Greetings everyone, I have 9 years of professional experience in market research, marketing, and business development fields and my goal is to switch to the consultancy field

I've looked into different programs and the following are what fits my budget:

Boston University
University of Illinois
Birmingham University
University of Liverpool
Bradford University

Which one is the best option?

PS: I know the big consultancy firms aim towards higher-ranking schools but I have the connections that could help in waving that and my experience would help as well.

Thank you in advance

[Edited by Ahmad999 on Jul 12, 2023]

Illinois is the best of these programs, I'd say, but the most effective routes into consultancy would be study at one of the top schools in your country, or to take a full-time MSc or MBA at a school, in country where you speak the language of business, from which your target firms hire. 

I'm not sure what sort of consulting you want to do but, for example, a UK MSc in marketing (Cranfield? Lancaster? Imperial?) or business analytics (so many places) would be a better route than an online MBA where you don't benefit from post-stud work visas. 

Thank you Duncan, I know a full-time program would be a lot better, but even if I couldn't get the satisfying opportunity in consultancy, still a well-established MBA will help my personal and professional growth where I live (Saudi Arabia) or another "possible" route in Europe.

Illinois is best from which perception? quality of education? or brand recognition?

Perception and brand reputation depend on the audience. Liverpool and Boston seem to have bigger alumni networks in KSA. In terms of the educational experience, the Illinois MBA has more content, more academic credit in coursework, than the others. 

I really don't think an online MBA will help you much in emigrating to Europe. 

Great way to put it together, as usual, thank you!!

Another point I would like to quickly ask. Is taking a higher fee program for a longer period of time a good idea? i.e., Imperial College or WHU in 36 months instead of 24 months with a longer payment plan.

If you had extra budget, then a full time program in Europe would better meet the goal of moving there. If you had more budget, I would suggest the Harvard ALM in management. That gives more a bit more brand value in the KSA. 

I gave myself some time to think wisely about my goals. And thankfully my employer offered to support my MBA (not much but still good) so i searched through business schools that offers more of a hybrid/blended program rather than fully online.. hopefully you can help me in choosing the right B-school between the following:

ie business school
Imperial college business school 
Warwick business school
Alliance Manchester business school 

regarding my goals .. I’m more interested in growing my career into management consulting or to push my way through the corporate pyramid towards the C-suite

my background and what I’m personally interested in is marketing, business development and business analytics.

Management consulting is a vast field. There are two broad paths: one is to be an experienced hire consulting on the topics you know now (that would not require an extra degree, but a specialised master might be more helpful than an MBA, such as the Imperial online MSc programmes in business analysis or strategic marketing); the other is to enter as an associate in a more generic consulting pathway (but that would tend to involve a fulltime degree).

Take a look at How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571 If there's a school with a particularly strong alumni network in your target sector, I would favour that. All the schools you mention are good but Alliance Manchester could stand out because its campus on the Arabian peninsula may give you a more useful local network.