Hi!
I am very interested to understand wich is the best one year full time MBA program for experienced people in the UK. (Age 36, more than 10 years work exp. financial sector, will explore new international career opportunities in Europe / change industry). Wich is your opinion about Ashridge, Warwick, Cranfield and Henley?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

I think you're probably more EMBA material, but all four of those schools you mentioned are good ones. I've heard particularly good things about Ashridge recently. They used to have a "European partnership" EMBA, but not sure if that still exists or not.

Thank you for your message! You are right about the Executive MBA "profile" but - if there are the opportunity (career break) - I think that joining a full time world-class programme could be a better way to do it especially if you want change role, location or industry.
The "challenge" is to find the right program!
You know why Henley is not mentioned in the last FT ranking?

Ah, I hear you. If you want that career break, a full-time program is a good play. Especially if it includes internships (which probably sounds weird to people like us who have been working for 10 years!!).

No idea about Henley's performance on the FT rankings. FT prides itself on being THE international MBA ranking, so that might squeeze out some of the solid UK schools. Henley's EMBA program seems strong, and it's nearest to London I think, which is an advantage for a part-time program. And I think the triple accreditation says a lot.

Hi!
Yes, the triple accreditation says a lot but I think is only one of the important criteria to be considered when assessing a top business school (all the 4 mentioned BS have the triple accreditation). However I would like to better understand ? also from a recruiter/job market perspective ? the ?quality? and ?reputation? (both UK and international reputation) of these business school / MBA programme (Consider that I don?t live in the UK).

In addition I think that (about the full time MBA)
1. Ashridge is very attractive especially for experienced people (average age of 37), seems very special, practical and well connected with the ?real world?, good career support (but not listed in the 2009 FT Ranking);
2. Warwick it?s also very attractive, it seems very well acknowledged by employers, is well ranked (37, FT 2009)
3. Cranfield seems also very good in all of aspects and well ranked (35, FT 2009)
4. Henley MBA seems also very attractive for experienced people (average age of 38), seems to have a good international reputation (but not listed in the 2009 FT Ranking)

I look forward to have some opinion!!
Thank you very much!

All the schools mentioned are very good schools, I have been looking into them as well, although for executive/distance learning options. If you don't live in the UK and international reputation is important to you, you need to research this with recruiters in your country. In general, WBS will probably be very well respected almost everywhere and your job prospects should be very good upon graduation. For me, WBS stands above the other three schools, but it all depends on your criteria.

Henley is well known too, but in my opinion, not as universally as WBS. From what I understand, their main strengths are Executive and distance learning modes of study. I think the reason you don't see Henley in the FT Ranking for full time programmes, is because their full time intake is small, only around 40 students, and there may not be enough data to rank them. It doesn't at all mean it's a bad programme, but if you want to develop your network, it may be a consideration (you might want a wider group as your immediate network). I did talk to a full time student currently at Henley, and he had only good things to say about the programme.

Ashridge is very well known for their Executive MBA programme, not sure about full time. Again, may be the case of too small of a data sample to rank. I talked to them about EMBA, and it looked like a very good choice if I wanted to go that route.

Cranfield really stood out in my research. I think the school may be underrated internationally. Their programmes, both full time and Executive, sound like fantastic experiences. I wish they had more international recognition (in US, for example), but the programmes are top notch. If Cranfield is well known where you live, of if you want to work in UK/Europe, definitely consider it seriously.

Bottom line: do your own research as much as possible. Get in contact with the schools, ask questions, visit if you can. Try to get hold of alumni and current students and talk to them. It's your decision in the end. Good luck!

Hello!

Thank you for your comprehensive message and for your opinion!

I?m working on the Full time MBA selection with a relative structured approach (criteria / weights) and in any case I believe that the ranking (and the information you get form internet) should be considered a good starting point to derive the long / short list. However - as you said ? I think that more ?concrete? elements are needed (visit the school, contact the alumni, and more). A little bit more difficult is to understand the reputation from a recruiter point of view in Europe (e.g. Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Netherlands and more).

Additional opinion are from me very appreciated!
Thank you so much!

Bye-bye!

PS
Even if you are looking for the EMBA there are other MBA program / Business School in your preferred list?