Hey everybody,

Your help is needed :)!!!
I am 27 years ols with 3 years experience in the local Business market.
I worked for 2 years in the Fashion industry here in Tel-Aviv, I do have a European passport and I am planning to leave Israel and study abroad iuncluding gaining work experience.

I am applying to the GGSB'S MBA with Luxury management and Fashion in London and also I am applying in March to the MAFED program in Bocconi.

What should I choose between these 2 programs if I am accepted to both?

Is an MBA with the luxury goods & Fashion is more considered than the MAFED ?

Also, should I apply to the GGSB'S MBA in London or in Grenoble???
I read here that the GGSB/LSBF collaboration is not highly recommended....

Please Help me decide I really need your advices.

Thanks

That's a tough one. If you had the options, I'd choose the MBA in luxury at SDA Bocconi.

An MBA will generally be more highly-regarded than an MAFED in the luxury industry. The only reason I'd be wary of the GGSB program is that it's in partnership with LSBF (which doesn't have a great reputation), and it's not clear to me which university is actually awarding the degree.

If you chose to pursue this program, I'd ask a lot of questions, including post-graduation career outlook: where graduates land jobs, what the salaries are like, etc.

Thanks for your reply, I know it is a tough one :)

The MBA in Bocconi does not have the specializtion in luxury management & fashion this is why they have MAFED program.
(it has an MBA which inckudes an internship in Bvulgary in Rome but GMAT is mandatory and I prefer not going there)

The GGSB MBA in LSBF is awarding the MBA it's the GGSB MBA and not LSBF(students are only study there and 85% of the professors are GGSBS' ones. It also has the same program in Grenoble so I can do it also there.

Bocconi is the only serious choice between these two. I seriously doubt that 85% of the class on the GGSB course are taught by Grenoble people. If that was the case, why doesn't LSBF mention that on the website, or list anyGrenoble staff on its website. In fact the LSBF course is very clear that the course is 'designed' by GGSB. If it was delivered by GGSB people then that would be a major marketing advantage for them. Don't expect LSBF to have great placement services.

And if I apply to Grenoble MBA in Grenoble city with the same specialization, would you still advise me to go to Bocconi for the MSc ?

My question is simple, what will serve me better in my future career including salary? The MFED program at Bocconi or an MBA from the GGSB?

Thanks a lot.

Well, the best thing you can do to improve your salary is to get out of the fashion industry, so then the Grenoble MBA is the better choice. Why are these the only schools you are looking at?

Well for start I love the fashion and luxury goods industry and I see my self working in this industry or in the consumer goods industry.
Furtheremore, after a wide search I understood that the mafed program has a really high rank and Bocconi is a very good university with a very good reputation.
I am not going to do the GMAT exam so I am looking for good masters in business or MBA's that GMAT is not mandatory.
Any recommendations ???
I do want to study in Ivy league schools (they both well ranked in the FT rankings)

Programmes that require the GMAT will give you the best chance of increasing your salary, because managers who can also make decisions using quantitative data are more valuable. That's especially the case with any kind of retail: it's very numbers driven, with tight margins.

Around half the people who do the MAFED end up working in luxury or fashion: most of those are Italians who stay in Italy. So, if you want to work in fashion via Bocconi, it would be great to speak Italian like a native.

But it also has to be said: half the people who take the MAFED don't end up working in luxury or fashion, and that's especially the case for non-Italians.

What languages do you speak?

I speak hebrew, english, spanish.
I have a very good languages ability , i also understand Italian and I know that students who takes the MAFED program need to study 2 languages so with my spanish italian is easy for me.
Languages actually are not of my concerns. furtheremore, I am familiar with the GMAT exame and it is only helpful for "finance" students. I am pretty good with numbers.
Moreover, I don't mind leaving in Milan, Paris or London-I have a European passport so....
So I read between the lines that MAFED is better right?

You are quite mistaken when you say that the GMAT is useful only for finance students. There are no finance questions in the GMAT. The GMAT is the single best predictor of success in MBA programmes for all students, not just for those who want to work with finance.

Languages might not matter to you, but if you don't speak Italian fluently that will matter to Italian employers. So, if you want to take the MAFED in order to work in fashion or luxury then the ability to speak Italian fluently will be a key enabler of success.

If you goal is to maximise earnings, then the MBA is better because it gets you an option out of fashion. If the only options you consider are fashion at Bocconi or Grenoble, then Bocconi is better.

Ok, thank you very much, you helped me a lot with my future decisions I appriciate your assistance.
Yuval

Yuval, I realise that my negative replies make me sound very unhelpful, and like a bit of a dick. But it's important that you search for data to test all your assumptions. I'm an expert, and I'm not mistaken with the guidance I am giving you.

Hey Duncan,
Not at all! You've been really helpfull.
I did the GMAT exam twice and it wasn't that good, in all of my simulations I got a very good grade but in the real test I fail and I know that I can do it but not willing to suffer anymore;).
I have an experience in the local market but I also know that the gmat is not everything and that in real life, even in the global market, in my opinion, it can't predict neither success in the MBA nor in future work. The exam shows analytical thinking ability which is, in my opinion, is necessary more to people who are working with numbers and hard formulas in their daily work(people who usually work in the finance and accounting sector) this was my intention.
Also I know, from friends who work in milan and paris that in companies like PPR and LVMH many of their employees speak english at work due to the facts of diversity of their employees and being global companies(of course you need to know either Italian or french but new residents learn them with time).
I see myself working there but as you advised me, I want to keep my options open and to have a wider spectrum of work choice in my future( such as consumer goods).

I am always looking for data and I went through all the rankings, students profiles, salaries increase from these two programs and what I couldn't find is the comparison between these two programs and this is why I posted my question here and I sure got my answers thanks to you also.
If you have more websites which you
Think are with valuable data I'll be happy to recieve them from you.

The MBA in Bocconi does not have the specializtion in luxury management

GMAT is mandatory and I prefer not going there

It is great and I am familiar with hthat progrM.
I already did the GMAT twice and not going for a third.
But thanks anyway.

Why aren't you doing an MBA in Israel? Like the Technion Start-uP MBA in English or the Ben Gurion Hebrew honors MBA?

Hey Ashley,
well for many reasons.

I don't want to live here and to work here...in Europe I'll gain a much greater experience from all aspects!

Technion is specially for ingeneers, TLV university is good but I want the abroad experince+none of these schools are Ivy league ones.
salaries are higher in Europe...life is easier, the education is better, should I go on ? :)

I happen to disagree with you. I made aliyah from the US (where Israelis think dreams are made of) and happen to think that the life quality, education and overall happiness is much better here. Thats why I'm specifically looking for an MBA in Israel in English. I heard negative reviews of Sofaer iMBA and so I am torn now between the Start-uP MBA and the IDC MBA, but I think I am going to go to the Start-uP MBA in Israel (If I get in) because of the fact that they are focused on entrep and not just theory.
I guess we can just agree to disagree
Enjoy spending $600-800 a month on health insurance and $50,000 a year on university in the US! :)

Yuval. I congratulate you on your patient reply.

Hey Ashley...well...get ready for this one :)
I prefer to stay in Israel rather living in the U.S. Been there done that already...America is not Europe..you can't compare them in any way...and it's not for me. maybe New-York ...
As a European citizen, I will have a good health insurance...sure there are advantages and disadvantages in any city/country one chooses to live in, but so far, from the last OECD surveys and data which I read, and from Israeli newspapers and from many other sources, and as a citizen...Israel is probably not heading for a bright & promising future in the following years. So I truly wish you good luck.

Regarding your MBA, I am not familiar with the start up one, but as a former student of the IDC I can tell you that it is the best school in Israel...and the networking are great..so for an MBA I would go there or to TLV'S Recannati program which is the best.
Good luck