Hey there,

First of all I want to state that I'm aware that this forum is aimed for info-seeking and prospective MBA students and applicants, not for Bachelor or Master's ones, but I have found really good information and advice in this place and I wanted to thank you all who have colaborated to make this site an incredibly useful tool.

Once this has been said, I have a little dilemma here: I have been admitted to RSM's IBA (International Business Administration) programme and I will probably be admitted to Bocconi's Bachelor in International Economics and Management/Finance (I will be notified on the 28th of April).

Having said this, I want to state a few things:

The first one, I want to work after my bachelor (no to do a master but enter the job market directly), and at the moment I'm not attracted to work neither in Italy or the Nederlands (although this may change once I start living there), but I'm more attracted to work for one or two years in places like Dubai, Hong Kong or Switzerland as I wan't to have international work experience in internationally diverse and economically emerging places like Asia or the Middle East, as well as to make as most money as possible in order to allow me to pay a future Master/ MBA, if it's possible take a gap year and help my family pay my sister's college education, and other expenses that I may have. So I'm going to need quite a big amount of money for all this, so I wouldn't care in which sector to work (IB, consulting, marketing, sales, finance, operations, general management, etc) but I would be salary-concerned mainly, and after working one or two years in these places (preferably one), I would decide whether to do a MIM or continue working and do an MBA later, and then focus my career in something that I'm really interested about, like renewable and clean energies or social entrepeneurship.

The second one, after having made a gross calculation of both option's costs (tuition fees & life expenses), I have calculated the RSM Bachelor (2000 euro tuition + 10000 life expenses, yearly 12000 euro x 3 years 36000 euro) to be 24000 euro cheaper than Bocconi's, as tuition (7000) and life expenses in Milan (13000) are more expensive than in Rotterdam, resulting to be in 60000 euro.

The third one is, let's say, my personal preferences and perceptions. I don't know why but I have the feeling that Bocconi's "name" or "brand" (prestige) is more known and recognized internationally than RSM's (as is has twice as alumni as RSM, Bocconi has around 60000 and RSM 30000 for what I've seen in linkedin), but, on the other hand, I also have the perception that education in RSM will be more practical, more "hands on", than in Bocconi, which will however give you a strong theoretical preparation.

Finally, I ask for your help. I know that both are excellent business schools with a high international profile, but which one do you think is more prestigious and offers better internship opportunities and career prospects outside their home countries? And based on all the information, needs and preferences that I have explained before, which one would you recommend me? Thank you so much in advance!

I think you have to be a little careful with the comparisons. Bocconi is made of five schools. Erasmus is made up of seven faculties. These academic units are broadly similar: economics, law, business etc. RSM is the business school of Erasmus, and its BBA is inside RSM. SDA is the business school of Bocconi, but the BSc in economics is in a different school. So, you could compare the alumni networks of RSM and SDA, or the alumni networks of Erasmus and Bocconi, but to compare a business school with a whole university is not a directly meaningful comparison.

I think RSM is a better bet. First: you become an alumnus of the business school. Second you have a mostly international cohort, international faculty and alumni body, very internationally oriented, with a very large and well-organised series of exchange semester possibilities with the top universities in Switzerland and Hong Kong, rather than a heavily Italian one at Bocconi. I am sure that you could swap your internship for an exchange at Bocconi, but it's not a well-supported or popular part of the BSc.

The money you save at Bocconi is important. You can use that to learn/improve your German, Arabic or Chinese if you decide to work in an area where you do not speak the language. And less debt makes it easier for you to take the job you want, rather than the bob that pays the most.