Dear All,

Could you help me answer which MBA program would be the best for me?

Background in short: 5 years work experience in banking / asset management, age: 31 year old, languages: Hungarian, English, French, no GMAT score yet, goal: to move to Western Europe in a banking / asset management / consulting role.

As I'm older and because of financial reasons I would only go to 1-year shorter programs and since I want to work in Europe I'm looking at programs here. My choices so far: Insead, IE, ESADE 12month?, HEC 16 months?, Oxford Said, Cambridge Judge. As I don't speak Spanish I'm afraid of Spanish schools even if they have good rankings. I know that basically in Europe I should choose a school based on my decision where I want to work later on. In my case this comes down to either UK or France where I speak the languages. Do you think it still worthwhile to apply to IE for example, even if it is in Spain and I don't speak Spanish and don't want to work there? (It has a much better ranking than HEC or Oxford.) Or should I apply only to French / English schools? Basically I'm looking for max 2 additions to my top choice: Insead to have let's say 3 schools to which I could apply...

Sorry for the lengthy post, and thank you for your remarks!

Study in the country where you want to work, not in Spain.

Admission rates are very competitive in the schools you are targetting. If you only apply to 2 or 3 schools then you might not be successful.

Hello Duncan,

Thank you very much for the remark. You basically confirmed my initial idea. How many schools do you think I should apply to in these two countries? I know it's a tradeoff between quality and quantity, but I'm concerned that if I apply to a lower ranked school just to get accepted to somewhere my investment may not pay off in the end... Where do you think the line is in these countries between 'still worthwhile to attend' schools and the rest?

Thank you for your help!

No, I don't think there's a rigid line. You should get into the best school you can. For example, INSEAD will offer you a better RoI than the CEU, but they will both be positive investments. You have many decades of work ahead of you, so any respected university with a ranked or internationally-accredited MBA will be good.

Also, don't rule out the USA, or a two year programme, if it gives you a better RoI. Four semesters is not so different from four terms at Cranfield or five modules at GISMA or INSEAD. But the long programme might include a paid internship for four months, which would be great experience. And private US schools have more scholarships.

Hello Duncan,

Thank you very much for your remarks! I just wanted to share a little update on my status. Since my last post here I had 2 GMAT attempts: 1. 690 (Q: 80% V: 81%) 2. 710 (Q: 85% V 83%). In fact I don't want to retake the exam once more as I don't see any major improvement in my score and I have already managed to hit the average of even Insead (710). I think I should rather focus now on my essays... Given the additional info how do you see my chances at (in order of preference) 1. Insead (probably reach school), 2. HEC, 3. Oxford 4. Cambridge?

Ps: Re your remarks:
1. I still did not include US schools in the list since I don't actually want to work there and I will be too old for US schools with my age of 33 and with 7 years of work experience...
2. I am still afraid of the financial burden of 2 year programs so they are not in my list either.

Congratulations with the GMAT; that's a great score.

My feeling is that you stand almost no chance at Insead, and if they let you in the recruiters might not want you. They go to Insead when they want slightly younger students.

HEC, Oxford and Cambridge are good choices. The internship opportunity and wider range of elective and exchange programmes means that it's a better fit for you. Also look at Cass and the Masters in Finance at London Business School.

Background in short: 5 years work experience in banking / asset management, age: 31 year old,

I will be too old for US schools with my age of 33 and with 7 years of work experience...

I guess he's the first age now, and will be the second age when he arrives in class. The average age has been falling at Insead for years, and there's no-one joining the MBA there who is 33.

Yes, you are right Duncan. I'm 32 now with 6 year WE, and will be 33 with 7 years WE next autumn when most programs start. In my first post 6 months ago I rounded down my age and WE from 31.5 and 5.5 to 31 and 5... Sorry for the confusion!

So it seems that there is no point for me to try Insead... Thank you for enlightening me, you did save me a lot of effort and money. Do you think that the other schools mentioned above might take me with this profile (this age)? For Oxbridge average age is 30 and average WE is 6, both a bit higher than at Insead.

Also, LBS MFin looks an interesting option! Thank you again for pointing this out for me! I may swap Insead for LBS MFin. Hopefully I will be successful at one of the 4 schools....

Yes, I sort of answered your question on Monday. Those other schools are better choices.

Dear All,

Thank you for your help and answers so far. A little update on my part and another request for help. In the end, I applied to Oxford Said, IE and LBS MiF. I got in to LBS and IE, while Oxford dinged me. Now I have to choose between the remaining two: IE IMBA and LBS MiF. As you can see from my previous posts the obvious choice would be LBS MiF, however at present there is no loan program for international students there. At IE there are still 2 banks offering loans up to Euro 30k. Also, at IE I received a fellowship worth Euro 18k which kind of brings down the total cost of IE IMBA to that of LBS MiF. I would really like to hear your opinion, remarks on the above situation. Thank you once again!

IE serves Spain and Latin America. I don't see the point of attending if you neither speak Spanish nor want to work in Latin America.

Actually IE graduates are finding work in other European countries as well (UK, France, Germany), but it will be much harder than if you go to Oxbridge/LBS (UK placement), HEC Paris/INSEAD (France placement) or EBS/Mannheim (German placement).

Od course I'm not making the point that no IE alumni find work in Europe: the European students there do, increasingly as it becomes harder to get hired outside one's own region. But students from elsewhere do not tend to get jobs in Europe. IE explains: "Region-wise, while most of the graduates decided to work in Europe (38%), we have seen an increase in placements in North America and Asia. Latin America also remains a preferred location for our graduates."

PS Let me be more pointed: IE is not an effective way to change regions. Most students return to work in their own regions. But, if you are a Spanish-speaker looking to move to Latin America, is it worthy of serious consideration.

LBS' MiF program is good if your aim is to find work in finance - investment banking, asset management, etc.

However, neither of these programs is going to guarantee you a shift in regions: the economy in Spain is making it harder for international students to land jobs there after graduation; and usually less than half of LBS' Master in Finance grads from abroad end up staying in the UK after graduation.

I agree with Duncan's point about IE being good to work in Central or South America.