Hello everyone,

I'm an MBA aspirant and in a dilemma right now. I need advice to decide which university and country I should go for.
my profile:

GMAT - 540
TOEFL - 97
Work ex: 4 years in core mechanical engineering in the field of design, procurement and project coordination.
Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from India.

The universities I have been admitted into for MBA are:

1. San Diego State University - USA
2. San Francisco State University - USA
3. Trinity College Dublin - IRELAND
4. Hochschule Furtwangen - GERMANY
5. Berlin School of Economics and Law - GERMANY
6. Cologne Business School - GERMANY
7. Offenburg University - GERMANY
8. Saxion university - NETHERLANDS

PS: I applied to universities in Germany and Netherlands only because of the low fees they have.

Please help me finalize the university and country.

Many Thanks

Saurabh

I would focus on the top three. I am very impressed that you got admitted to TCD: it offers an MBA which has been ranked as one of the top 100 in the world (http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/trinity-college-dublin/global-mba-rankings-2007), although it has struggled for several years to stay in the ranking because of the programme's small size. Founded in the 16th century, it's a very special institution and also in the top 100 universities worldwide.

However, you need to decide whether the one year format works for you (i.e. if you want to make a smaller career move, like into enginering management) or if you need a two year programme (for example if you want to move into finance or consulting).

To compare the two Californian schools, read these posts:-
How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571
Shortcut to find the best US MBA www.find-mba.com/board/36065

[Edited by Duncan on Apr 23, 2015]

I agree with Duncan. It's great that you have an admit from TCD which is a highly rated MBA program especially with its 1 week European Residency. The program is especially good for those targeting the European job market. However, an MBA from US might offer an edge because of its 2 years duration vis-a-vis 1 year program and also US degrees normally offer more career mobility & job prospects. So choose wisely!!

Thank you Duncan and Mamit for your reply and valuable feedback.

@Duncan : The university listed on #73 in the FT ranking link you have provided is UCD Smurfit. TCD (Trinity college Dublin) and UCD Smurfit are two different schools right??
Also Trinity is accredited by AMBA only and SDSU & SFSU are accredited by AACSB only. Does that make any difference in terms of getting a job and does that make one school or its program better that the other??

@Mamit : The program at Trinity sounds better and exciting but at the same time rigorous also with 16 courses to be completed in 12 months as compared to 15 courses in 2 years at SDSU.
If you had to choose between the two in terms of ROI and job prospects : SDSU and Trinity. Which one would you go for?

Thanks again!

Saurabh

Oh! You are right. I pasted in the UCD link rather than the TCD link. I have corrected that now in my post.

There are differences between these accreditations, and the main one is that AACSB is primarily American and accredits schools. while AMBA is originally European and accredits specific programmes. Neither school's MBA is especially portable across the Atlantic.

As you seem to understand, the big difference is the time format. TCD attracts more senior students with more work experience, making more focussed career moves. Their salaries are thus much higher (indeed, the average salary of TCD alumni in 2007 was around double that of SDSU graduates last year http://poetsandquants.com/2014/03/08/san-diego-state-university/ ). One year is a big RoI advantage, but you need to focus on the role you want.

[Edited by Duncan on Apr 23, 2015]

I would also point out the eduniversal ranking, which reflects a vote by business school deans, and they ranks TCD and UCD in the top level, five palms, the same as IIM-A and IIM-B: http://www.eduniversal-ranking.com/business-school-university-ranking-in-ireland.html

San Diego State University has three palms, which is still a good showing and roughly on a par with IIM-I and IIM-IK.

They rank* :)

@Duncan - Is eduniversal ranking better to be stuck around with than FT rankings? For example, eduniversal rates some schools above others while FT rates those "other" schools better than the ones on eduniversal ranks.

Shed Light On the Dark World of Ignorance.

I think the FT ranking is the best ranking of MBA programmes, and eduniversal is the best ranking of the academic prestige of a business school.