The important thing here isn't the cost but the unclear career goals. Those two programs place very differently and the schools have different priorities. That should be the axis of your focus, not the funding. 

Thanks for the advice, Duncan

I have updated this post with the 2021 FT ranking data. Most notably, HEC, Oxford and IE are back in this top 20, while HKU, Manchester and SMU have fallen out. 

Wow, this post now has over 60,000 views!

Hello Duncan,

I got accepted into IESE and ESADE. I know IESE is the higher ranked school but I'm curious to know your thoughts on which of the two is better for an international student from Asia to get a job placement in Europe? I've also been taking spanish classes since last year as I feel that it could help my chances of working there, but I'm also currently waiting for my admissions decision from Mannheim which I also applied to since the stronger German economy could be better for finding a job after graduation.

Hope to hear your advice, thank you!

Reading the post at the start of this thread, the obvious approach is to use the FT 2021 ranking to compare international mobility and employment at the two schools. What do the data show you? 

Hi Duncan, 

I have received the following admits: 1) MSc Strategic Marketing from Cranfield University 2) MSc in Consumer Analytics & Marketing from University of Leeds 3) MSc in Marketing & Analytics from Aston University 4) MSc Marketing from Strathclyde Business School 5) MSc Marketing from Lancaster University 6) MSc Marketing & Brand Management from Kingston University, it also includes one year of work placement. 
 Awaiting decisions from UCD Smurfit and Alliance Manchester Business School 
Goals: Post Masters, I want to work in a marketing/digital marketing/ analytics role (open to sport analytics roles too). I want to work in the UK for at least two to three years so that I can get my ROI. Background: I'm a computer engineer from Pune University, India. My aggregate score is 55%. I have work experience of 1 year as a digital marketing associate. I also have professional certificates from Google and Facebook in digital marketing/PPC ads.Which university would provide me the best platform to get an international work placement for me being an Indian/International student? 

That's seems off topic for this thread. 

Hello,
I got an offer letter from HHL Leipzig .can anyone suggests to me about the college and the job scenario I learned A1. My background is Engineering in information technology and I have an experience in I.T and retail industry(Intrernational Experience) and I want to change the industry after MBA I want to go for Logistics or supply chain and Consulting profile

HHL is a strong, entrepreneurial school. I dont see how your German can rise to a professional level. Read the post on my profile page about the local language. 

I have an admit from Bath and Singapore management university. While the 2 colleges completely different in terms of rankings, location and pedagogy, I am having a hard time picking up one. Obviously SMU is a much better clg with better career support but in terms of job opportunities, it has been facing a recent crisis and with companies being reluctant to sponsor the visa. UK on the other hand is lucrative this year with 2 year work visa and with more chances of getting a job post MBA (atleast for 2 years). Also I am into marketing and strategy and Singapore is mostly known for finance...can anyone share some thoughts on this dilemma that I am having...I plan to work in the country I graduate from atleast for 3-4 years and then return to my home country, India.

(I have updated this post with the 2021 FT ranking data)





Lots of MBA students are looking for the opportunity to find work in other countries. The FT rankings are very useful because they show the schools with the best international mobility, the highest employment rates and the most international students. In this post, which I update annually, I pick the 40 FT-ranked schools with the highest international mobility, remove the ten with the fewest international students (since they tend to reflect domestic students moving abroad), and then remove the ten remaining with the lowest percentage employed ("placement", in some earlier rankings).





The top 20 schools are below, sorted by their FT three-year average ranking in 2021, from highest to lowest. I've put an * after the name of schools that made the list in 2020 (extra stars if also in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 or 2015).





Ranked by three-year average ranking



School name


Insead*****

London Business School******

Iese Business School******

HEC Paris

University of Oxford: Saïd

University of Cambridge: Judge******

Esade Business School******

IMD Business School*****

Nanyang Business School, NTU Singapore****

Warwick Business School******

IE Business School

Imperial College Business School****

City, University of London, The Business School (formerly Cass)*

Mannheim Business School

Melbourne Business School**

AGSM at UNSW Business School

EMLyon Business School***

Essec Business School***

Edhec Business School*

Hult International Business School




Eight of those are in the bottom half of the FT top 100, dowm from nine in 2020 and in 2019, showing that good outcomes remain possible even for students without stellar GMAT scores if they have good applications.





PS The same approach is used to compare masters in management degrees at https://find-mba.com/board/general-forum/best-msc-mim-degrees-for-international-students-placement-52915

(I have updated this post with the 2021 FT ranking data)





Lots of MBA students are looking for the opportunity to find work in other countries. The FT rankings are very useful because they show the schools with the best international mobility, the highest employment rates and the most international students. In this post, which I update annually, I pick the 40 FT-ranked schools with the highest international mobility, remove the ten with the fewest international students (since they tend to reflect domestic students moving abroad), and then remove the ten remaining with the lowest percentage employed ("placement", in some earlier rankings).





The top 20 schools are below, sorted by their FT three-year average ranking in 2021, from highest to lowest. I've put an * after the name of schools that made the list in 2020 (extra stars if also in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 or 2015).





Ranked by three-year average ranking



School name


Insead*****

London Business School******

Iese Business School******

HEC Paris

University of Oxford: Saïd

University of Cambridge: Judge******

Esade Business School******

IMD Business School*****

Nanyang Business School, NTU Singapore****

Warwick Business School******

IE Business School

Imperial College Business School****

City, University of London, The Business School (formerly Cass)*

Mannheim Business School

Melbourne Business School**

AGSM at UNSW Business School

EMLyon Business School***

Essec Business School***

Edhec Business School*

Hult International Business School




Eight of those are in the bottom half of the FT top 100, dowm from nine in 2020 and in 2019, showing that good outcomes remain possible even for students without stellar GMAT scores if they have good applications.





PS The same approach is used to compare masters in management degrees at https://find-mba.com/board/general-forum/best-msc-mim-degrees-for-international-students-placement-52915

Hi Duncan,

I have 3 years of managerial experience in Healthcare Operations. I am looking forward to learning the fundamentals of business and I am confident that an MBA degree will help my career path in Healthcare Consulting. I am currently based in India, however, I plan to migrate to the UK and hence, would request you to provide input on some of my doubts.

 How would you rank MBA at Cardiff University versus MBA at Bath University versus MBA at Surrey Business School? Furthermore, if you have any other university recommendations for an individual seeking to kickstart a career in Healthcare Consultancy in the UK, please update me with the same.

Looking forward to your reply,

Thanks & Regards,
Dr Yogita Vishwakarma, BDS.

Hi Duncan,

I have 3 years of managerial experience in Healthcare Operations. I am looking forward to learning the fundamentals of business and I am confident that an MBA degree will help my career path in Healthcare Consulting. I am currently based in India, however, I plan to migrate to the UK and hence, would request you to provide input on some of my doubts.

 How would you rank MBA at Cardiff University versus MBA at Bath University versus MBA at Surrey Business School? Furthermore, if you have any other university recommendations for an individual seeking to kickstart a career in Healthcare Consultancy in the UK, please update me with the same.

Looking forward to your reply,

Thanks & Regards,
Dr Yogita Vishwakarma, BDS.

I suggest you read the post at the top of this thread and then the post on using LinkedIn linked from my profile page. I think you will need to target much better schools. 

I have updated this post with the 2023 ranking data. One notable change is that all the top 40 schools for international mobility have 50% or more international students. That reflects a pause in the situation where there were strong domestic MBAs that were a conveyor belt for international placement, especially in the UK. That reflects a bit less interest in working abroad, perhaps. On a recent visit to SDA Bocconi, I was surprised to hear that only a handful of the 240 or so MiM students at their Asia campus are interested in working in Europe.

Faster than last year, I have updated the post with the 2024 ranking data.

Hi @Duncan , great post and thank you for all your contributions to this site, they have given me a lot of insights.

I wanted to understand if this list is strictly based on the FT rankings. Having talked to recent and current students from highly ranked colleges like IE and ESCP, I learned that international students have found it very difficult to find a job and eventually return to their home country. On the other hand, a higher percentage of international students from Rotterdam and WHU have been able to find jobs in Europe.

[Edited by Agosh on Feb 26, 2024]

Yes, as I explained at the top of the thread, this list is based only on the FT ranking data. These schools do not all release data to show the percentage of international students who find work in Europe and, of course, most of them are not in Europe. So, the best available comparison is the one I have made. My analysis isn't focussed on finding work in the school's domestic market, but on international mobility more generally. Finding work in a third country also counts as a positive outcome. IE reports 96% placement within three months, in comparison to 81% at WHU, and that's one criterion that means that it fails to get into the top 20 schools using the method I outline.