Hi Everyone,
I got admission for MBA in Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in St.Petersburg, Russia. This school has a big name and good reputation. This st.petersburg campus has recently opened last year. The other two campuses of this school namely-Leuven and Ghent in Belgium are recognized and famous ones. I am a bit confused with the St.Petersburg one.
So, just advice me what shall I do..?? Shall I go to St.petersburg..??

Thanka a lot..
Best Regards

Nobody is replying back :(

Please advice me friends..I am just waiting for your replies..

Where are you from? Where do you want to go? Why Russia?

Hi Malia,
I am from India. Well, Vlerick Leuven is a very reputed Management School. It is not like that I want to go to Russia. I can go to any place. As this school is a very reputed one, and I got admission in its St.Petersburg Campus.This is only the only reason. But i am not sure of this campus.
Please advice me in this regard.

Hey friends..just help me out..???..I am realy very confused...:(

I would think Vlerick offers a good quality no matter if you are in Leuven or St. Petersburg. But how come you got an offer for St Petersburg. Did you expressly apply to that campus?

You should ask the following questions: Are the courses taught by the same professors? For how long is the Vlerick MBA taught in St. Petersburg? Can you imagine to work in Russia or does the place you want to work have any links to Russia? Do you think Russia is a good environment for Indians?

If you don't have any connection to Russia, I would not go there just for the name of the school. The MBA is probably to expensive just for a one year adventure..

Did you read this article: http://www.vlerick.be/en/770-VLK/version/default/part/AttachmentData/data/22uk_Campus_St.Petersburg.pdf

Well, I have already read that article. Well, Vlerick people came to Delhi, India in The World MBA tour.They took test of some interested candidates(written+interviews). Out of 20 candidates(rough figure), around 4-5 were selected. Well, Vlerick MBA in St.Petersburg is for 1 year. Many indians are in Russia. Fee for one year is 8500 Euros..
So what you suggest me Lavoz after reading the article..???

Perhaps an obvious question, but Which other options are you considering? Have you been accepted into some other program? The answer to your question pretty much depends on your other options.

You are right that Vlerick's MBA is well reputed in Europe. It seems that its St. Petersburg campus comes from its acquisition of some pre-exisiting school, the "Leti-Lovanium International School of Management", but according to the web site the faculty seems to come from its main campus.

Given that Vlerick has the three major accreditations, I would think that their program in St. Petersburg is good. However, when schools open some additional campus, far away from their main campus, quality is usually lower than in the main campus.

I agree with you..Well, at this moment I have only this offer to consider. The faculty is coming from the main campus..and the degree at the end of the prog. will also not contain any campus(I have confirmed it with the authorities in the main campus) ie. it will be generic.... but i am a bit confused..

Are you waiting for some other school to reply?

No..this is the only school i had applied to..

So..what do you suggest..??..if anyone has some related info, please do share..

There are a few things you should ask yourself:

1. Financially, how difficult is it for you to do an MBA. Would you be able to pay a more expensive one, or are you more constrained? If you are very constrained, it seems to me that you have a good deal there.

2. How much work experience do you have? If you have 2-3 years or less, it would perhaps make sense to wait one more year, do more research, and apply to more programs. That is, of course, provided that you can afford to pay more.

3. How interested are you in learning Russian and how important is Russia as a business partner for India? If you go to St. Petersburg, it would make sense to learn the language, to take full advantage of your stay. Think about other alternatives to Russian. Would it be more useful for you (or would you enjoy it more) to learn some other language, like French, Spanish or German?

4. Are you planning on going back to India after your MBA? I may be wrong, but I would guess that the Vlerick MBA will not give you a very broad alumni network. Think how important this would be for you. A broad alumni network never guarantees a job, but it does help some people.

There's not much to add to jaitego's, post except that St. Petersburg is a beautiful city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg

At the end of the day you will have to make your own decision. You will probably not find anyone else who is in a situation like yours and has already done that program. Good luck!

Good school but I would not include among top 10 in Europe. I would not overestimate with "famous" as someone mentioned before, is just a good place for an MBA, but for instance, which are your recruiting options from St Petesbourg? `Probably very few outside Rusia.