Hello!

Right know I have the difficult decision of choosing an MBA Program. I was accepted into 2 Schools from the United States and 2 european schools. I have already narrow my decision to IESE (Barcelona) and McCombs (Austin - Texas).

I know that IESE has a better ranking in comparison to McCombs, but the latter has a better location in terms of job opportunities.

I wanted to ask you your opinion about these 2 schools.

A little background about me: I've worked in the banking industry for 8 years (financial planning, corporate credit risk) and come from a Latin American country. Right now I'm looking to advance in my career and explore other industries. If I have to the chance to work abroad it would be an amazing opportunity, but if I've return to my country of origin, I'm still ok with that.

Thanks in advance!

Want to work in Europe / LATAM / UAE: IESE
want to work in US: McCombs

IESE is Elite in Europe 
McCombs is very good in US

for me it really boils down on region where you want to end up + if you are looking in specific careers (e.g. MBB) where IESE might have a leg up (although again primarily in their Euro-Offices)

Hard pick but I would pick McCombs because salaries in the US are higher than you will ever find. 

Iese MBAs have higher salaries than McCoombes. Look at the FT ranking for salary data. 

Duncan short maybe but long term no way (and if you include tax even less)! 

I would go with IESE.  Primarily because:

1) You're probably a native Spanish speaker so can easily get a job in Spain. 
2) Spain will grant citizenship to Latin Americans (Spanish colonies) who live/reside/work in Spain for just 2 years.  This will give you an EU passport which will be very valuable if you plan to stay there. 
3) IESE probably has a larger network in Latin America than McCombs. 

In terms of salary info, I would not suggest using FT as a resource since it uses converted PPP data.  The numbers there are not real US dollars but adjusted dollars.  This creates distortions in the salaries if compared across countries.  Does any person really believe that IIM-A grads have higher salaries than INSEAD or Northwestern?  Or does it make sense that FT says CEIBS grads make more than London Business School grads?  That's all inaccurate since the PPP conversion factors use local baskets of goods to make comparisons, which is not the same as the typical consumption of an MBA grad. 

If you need salary data, go to the school's actual websites.  At IESE, the median salary for those who stay in Spain is 65K Euro or around US$74K, which is pretty low, especially if you stay in Barcelona. 

https://media.iese.edu/upload/EmploymentReportClassof2017.pdf

You will get a lot more money after McCombs, but given the visa issues in the US combined with the guaranteed EU citizenship in Spain, I would choose IESE. 

[Edited by MKennedy on Jan 15, 2022]

Great comment above. Saying that IESE grads earn more than McCombs grads is wrong as it adjusts to PPP. I would still vote the US as almost all the management of large companies is there and not in Spain. Ok, you can go for Spanish firms but almost none have a dominant multinational presence (except Inditex and a few others). 

[Edited by Andy776 on Jan 15, 2022]

Great comment above. Saying that IESE grads earn more than McCombs grads is wrong as it adjusts to PPP. I would still vote the US as almost all the management of large companies is there and not in Spain. Ok, you can go for Spanish firms but almost none have a dominant multinational presence (except Inditex and a few others). 

Agreed but do you prefer a solid presence for the US market or an elite position in Spain?.... 

I agree with DACHMBA's comment about the usefulness of PPP calculations. Other things being equal, there is no advantage to earning 30% more in Austin if your cost of living is 35% higher than Madrid. Austin has some advantages (property is still cheap, commuting is easy) and Madrid had others (healthcare, safety). There's a big difference for some Spanish speakers in being in the capital of the Spanish-speaking world, with high culture in Spanish, from Austin, where most people don't speak Spanish and the cultural infrastructure is not that of an imperial capital.    

The issue is not the cost of living adjustment, but the use of PPP.  There are many ways to adjust for cost of living, but FT uses PPP, which is primarily used by the World Bank and IMF to adjust for GDP and not MBA cost of living.  PPP is weighted in each country based on the basket of goods that a country produces.  So in Singapore, for example, where cars are prohibitively expensive, only the upper class has access to cars.  The vast majority don't own cars and thus, the price of cars (astronomical in Singapore) has a lesser weight on PPP compared to somewhere like the US.  That is why the PPP numbers used by the IMF and World Bank actually say that Singapore cost of living is significantly lower than US cost of living (approximately 38% lower).  That makes no sense whatsover for any international professional (like myself) who has worked in Singapore before. Singapore is way more expensive that living in the US if you take into consideration having a car and having a lifestyle that MBA's expect.   It's the same thing with the China and India numbers being stated at FT.  The PPP numbers create a distortion.  It would have been better if another type of adjustment had been used. 


I am not the only one who noticed this issue.  This is one of the big flaws in the FT rankings.  Even Duncan pointed that out in a previous thread (link below).  The Economist also pointed out how the PPP basket of goods method is flawed (it doesn't use executive or MBA-type consumption). 


Rather than downvote me, I think it would be better if people in this forum try to do more research without relying on just FT numbers.  It is not hard to go straight to the school for questions on salaries.  You can also reach out to current students who understand the actual cost of living.  There are also better cost of living websites like numbeo and expatistan.


Below are some references/discussions on this PPP distortion.
https://www.economist.com/whichmba/rankings-handle-care

https://find-mba.com/board/general-forum/ppp-is-distorting-the-ft-emba-rankings-31865

[Edited by MKennedy on Jan 23, 2022]

Agreed but do you prefer a solid presence for the US market or an elite position in Spain?.... 

[Edited by DACHMBA on Jan 24, 2022]

A classic example of the 'your mileage may differ' phrase is this scenario:-

That is why the PPP numbers used by the IMF and World Bank actually say that Singapore cost of living is significantly lower than the US cost of living (approximately 38% lower).  That makes no sense whatsoever for any international professional (like myself) who has worked in Singapore before. Singapore is way more expensive than living in the US if you take into consideration having a car and having a lifestyle that MBA's expect.   

[Edited by Duncan on Jan 24, 2022]

I think it's a bit odd for the OP to be considering two such different regions as Texas and Catalonia. If you want that Texas lifestyle (big house, air conditioning, car journeys, more evident difference between rich and poor) it certainly mosts much more to have that in a larger, compact European city. 

[Edited by MKennedy on Jan 24, 2022]

This would be a great discussion to have with all those MBAs who own detached houses in Hong Kong. 

PS Is that a minus on the heart icon? We have down-votes now? 

[Edited by Duncan on Jan 25, 2022]

This would be a great discussion to have with all those MBAs who own detached houses in Hong Kong. 

The average MBA who chose to study in Hong Kong has a vision of success in which an slightly above average MBAs apartment there is more valuable than a slightly above average MBAs detached house in Texas. And, indeed, the property market agrees with them. Your mileage may differ. 

The average MBA who chose to study in Hong Kong has a vision of success in which an slightly above average MBAs apartment there is more valuable than a slightly above average MBAs detached house in Texas. And, indeed, the property market agrees with them. Your mileage may differ. 

[Edited by MKennedy on Jan 24, 2022]

The OP is admitted to McCombs, which is the business school of the University of Texas: that's why I am using Texas as an example. 

In terms of execution, it's very easy for the FT to use off-the-shelf PPP data. Creating an MBA cost of living index sounds like a thankless task, especially because not all MBAs want the same lifestyle. The EUI index for the expatriate cost of living sounds like the sort of thing you suggest. It reflects, for example, the cost for US companies to fund for staff in Paris with big houses, cars, and private schools and healthcare which a Parisian MBA would not typically invest in. It's a different lifestyle from the local one.   
Sorry if I misunderstood your point about housing. I thought you were saying that almost all MBAs would rather have a detached house than not as an example of the sort of lifestyle advantages that are more available in most of the US where land and housing are more affordable than the rest of the developed world. In contrast, living in an apartment (which most MBAs do in the cities I mentioned) is framed as less attractive. You seem to reason that because that US lifestyle is more costly to replicate outside the US, the other person should attend UTA rather than IESE. Sorry if I misunderstood. I think you were suggesting that apartments in world cities are simply overpriced and represent avoidable higher cost: I am suggesting that they are different value propositions, not simply more costly. Your mileage may differ, and not everyone is well advised to choose a dramatically foreign [to them] lifestyle in Texas because of features (big houses, spaces for lots of cars) which might not figure on their value curve.  

The OP is admitted to McCombs, which is the business school of the University of Texas: that's why I am using Texas as an example.

You seem to reason that because that US lifestyle is more costly to replicate outside the US, the other person should attend UTA rather than IESE.