Hi everyone,



I’ve spent quite a number of hours in the last few days reading through expert opinions and power-packed advice here. To all who share from their experiences and knowledge, thank you.



I’ve got an urgent matter because it’s that time of the year for payment of deposit fees ahead of September and of course, ahead of deadlines. I’m stretched because of my budget for the MBA.



My background is in Business Development and Sales in Higher Education (L&D solutions) + Consulting services, Automotive (JEEP) and Crypto with some years of experience in venture building and market intelligence for multinationals with expansion plans to Africa. 30 years of age, I’m Nigerian, 8 years cumulative experience and no GMAT. My interest is laser sharp - working in Management Consulting firm (obviously not the MBB). I’m happy with the big-4 or any decent mid-sized/tier firm in the UK. I’m also happy to continue in Business Development as HoU or HoD, Sales/Account Management, BD, etc.



Admissions:



Leeds - 11,500 scholarship

Durham - Nil

Lancaster - 7,000

Edinburgh - Nil

Birmingham - Awaiting decision.



I’m constrained and honestly don’t want to go the route of loans (as I have read the good advice here but not a route I’d like to take). So I’m considering Leeds and Birmingham. How bad is it to go for Leeds? I know it’s not ranked yet it’s a decent school/MBA and the school ranks 8th in business and management studies in the UK per QS Rankings 2023. On the other hand, Birmingham is FT-ranked yet I’m not super convinced on its MBA offering. The curriculum is quite empty when compared to other schools on my radar including Leeds and there’s no practical application of learned theories. Plus, I prefer the city of Leeds to Birmingham in terms of opportunities post study and standard + cost of living considerations.



Within these options, is it such a bad choice to take the Leeds MBA? Can I secure a decent opportunity in consulting with it? Would you advise otherwise?



Durham and Edinburgh were my preferred choice but I can’t afford the fees and not prepared to take a loan. Within my choices of Leeds Vs. Birmingham, please guide.



I’d appreciate a response please.



Thank you!

[Edited by Sil on Mar 22, 2023]

You have a choice. Would you rather attend a more valuable school, where you borrow to meet your goals, or not, and not meet your goals? 

Fair enough Duncan and thanks for your response.
I understand the economics at stake here and I’ve read your sage advice here against scholarships and believe me, I totally get it. However at this time, my resources are stretched across projects back home and I cannot afford to have a loan hanging on my head in addition plus I’ve got a young family. 
I do believe one’s experience pre-MBA weighs more importantly in the grand scheme of things, post-MBA of course and except one attended the tier-1 or even tier-2 schools - LBS, Oxbridge, Imperial, Warwick and perhaps Manchester - you may have to depend on your networking capabilities, skills and past experience whilst looking for the next opportunity rather than a dependence on the strength of the MBA. My honest thoughts here!Would it be right to assume Leeds MBA graduates never get anything good/decent upon graduation? In terms of diversity, yes it’s almost non-existent, at least from my own independent research but I’ve used LinkedIn to check up their placements and truthfully it isn’t as bad. Some ended up with respectable consulting firms in the UK. Duncan would you perhaps advice I then go for Birmingham? If so might I ask why? The fact of its FT-ranking is established but they only appeared this year anyway. What’s to say they won’t drop off next year?
Please guide on the best course of action. On the one hand, the value of MBAs from the other schools listed is not lost on me yet on the other hand, I wouldn’t want to overburden myself especially, as an immigrant, with huge loan obligations. And I’ve observed that, relatively speaking, consulting salaries aren’t high in the UK minus the MBB firms anyway. 

Thanks for sharing more of your wise thoughts with me Duncan. Happy to read further from you on this. 

The notion that you can't afford it is a fallacy. Run the numbers using average salary data.  The RoI on higher quality schools is immense.