Dear Duncan

I have received an interview call from Manchester Business school (6 years market research experience/GMAT 610).

I have also applied to Cass and Imperial and after reviewing my profile, they have asked me to apply.

My post-MBA goal is to enter consulting/marketing function. I that understand the MBS has good consulting projects/courses and that the learning at MBS would help me in my long-term career goal.

Do you recommend applying to Cass and Imperial also if consulting/marketing is my long-term goal? Do they have good courses in these areas and do they have a strong alumini base in the consulting industry or in marketing roles?

Thanks for your time.

What sort of consulting or marketing are you thinking of? The more you want to change from where you are, the more advantageous a longer MBA like MBS will be.

Consulting -> I am looking at a general or strategy consulting role (consumer space) in an international setting. Till now, I have done B2B market/business research and presales across all leading industries.

Marketing -> I am looking at a role in which I can do digital marketing (consumer space ) for any industry in an international setting. I have seen roles in which the consultant also acts as a marketeer.

Overall I want to be a a strategy consultant and marketeer in the consumer space in the short-term and in the education space in the long run.

You need to choose between these routes. Do you want to consult on business strategy or marketing strategy? The corporate strategy consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain, Booz, Boston) are highly selective and recruit in number only from the top schools.

On the marketing side, it's only the large groups like Omnicom, WPP etc who hire MBAs in any numbers.

If you want to do digital consumer marketing, why do an MBA? Take a masters in marketing.

In 6 years of my professional career,

1) I have conducted business research for global clients in a fast-growing business research firm in India (for 3 years)
2) In the same firm, I have handled marketing and presales in the last 3 years (change of functional role)

Next, I have 2 options to enhance my career:

1). Again become a business consultant in a global company
2). Specialize in marketing and enter a different industry (an extension of my current marketing and presales role in the business research industry)

Out of the 2 options, I want to consult on business strategy in either Tier 1 companies ( highlighted by you ), or in the next set of companies (e.g. consulting divisions of IBM, AT Kearney, Accenture etc.) or in a fast-growing boutique management consulting firms in an international setting.

I believe that an MBA is the best option to achieve either of the above as I do not intend to specialize in any field. Also, after 6 years of experience, I think I am too old to do masters.

Thanks for replying to my messages.

You need to make a choice.

If you're targeting the strategy firms then you need to work more on your GMAT. Most of the people they hire in the UK come from LBS, INSEAD, Harvard or Oxbridge. At Columbia, Wharton, the LSE (MSc programmes), Northwestern and Booth it would be harder. From the schools you're mentioning, it would be really tough.

In terms of the next tier of management consulting roles: at Accenture, IBM ATK (I would also add Deloitte and E&Y in there) the schools to target are LBS, Cranfield, Cambridge and Manchester. The next tier is INSEAD, Henley, Imperial and Oxford.

PS Right now, the opportunity at Manchester looks very valuable if you want to take that second route. But I'd be very tempted to work more on the GMAT and try to get into a better school. Your stretch school could be Cambridge, since it's the most accessible of the schools in both segments.

Thanks for replying Duncan.

Would you recommend that I should apply to Cambridge with the current GMAT score and profile? Regarding GMAT, their website says " the majority of our students have a score above 620, and the average for this year's class is 690."

Their next deadline is March 8.

I recommend you clarify your career goals, and retake the GMAT. You have almost two months until the Cambridge deadline.

Hi Duncan

I am applying to few schools with my current GMAT score of 610.

I am planning to write the exam again in March.

Applying to USA is not possible as I am already running late with my application process.

Applying to Asian schools is not possible because of my GMAT score.

Applying to European schools is the only hope for me
(applying in their last round) + to those school who have shown some interest in my CV.

Recently, I reached out to Cranfield and Warwick to check if I can apply with a GMAT of 610.

Both the schools have asked me to apply with a better GMAT score. They did not ask for my CV for any pre-application evaluation.

On the other hand, Cass and Imperial asked me to apply after reviewing my CV.

People always highlight the "location" advantage of Cass and Imperial.

Can you provide your own views on Cass and Imperial?

Post-MBA, I want move into general consulting.

Thanks.

There's so much written about Cass and Imperial already on this site. I don't have much to add. From my earlier posts, you'll recall that Imperial is at least in the third tier of schools from which the consulting companies hire, which Cass isn't: it's primarily known from its MSc and EMBA, and it feeds first of all into the finance industry.

But what is "general consulting"? Consultants tend to be functional specialists, in finance, operations, IT.... I think a clearer vision of the sort of firm you want to work for will help you chose schools. Certainly, improve your GMAT.

What happened with Manchester?

Thanks for the response.

By "general consulting" I meant the "consulting industry".

Typically the drop-down menu for Employment sector in the B-school application forms has "CONSULTING" as one of the industries.

I have a business research/consulting background and want to move to global consulting/client facing roles through an MBA.

Post-MBA, my goal is to work as a consultant either with the global brands (those that you have highlighted earlier) or with niche/boutique consulting firms/fast-growing companies in the global consulting space.

Hence I would choose "CONSULTING" in the Employment sector (both pre-MBA and post-MBA) when I fill the application form.

My interview with Manchester went well and I am expecting their response in 2 weeks. However, my GMAT score was highlighted a couple of times during the conversation. So maybe they may put me on hold or reject me because of my GMAT score (even though I am confident about my performance in the interview).

As per the latest FT ranking, MBS is ranked 29 and Oxford is ranked 24. I recently got in touch with someone who received offers from both MBS and Oxford last year. Hence I am taking a chance and applying to Oxford also.

Thanks for reading.

Oxford's average GMAT is 690. I don't think you will be a competitive candidate there unless you get your GMAT above that. Manchester has much more flexibility with its GMAT because students there spend twice as long in class and working on projects.

Consulting is a heavily tiered and segmented industry. I don't think it's optimal to aim at 'consulting' generally. You will find that different MBAs are better for different sort of consulting opportunities, and that's reflected in the major employers.

Thanks for the inputs Duncan.

I started my B-school application process with Manchester and am also considering Cass/Imperial.

In addition to these schools, I also want to apply to decent schools in other geographies such as:

1). Melbourne Business School (they now have a 12 month accelerated MBA) - Latest FT Rank 62
or
2) Nanyang Business School - Latest FT Rank 32
or
3) National University of Singapore Business School - Latest FT Rank 36

Taking into account the deadlines of these schools and based on my interaction with them, I want apply to 2 of these schools in February.

I am open to working either in Singapore or in Australia post MBA (in the consulting space).

I have interacted with few alumini of these schools and have also read about these schools in this forum and other forums and have come up with my own ranking (for these 3 schools).

NTU > NUS > Melbourne Business School

Would you agree with the above logic?

You'll need to work on your GMAT to get to those schools. Melbourne, in particular, is very demanding programme with an excellent student body. Read http://www.find-mba.com/board/27082

Hi Duncan

I have received an offer from MBS.

Even Cass and Imperial asked me to apply after reviewing my profile.

But I was waiting for a result from MBS. Since consulting is my long-term career goal, I think that an 18 month MBA from MBS would be more beneficial for me.

In the next 2 years, I want to hone my overall personality at an international level and build general business skill-sets that I can use in any business setting.

I am still in the process of applying to HKUST and one more Asian school. Not sure if they will take me with my current GMAT score (< 10% chance).

Even though my current GMAT score is low, I will write the GMAT again so that I can improve my employ-ability at an international level.

My interactions with the current and ex-students of MBS have been quite good...and I have a positive vibe for MBS.

Do you think that MBS is still a good school? I know that some schools lose their shine, while some schools are still good...

Thanks for listening.

I'm still pretty happy with my note on Jan 15. Manchester is better for your goals than Cass and IMperial.

Hi Duncan

I recently spoke to few students of MBS (past + current) and have received mixed reviews till now.

Most say that even though the focus is on so many consulting projects, still there are hardly any big consulting companies that recruit from MBS (you mentioned the same point some time back). Though I heard that McKinsey came this year to pick few summer interns.

Maybe its a great school for learning, but faces issues in the job market because of competition from other B-schools in Europe and because of the current UK job market.

According to you, does the international flavour of MBS actually hold any significance? For example, is it known in other parts of the world such as Singapore and the USA?

Thanks.

MBS has campuses in the US and Singapore, and that contributes to the school's wide alumni base.

I'm not sure that it's right to think of the MBS projects as *consulting* projects. They do involve consultation, but they work to integrate the courses. That's why you work on different organisations and challenges: M&A, non-profit etc.

MBS faces the same issues, if not fewer, than other UK schools of its standing. These are macroeconomic, and not specific to Manchester. Manchester went up in the FT rankings this year, while most other UK schools dipped.

Either way, MBS is not an easy route into the top strategy houses. That's not the focus of the MBA there, and that's neither a weakness nor a strength.

Thanks for the response Duncan.

I understand that different B-schools are known for different specializations in the industry. E.g LBS for finance, Kellogg for Marketing, HKUST for finance etc. (even though these schools may be as good in other specializations also).

Based on your knowledge, what is MBS known for in the international circuit? I spoke to few alumini and they say that its more of " general management " skills that you will learn at MBS - a combination of soft and hard skills.

Regarding securing full time offers from internships, international exchange programs or international projects, are you aware of the factors that are MOST important for employers these days? For example, is it past work experience, past salary, GMAT score, MBA grades etc?

Thanks.

Strengths and weaknesses are shown at http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/manchester-business-school/global-mba-ranking-2013#profile Note that MBS is, indeed, strong for general management. It's good for team work and rather weak on quantitative decision making.

I think the key thing for winning offers is really your ability to network.