted because I truly value the RSM's MBA program and I don't want anyone else to miss this opportunity because of one or two not-so-positive posts.. Just keep in mind, angry people always shout the loudest, so don't be deterred by what you read. If you want, you can visit the RSM website and in the MBA section you will find a list of grads and current students that you are free to contact for first hand experience.

I hope this has been helpful for you. Oh, and regarding internships, this is still an option for students if they are interested. The CDC office will help students to land something of interest for either the August break or for directly after the program ends in January so if an internship is important to you, fear not my friend. The internship has simply been taken out of the 'official' structure of the program because it has gone from a 15 month to 12 month program, with the major change being the removal of the 3 month internship period. Many students don't want to do internships and thus giving them a 3 month break costs a lot in terms of lost income, housing etc. so the program is basically now a 12 month program with optional internship if desired. In fact, many of my peers are doing 1 month internships now in different parts of the globe.

Best regards! If you have any doubts, visit the school and sit in on a class or two.. You will then be pleased to see 'the REAL truth about RSM'.. - that it is a top-ranked school for a reason.

Yesterday, I have been looking at the comments regarding choice of MBA, and the debate about RSM.
For one year, I have been visiting and talking with representatives of MBA schools trying to be convinced about which school I should enter.

Here are my conclusions.
You simply have to know a bit what you want regarding both the MBA and the MBA afterlife. I am not saying it has to be crystal clear, but you will definitely not get much out of it if you think that paying 38000 to 52000 EUR will automatically bring you a more lucrative life. The more you know about your future aspirations and target, the more likely it will happen. The ones who know exactly which institution fits them best regardless of reputation don?t give a crap about anything else than just getting in the school that fits their aspirations best.
The MBA schools live (=attract high performing individuals) much based on how well their students do in the MBA afterlife.

Does anybody here think that RSM would be ranked 25th, if they were not not able to give the students what they are looking for?! There are guys who just want ?a better life? and are ready to pay the amount but think that it comes automatically.

I have an admit to RSM, and was naturally disturbed by some negative comments here. It could be I am afraid that there is some truth in it as well. Obviously, some people were not happy about their RSM year ? and that?s always worth noting. Especially regarding career service and lack of English knowledge of the students. But it can be RSM has corrected itself accordingly?! The stable ranking suggest that. I welcome any comments from currents students and alumni! Now is your chance to speak out.

For me HEC seemed too ?French? and the program too long ? with my un perfect French the guys who spoke it as a mother tongue would be in considerable advantage when it comes to getting a job in France. I went to INSEAD?s in-house event, which was very impressive in every sense. They answered all my questions even without me asking. I got the impression that everything is perfect at INSEAD, and it just isn?t possible to not have a job after a year with them. It seemed like another world.

Skipping the trainee program for me sounds as a good step if RSM focuses more on recruitment and trying to make sure students get offers & consults in negotiation etc. Comments again, please, from RSM alumni and current students. Any silence will be taken as the rumors have some truth.

Hi Marcellus!

I am also a current student at RSM and I wanted to share my view on the issues that have been brought up on the forum.
The story about people not speaking English in class is nonesense. The programme is extremely international and diverse, meaning that you have people on the programme who are experts in their field but have not used English extensively prior to the MBA except maybe for sitting the GMAT. It is one thing to know English grammar, and it is another thing to actually do all the work in a language you have not been comfortable with before. Some students have more difficulty than others and this is the same in any business school that is truly international and diverse. Secondly, a key aspect of the programme was precisely that of managing diversity, and all the teams I?ve worked with have been extremely diverse with people from all continents and professions. I personally feel I have learned a lot from the experience and I strongly recommend it to anybody who wants to do business internationally. Sometimes this diversity creates stress because there is more ambiguity, but learning to deal with this ambiguity is an important competency for serious managers and an important component of the RSM MBA.

The faculty so far has been mostly very good. ?CurrentRSM? mentioned the professor from INCAE, but there are many more. My personal favourites have been those teaching Organizational Behaviour, Strategy, Corporate Finance, Advanced Strategy and Advanced Marketing. There are three advantages in having visiting faculty. The first one is that you get professors with international experience that can bring new material to class. The second is that if they are good you keep them and if they are bad you kick them out, which is much harder (at least in Europe) when you have only resident faculty. Last but not least, having visiting faculty helps the school to some extent in the rankings. I am now looking forward to begin my strategy and marketing electives, which I was able to choose from a list of about 30 options.

Some people have complained about the fact that RSM puts a lot of emphasis on sustainable business and CSR. I personally think that sustainable development is part of RSM?s DNA which differentiates it from similarly ranked schools. The point of the matter is that regardless of what b-school deans may say, MBAs have played an important role in screwing up the global economy over the past 20 years. When most other schools at MBA fairs talked about their amazing contacts in banking and consulting, RSM talked about managing for the long-term, and that is the reason why I picked it. I do realize however that this approach may not be palatable to everybody, and especially not to people who came to do an MBA exclusively to triple their salary.

Out of all the posts I?ve read, it seems that the biggest concern among applicants is the quality of the careers service (CDC). Assessing a b-school?s CDC is probably the most controversial subject, because it is easy to have a biased opinion because of all the hype about the MBA being a ticket to high-paying jobs in finance and consulting. Indeed, the CDC is usually judged as the weakest link in any MBA programme precisely because of the inflated expectations that people have.

At the beginning of the year, I was very concerned about the CDC because it seemed to me that it was out of sync with the needs and requirements of MBA students. However, thanks to the hard work of its members and the input from current students, it is now in the middle of a turnaround process which has already brought some good results. Since July I have received announcements of corporate events on a weekly basis, which will keep students occupied for the remainder of the year. We have had a mix of interesting blue-chip companies, ?bulge bracket? investment banks, premier league consultancies as well as smaller firms lined up for employer branding events and the career fair. I personally also got some value out of the mock interviews organized by the CDC. The CDC office has an open door policy and you can always arrange an appointment to discuss job applications or look for contacts in target industries. In general, you get out of the CDC what you put in. If you actively engage with its staff to look for contacts, they will help you a lot. On the other hand, if you are just looking for a placement agency, you will be very disappointed.

In conclusion, the MBA programme delivered where I wanted it the most, and I strongly recommend it to anybody who wants to learn to work in a multicultural environment where you are encouraged to think critically and not just be another grey empty suit in a big office. The school has plenty of room for improvement in some areas like alumni relations and CDC, but it is working in the right direction.

Thank you for your attention and I hope you have found my post useful.

Cheers,

pwllo

Let me give you the clear answer.
Europe MBA 10:

1: Insead, IMD
2. Hec, Oxbridge, RSM, IE, IESE
3. Cranfield, MBS,

That's it!!!

But if I were you, I don't go to HEC, IE, IESE except;
- you are french, spanish related guy
Because, they are expensive as same as Insead, IMD with
less reputation. You need to go Insead, IMD if you have
that much money. I don't care about fucking french think
HEC better than Insead. "Global reputation" is much more
important to you.
Think about spain. it is just tour nation with nothing in industry. EU, NA like "spanish" language. That's it.
If no money, go to Oxbridge, RSM.
If no money, go to cranfield, mbs. That's the answer.
All above is "Global viewpoint". not just fucking narrow EU,
NA viewpoint.

The other universities -> people don't know names.

you've missed Vlerick Leuven Gent. Probably better than RSM.

Thanks for your comments smart & pwllo and nando.

That?s an extremely valuable point you got there, smart, regarding Spain being an entry-exit ?island? for an MBA.
When you give it some thought - What else is there business wise in Spain except the MBA, unless you are Spanish, or speak Spanish fluently. Nothing.

For example, according to me, The Dutch have business in their blood, they have written BUSINESS all over their forehead and are entrepreneurs by heart. Besides, they are often fun to deal with, are punctual and you can mostly expect to get what is agreed upon. Not that you would much deal with the Dutch in the classroom at RSM, because the students are from all over.

I know nothing about the English MBA schools.
But I do know that the quality of life in England is crap (you pay more than the real value actually is ? for ex most houses in the UK are a joke not to mention the isolation for windows etc etc ?). This really puts me off! Why would you spend time in a country, where you don?t get what you pay for. Frustrating. Spent 4 years there.

Ok, and now some comments regarding France and HEC and INSEAD (I will be sure to post this part also to the part of website that deals with foreign students aspiring to go to HEC)

I work in France, speak French so I manage everyday life without a problem ? but don?t speak it like English (=perfect).
If you are a foreigner, and do not speak French fluently ? don?t even consider going to HEC, France to do an MBA and in hope to get a high pay job there. You won?t get it, unless you are EXTREMELY well connected. It?s better you just forget about it right now.
Now, I am not talking about the quality of life in France. That truly is perfect. And the daily hassle with everyday things will make sure you always have something to get done ? there is no time to get depressed.

INSEAD is the place, if you got the cash and they take in so many people there?s always a good chance getting in. It?s perfect! You provide them the cash, you bust your ass for a year and can add to your CV that you?ve done your MBA in INSEAD. But don?t forget one thing: IF YOU FAIL TO GET A HIGH PAY JOB AFTER YOUR YEAR IN THERE, GUESS WHAT WILL BE WRITTEN ON YOUR FOREHEAD: Yes, that?s right ? ?LOSER?. Your mother, father, granny, sis and bro will hide their head in the toilet in shame before they admit you went to INSEAD and didn?t get a job right away.
So what?s my point??!
Find out what you want, then choose an MBA school accordingly, and don?t let the school brand do all the work for you. Work hard, and let the school brand be the sugar topping.

My comments regarding a few schools:

INSEAD ? this is for you, if you know what you want, if you got the cash. If you?re not sure what you want ? avoid it at all costs and run as far as possible.
HEC ? if you don?t speak French fluently, if you don?t want to work in France ? avoid it. If you are 100% fluent and want a high fly job (+ if you are good looking) ? get in at any cost ? great opportunity for the ones who don?t have too much cash.
RSM ? if you know what you want and don?t have too much cash, if you want to work in Germany and countries known for punctuality and western standards (not Latin standards: France, Italy, Spain, Greece). If you are ready to bust your ass for your cause and have reasonable network. Not so glamour, but more hands on and building on long term solutions.
IMD ? you got the cash, and have experience in the industry ? they will provide you a good network. Great courses for entrepreneurs. They will pamper you, and even provide you a psychologist ? but you will pay well for it.

Again, any more comments welcome. Have a great day! And thanks again for the splendid comments!

Smart,
what do you mean by "nothing in the industry" regarding Spain??

Spain is world no.2 in tour. (lucky guys...)
GDP: service 69%, industry: 14%
*service:tour, construction and real estate.
No global brand and companies. less technology..
Domestic(GDP 76%) oriented.
Tour is most important economy for them.

It looks like that you know a lot about Spain. I will recommend you to the Bank of Spain to hire you.

the bank cannot hire me due to bubble mortgage.
1/3 banks should be disappeared by M&A.
it was "good by" 2007.
For several years, spain will be not good place to do MBA.
Unemployment rate: 20% in 2010.

They can't hire foreigner.

Altough Spain has 20% unemployment they're unable to fill the few qualified positions available. Because of the bubble there is a minority of high profile candidates; the majority of the worforce of the country is either unqualified or just don't want to work. Even with unemployment it is hard to fill all the positions available. So, the great proble of Spain is not a financial one but worst: Human.

Maybe....world is always looking for good guy specially under recession and statistics is just a stupid number...but;
Feature of spain now)
unemployment :20%
unemployment under 25 ages: 37.8%
non-regular employee: 25.9%

Isn't it too much for "normal, not-qualified guy"?

The great fucking "high qualified MBA" is doing nothing to
the society.

selfish or captain of the head?

Let's get back to the issue;( I really wonder...)
Why most famous mbas are in US?
Why LBS is only famous in UK?(UK is gone. london has
center function of money historically..not known by when
under EU.How about france, swiss, or other eu nations?
MBA ranking looks like economy ranking?
MBA belongs to local economy.

Just to be frank without intentionally hurting any nation,
who wants to go poor nation in far africa or asia for MBA?

People go looking: well established economy nation so
that they can learn something academically.
well developed multinational company posted so that they
can learn practically and get a job there.

EU: is valuable. for most product/service, it has no.1 market
size. In that market, EU has many no.1,2 companies and unique combined economy models, welfare...
but don't know...who is leading the experimental model?
EU guys, please let me know.
UK? france? North europe? germany? who is leader?

HI Smart, I am another current RSM mba graduate and I d like to share my point of view with you, but just for curiosity, where do you come from?

The truth about RSM is very interesting. Unbiased opinion - Career Services are indeed deplorable. If you are looking for a great year of fun times, self-reflection and persona rediscovery- then yes by all means go to RSM. If you are expecting much from the Career Centre, apart from sympathic looks and editing your CV, like company presentations and workshops, not to even mention recruitment events, I will have to say, look somewhere else.

Just to add, the comments about students who cannot speak English are not a complete lie.

apart from the top 10-20%, the quality of students in terms of academics, past background ,experience, knowledge, intellect, and ability, is just plain average, and if anyone comes on this board and tries to tell you otherwise is simply lying.

Make your own decisions well, know your priorities and know exacctly why you want to do an MBA program. RSM MBA is very very good experience, it just might not be the one that you are expecting/looking forward to.

Cheers

RSM has been falling in all of the rankings (e.g., The Financial Times, The Economist) and is no longer, despite what the school advertises, a top 10 European MBA programme. Through mismanagement and bad leadership, it is now fast becoming a 3rd-tier programme. Apart from the dramatic falls in the rankings, the average post-MBA salary has decreased by 33% in the past 5 years from $104k in 2006 to $70k in 2011, and is now less than the salary many people earn pre-MBA. The career centre hardly functions, apart from reporting employment figures for the rankings, and you will not see many of the companies advertised in the marketing brochures actually coming to recruit RSM students -- top consulting firms and banks do not target RSM. And, after graduation, the career centre ceases to do anything for the graduates, nor is there a strong alumni network. I know several people who graduated from there in the past few years who are either unemployed or who had to go back and work for the same company at around the same salary they had before the MBA. In fact, considering the debt and loss of income, the RSM MBA has ruined the lives of some people I know.