Dear all,

Hope you and your families are all well.

I'm in a big dilemma (grateful though) about choosing between LBS EMBA (Dubai) and Oxford EMBA.

I am a finance tech background person (in London) who wants to move to Middle East and hence applied for LBS EMBA Dubai however I had planned to take electives in London to expand my network in both countries. My future plan is work on my potential startup idea or work with startup/VCs.

Now so far LBS ticks the boxes but then comes Oxford.

Now Oxford is based in UK and it doesnt give me Dubai option but it has good entrepreneur spirit and also very very strong brand name. My whole family and possibly everyone knows Oxford regardless of the MBA not being that strong. I will miss out on Dubai experience and connections but it's the brand name.

Now I am confused as to which one to choose. Shall I go for a brand name and some entrepreneurship reliant program or shall I go for my original plan of Dubai experience and LBS with good network but lesser brand name known.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thank you all

LBS is a much older and more powerful business school than the Saïd school. It is stronger in every field. If you want to work with VCs, and if your start-up idea is in business rather than public policy, then LBS will be a better network. If you just want the Oxford brand name take their online venture finance course for £2000, but then go to LBS for the learning and the network. 

LBS is a much older and more powerful business school than the Saïd school. It is stronger in every field. If you want to work with VCs, and if your start-up idea is in business rather than public policy, then LBS will be a better network. If you just want the Oxford brand name take their online venture finance course for £2000, but then go to LBS for the learning and the network. 

Thank you guys, I think this is by far the best and most convincing advice I have got and I have rubber stamped LBS.

I will also look into Oxford course in the future if required, does it give you a full 8 weeks student privilege? 

You do not become (i.e. matriculate) an Oxford University student by participating in the online courses. 

You do not become (i.e. matriculate) an Oxford University student by participating in the online courses. 

[Edited by aslamo on Oct 12, 2020]

So you get to network with other people who took the online courses rather than the degree alumni :(

Only problem with those online certificate programs is that they mess up my searches in Linkedin.  The algorithm can't differentiate between "real" grads and those who got a 2-day online certificate course.   So a search for Harvard grads for example will result in a large number of "HBS online" or HBX (edx) certificate grads.   Also, because of the proliferation of online certificates, the value of masters-level graduate certificates (which are made up of 1/4 to 1/2 of a degree) becomes diluted as employers can't really tell the difference either vs someone who took a one-hour online seminar.  

As an employer, I sometimes get irritated when people try to pass off their "MITx" online course as being awarded by MIT itself (it's not - those are awarded by edX).  I don't really know what to think about certificates anymore so I always just ignore anything that says certificate (unless it's a professional designation).   

So you get to network with other people who took the online courses rather than the degree alumni :(

Only problem with those online certificate programs is that they mess up my searches in Linkedin.  The algorithm can't differentiate between "real" grads and those who got a 2-day online certificate course.   So a search for Harvard grads for example will result in a large number of "HBS online" or HBX (edx) certificate grads.   Also, because of the proliferation of online certificates, the value of masters-level graduate certificates (which are made up of 1/4 to 1/2 of a degree) becomes diluted as employers can't really tell the difference either vs someone who took a one-hour online seminar.  

As an employer, I sometimes get irritated when people try to pass off their "MITx" online course as being awarded by MIT itself (it's not - those are awarded by edX).  I don't really know what to think about certificates anymore so I always just ignore anything that says certificate (unless it's a professional designation).   

What do you think of the EdX Micromasters courses that carry academic credit (typically 25%) towards a full Masters degree?

It's true that you cant replace the 70k course with 2k but I think if the course, like this one for 8 weeks add value then it's great but I wouldn't go for Oxford name over LBS just for the name.

I am going with LBS and credit to you guys. I might do the Oxford course one day if I think I really need it, it is exciting and not long committment but at the moment, LBS is ideal.

Employers are not searching for MBAs in LinkedIn. It doesn't confuse them at all. It helps them to filter out people who use an MIT MOOC to claim they are MIT alumni. 

Employers are not searching for MBAs in LinkedIn.

Employers use LinkedIn. Major recruiters of MBAs, when looking for MBA talent, don't do so by using LinkedIn in ways that would turn up non-MBAs with Harvard online certificates.