Looking forward to know all who applied for the Durham University Business School (DUBS) 2020 program below:

1. Undergraduates [Accounting and Finance, Business and Marketing, Economics],
2. Masters [Accounting, Economics, Finance, Islamic Finance, Management, Marketing],
3. Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) – Shanghai or San Francisco or Durham,
4. Online & Executive MBA,
5. MBA (12 or 15 months),
6. PhD and Research.

(URL: https://www.dur.ac.uk/business/programmes/)

The below is my About Me ribbon. Please update and post about you.

******************************** ******************
About Me:
Program applied: MBA (12 or 15 months)
Program start date: Sep 2020
Application submitted date: March 1 2020
Application status: awaiting interview or any correspondence
Current location: Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, UK
******************************** ******************

I have already received an offer for DUBS MBA. However, I am still evaluating possible alternatives.
Currently, I hold offers from Warwick, Edinburgh, and Durham.

I had the same options in my mind with the inclusion of Manchester. I work for IBM and Warwick is the preferred executive MBA provider for us. I would have enrolled but I needed a full time MBA. Warwick is better for most people if you just look at the rankings. Actually your future post MBA goals also matters when you make a choice. What have you decided ?

Warwick is better for slightly older people (32, 33) accelerating in their field. Manchester is better for younger people (28, 29) making a change of industry, role, country....

@cyberviral: I am still confused as of now. Even @Duncan advised me earlier to look forward to applying for Manchester which I did but unfortunately couldn't get through. And yes its a fact that AMBS has quite an edge over WBS apart from rankings.

(Regarding my decision, please see my last post on discussion forum)

The biggest the transition, the more Manchester's internships and projects give students the ability to prove the value of their expertise in their desired function/country/industry.

[Edited by Duncan on Apr 11, 2020]

Sorry for the long post. I just skimmed-through all your posts. I did not peruse. I could not find what your post MBA goals are. Also, I do not know your experience and its magnitude. Without this basic information it is hard to determine which MBA is better for you.
I have visited Alliance, Warwick and Durham campuses. I found Alliance folks to be very young and of novice skill set. Most of the folks I spoke to earned less than half of what I was earning. I have thought I may not learn much from the group. Most of the folks I met were very new to management.

I have a lots of Warwick graduates in my organization and I have only heard nice things about the program. I know the Warwick entrance test is one of the best and only the best can get through. I have found it tougher than GMAT. Also, I have found Warwick folks more refined and most of them knew why they were doing the MBA without ambiguity. During interviews these folks clearly ask what they need from the organization.

Durham in my opinion is a humble monster. I met folks who are experts in their field doing the MBA. I could relate to everyone I spoke in the previous cohort. For my future goals I have found Durham MBA more apt. I wanted to start my own business hence low cost of attendance, high ROI, resourceful alumni are very important. Furthermore, Durham is an affordable test market for my service. I will have a safe sandbox environment in and around Durham. I am more resourceful in the Newcastle and nearby. Hence Durham is ideal for my goals.

You need to find your perfect match. In case if you do not have a clear goal then do this.

1) Download global-mba-ranking-2020 in an excel.

2) Identify your key performance identifiers (KPI).
Say for example,
3 yr. rank, Weighted salary ($), Value, Recommend

3) Assign values to each based on importance – 100 being more important and 1 being less important.
For example: 3 yr. rank=50, Weighted salary ($) = 30, Value=100, Recommend=60

4) Now sort through each KPI and give values such that 3 is the top school and 1 is bottom school.
Legend: Warwick = W, Alliance = A, Durham = D
3 yr. rank => W=3, A=2, D=1
Weighted salary ($) = A=3, W=2, D=1
Value = D=3, W=2, A=1
Recommend = W=3, A=2, D=1

5) Now multiply the weightage with the values. The greater sum is your preferred MBA.
W= 590, A = 410, D = 425 (remember the above KPI will be different for you and the weightage will be different for your case.)

Based on the math Warwick turns out to be the best followed by Durham.

Now if you absolutely have no idea about business or doing a business, I personally feel Alliance will be the best as they have one of the most comprehensive programs. 18 months of education can make an expert in any field. I have seen graduates list business simulation part of program as an experience in their resume. That is how much significant it gets. And I have also considered it as genuine experience in a resume. If you are in your late 20s then retake GMAT and join Warwick. Wish you all the very best. Once again sorry about the long post.

If you have chosen Durham then let me know there is a group to join.

Hey Guys

Hope you’re doing well.

New to this but I also applied for DUBS Sep 2020 FT MBA.

Awaiting a change in my application status and hoping to get an interview with them.

I’m interested to find out what interview questions they may ask and what the interview structure is like. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! :)

Thanks and hope you’re all keeping safe

Wish you all the very best. When you submit the application the system says 8 week processing time. I submitted my application on 1 march and couple of notification came for updating missing documents. On 25 March 2020 got an email with an interview date as 31 March 2020. The expectation is that after a week from the interview you can expect an email with offer letter. After that date in a week or 2 you may get scholarship confirmation email. The admission committee said that everyone if automatically considered for scholarship and need not apply separately. Every application is different and every person who reviews the application is different. Besides there is no Service Level Agreement for this :-)

Every profile is different and hence interview questions may be different too. For me it was - how is it like working in your company ? what kept you working for this company for too long ? Does the current situation affect your job ? What is the biggest challenge in your job ? Why Durham MBA, Why MBA ? why Durham ? How will the class benefit from you ? Post MBA goals ? How are you going to fund your MBA? - Exactly in the same order.

Hey Cyber

Thank you for your feedback! Very useful! :)

And hope your interview went well and good luck for the outcome if you haven’t heard back yet!

Wish you all the very best. When you submit the application the system says 8 week processing time. I submitted my application on 1 march and couple of notification came for updating missing documents. On 25 March 2020 got an email with an interview date as 31 March 2020. The expectation is that after a week from the interview you can expect an email with offer letter. After that date in a week or 2 you may get scholarship confirmation email. The admission committee said that everyone if automatically considered for scholarship and need not apply separately. Every application is different and every person who reviews the application is different. Besides there is no Service Level Agreement for this :-)

Every profile is different and hence interview questions may be different too. For me it was - how is it like working in your company ? what kept you working for this company for too long ? Does the current situation affect your job ? What is the biggest challenge in your job ? Why Durham MBA, Why MBA ? why Durham ? How will the class benefit from you ? Post MBA goals ? How are you going to fund your MBA? - Exactly in the same order.

once you accepted the offer from Durham let me know i will add you to the group. Wish you all the very best for the future. Stay safe and well. 

Wish you all the very best. When you submit the application the system says 8 week processing time. I submitted my application on 1 march and couple of notification came for updating missing documents. On 25 March 2020 got an email with an interview date as 31 March 2020. The expectation is that after a week from the interview you can expect an email with offer letter. After that date in a week or 2 you may get scholarship confirmation email. The admission committee said that everyone if automatically considered for scholarship and need not apply separately. Every application is different and every person who reviews the application is different. Besides there is no Service Level Agreement for this :-)

Every profile is different and hence interview questions may be different too. For me it was - how is it like working in your company ? what kept you working for this company for too long ? Does the current situation affect your job ? What is the biggest challenge in your job ? Why Durham MBA, Why MBA ? why Durham ? How will the class benefit from you ? Post MBA goals ? How are you going to fund your MBA? - Exactly in the same order.

Hi all,
I was questioned almost the same questions. It was a good interview, relaxed... I hold offers from Bath and Strathclyde... Hope I will succeed in Durham as well... Personally, I think Durham is the first choice. Still waiting for Edinburgh and Warwick interviews...

Sorry for the long post. I just skimmed-through all your posts. I did not peruse. I could not find what your post MBA goals are. Also, I do not know your experience and its magnitude. Without this basic information it is hard to determine which MBA is better for you.
I have visited Alliance, Warwick and Durham campuses. I found Alliance Alliance folks to be very young and of novice skill set. Most of the folks I spoke to earned less than half of what I was earning. I have thought I may not learn much from the group. Most of the folks I met were very new to management.

I have a lots of Warwick graduates in my organization and I have only heard nice things about the program. I know the Warwick entrance test is one of the best and only the best can get through. I have found it tougher than GMAT. Also, I have found Warwick folks more refined and most of them knew why they were doing the MBA without ambiguity. During interviews these folks clearly ask what they need from the organization.

Durham in my opinion is a humble monster. I met folks who are experts in their field doing the MBA. I could relate to everyone I spoke in the previous cohort. For my future goals I have found Durham MBA more apt. I wanted to start my own business hence low cost of attendance, high ROI, resourceful alumni are very important. Furthermore, Durham is an affordable test market for my service. I will have a safe sandbox environment in and around Durham. I am more resourceful in the Newcastle and nearby. Hence Durham is ideal for my goals.

You need to find your perfect match. In case if you do not have a clear goal then do this.

1) Download global-mba-ranking-2020 in an excel.

2) Identify your key performance identifiers (KPI).
Say for example,
3 yr. rank, Weighted salary ($), Value, Recommend

3) Assign values to each based on importance – 100 being more important and 1 being less important.
For example: 3 yr. rank=50, Weighted salary ($) = 30, Value=100, Recommend=60

4) Now sort through each KPI and give values such that 3 is the top school and 1 is bottom school.
Legend: Warwick = W, Alliance = A, Durham = D
3 yr. rank => W=3, A=2, D=1
Weighted salary ($) = A=3, W=2, D=1
Value = D=3, W=2, A=1
Recommend = W=3, A=2, D=1

5) Now multiply the weightage with the values. The greater sum is your preferred MBA.
W= 590, A = 410, D = 425 (remember the above KPI will be different for you and the weightage will be different for your case.)

Based on the math Warwick turns out to be the best followed by Durham.

Now if you absolutely have no idea about business or doing a business, I personally feel Alliance will be the best as they have one of the most comprehensive programs. 18 months of education can make an expert in any field. I have seen graduates list business simulation part of program as an experience in their resume. That is how much significant it gets. And I have also considered it as genuine experience in a resume. If you are in your late 20s then retake GMAT and join Warwick. Wish you all the very best. Once again sorry about the long post.

If you have chosen Durham then let me know there is a group to join.

Dear Cyberviral,Thank you so much for you time and sharing us so detailed information.I have received offer from Durham Full time MBA program for September 2020 intake. Kindly, add me in the Durham MBA group as you have mentioned.
Thank you.Siti-Sitikantha Prasad Mohanty

[Edited by Siti-Sitikantha on May 07, 2020]