Hi everyone,

I am in the process of finalizing my Aston application for the full-time MBA programme. Any suggestions or comments?

Is it well-known? Does it have strong recruitment?

Thanks

Hi Naoumbarakat,
I am also considering Aston together with Uni of Birmingham and Durham. These three are about the same ranking. I dont know what are the differences among them.
Would anyone please help us?

Well, in my opinion i think Aston comes first, then durham and then birmingham.

My 1st choice i guess will be Aston !! Triple Accreditation, well-known in UK and Europe !!

yes go for aston.....

Agreed! I'm at Aston and happy with my choice :-)

UPDATE - AUGUST 2011.

As I am nearing hte end of my course now, I felt it necessary to update my views on ABS.

I have still greatly enjoyed my time here and learnt so much. It was one of the best decisions I made. HOWEVER, ABS has met the majority of myneeds, they can still be a little disorganised and this has been somewhat frustrating in all areas. For example, particularly over the summer holiday period. Understandably staff need their time off but certain students need support with the group consultancy projects and find staff are almost unavailable.

This in addition to not listening too much to student feedback regarding lecturers/module content are my only two gripes with the business school.

I still recommend it and have loved the whole experience.

I have read good reviews about Aston. My only issue with it is that being a former polytechnic before becoming a university, its pedigree is not that highly regarded. Also it's not well known outside the UK. Its lower ranked neighbour Uni of birmingham is better known.
My question is this- which is better Aston or Durham? which one has a better reputation? they have almost similar ranks in the FT 2010 rankings. So pls could people advice on which is better and why.
So apart from the FT rankings, how would you guys rank Aston, Durham and Birmingham in regards to their MBA programs, international reputation (I'm an international student looking to do my MBA in 2011).
Thanks for your objective answers

Well they are almost the same !! The thing is i won't live in Durham, its very boring over there. Been to Birmingham lots of times and its a nice city. Regarding Aston, well the university has triple accreditation, a class of 85 full-time MBA students. Its been in the rankings for as long as i can remember. Not only that, its in the FT top 100 MBA programs worldwide (Including USA; number 73) - This to answer your question about being known outside of UK.
I am as well an international student looking to do my MBA in 2011.

Anyway, good luck with your search!!

Just to let you know, we are actually about 120/130 students this year. Very good for student diversity. Birmingham does have a very good reputation as a university but not for its business school. Aston is a 'plateglass university', Birmingham a red brick. It also has a smaller campus, right in the city, whereas as Birmingham is further out, on a much bigger and greener campus. So it also depends what environment you want too. I hear B'ham are working on their accreditation now.

Its not about the "outer" environment as to the "in-house" environment. My main concern is how the classes are run, if teachers are always there to help. The exchange programs they have, the internships, etc.

After extensive research, i guess ABS is a very good choice !!

Good luck with your MBA.

All the best.
Cheers

hmmm...in house, out house..doesn't really matter as far as the tuition is top notch. Then again for a business school, reputations is very very important so the issue of larger and greener campus does not matter here. From what I've heard Durham has a better reputation than Aston and Birmingham (I guess being linked to one of the oldest universities in England does help).
Reputation with employers is another key factor. which of these has a better reputation with employers?
Environment wise I'd agree that Birmingham is a better place to study than Durham....but then we are looking for somewhere that would give us value for money.
So other opinions are welcome and would be appreciated.
Let the discussion begin

Durham is a very good name, Birmingham is a very good name and Aston has too (Look at the UK ranking for undergrad courses). In general university terms, you have to think about the reputational dimension - this would matter for those who worry about having a 'brand' name and for employers who would judge your CV by looking at brand and perhaps not so much on content. Now in terms of the quality of business schools, regarding content, top notch teaching, student contentedness and accessible teachers - this is another element to consider. Employers in the 'know' and who regularly keep abreast of business school rankings, employment and salary stats and even the relevance of course module contents to them and their commercial goals, will certainly look beyond the name university brand and seek relevance. All of these universities are excellent! So it comes down to personal choice that no one else can actually decide for you - with either one, you will not be making a mistake.

And I have to articulate that after a few weeks of studying Organisational behaviour, environment does matter and can be critical to performance so I would not discount the environment that so easily. It doesn?t matter if the tuition is great, if it?s the student isn't able to absorb and make the best of it. When I went for my interview at Birmingham in August, they told me themselves that 'a happy student is a good student.' Like I've mentioned before on this site, Aston 'felt' right and I'm very happy with my choice even though Birmingham is quite a few grand cheaper! I appreciate it being a smaller university, the facilities which are **just** for MBA students (MBA building, a whole floor of the building is dedicated to us as workspaces with wifi etc) and I feel that I get more personal support from the academic staff, admin staff, dedicated MBA careers advisor and the lecturers are always asking us to come and visit their during their office hours if we have any questions. I'm also not sure if Durham/Birmingham have a similar personal development programme? If this is important to you then, Aston does have an extensive personal development and career management programme that runs alongside our lectures. If you want to get really analytical about it I would make up a matrix to compare and really find out what factors are most important to you to help you be sure (logically) where you will be happy to spend your money. The importance you place on certain factors will ultimately decide which course/university will give you the most value.

One question - Do the fees for Durham/Birmingham also include some of the books for the course? Be sure to ask about this as a lot of the books cost in excess of £50 each - you might have a bit of a surprise when you turn up!

Thanks Andiboo!
I really liked the way you broke it down. I guess the environment does matter when choosing the school. Durham while being a great BS has a location disadvantage for me. I'd prefer a larger city because I think schools located in such areas would have better business community links...also I like the fact that though Birmingham is big its cost of living is not as high as London. I've been to Birmingham and I really liked it. So i guess it would be down to Aston vs Birmingham. Aston has the advantage of a higher ranking and triple accreditation.
Quick question: Is the GMAT compulsory for a full time MBA at Aston? I intend to use my ACCA professional membership and 8years working experience in a big four audit firm for my application. I haven't done the GMAT and I'm not sure I want to do it.
Thanks for all your help

I second Andiboo!

@dsaynt, from what the admission people told me, the GMAT is not compulsory for a full time MBA student.

Hi Andiboo,

Thanks for the incisive analysis.
I have two questions.

From your observations so far, what are the changes of getting a job in the UK after the Aston MBA(from an international student perspective) ?

Secondly, does the £22k fee for the programme cover text books costs?

Thanks once again

This I unfortunately do not know a whole deal about; I am a home student so the situation is different for me...The market is hard for everyone right now, but to be honest, it will be harder for you guys. But who know's what the market will be like when I graduate or when you graduate in a couple of years time. At least an MBA will set you aside from other applicants.

The £22k covers the core texts (I haven't had to buy any yet). You also get a resource pack which has extracts from books/articles, to make things easier.

@dsyant
At present, you don't need GMAT for Aston but I am not sure if this may change in a year's time, so I would sugget keeping a watch out or applying before they make a any changes! :D

@Andiboo,
Thanks! I guess it's Aston for me! (or Warwick if I get round to going the GMAT and scoring like 660!)
Going through the FT rankings its appears that aston hadn't been audited for the past 3 years before 2010. why is that?

All the same thanks for your input, it's been quite helpful

@Andiboo

Really do appreciate your ''insider'' analysis.
What are the schorlarship opportunities for international students at Aston? I have nine years experience in the finance industry,2.1 and some awards from my organisation.
Would also appreciate if I can get your email address.

Thanks!

Hi! joined in the site recently and i really appreciate the interactions going on.

After doin my own research and readin this site , I think i be applying to Aston and Birmingam Uni for Fall 2011. I will be an international student.

Will also apply to Hult International Business School in Boston, SChulich School of Business in Canada, HEC Paris.

Any comments guys?

Hey guys, can someone share with us few pictures of Aston's campus !!