Hi,all
I'm Japanese man with 40 age.
I have 16 years experiences in finance.(Bank,Non-Bank,Asset management, overseas subsidiary)
I might be too old age to take full-time MBA, but recently
I decided to take full time MBA 2020 in UK.

After MBA I plan to my career as below.
1. join start-up (Japan)
2. join international company which aims to expand Japanese market
3. venture capital, PE , M&A firm (Japan)

Regarding MBA,
I prioritize the quality of students and professors.
My interest modules are entrepreneurship and marketing.
I don't prefer school which emphasizes finance or academic approach.
Except Oxbrige and LBS, UK MBA has little value of a name in Japan, so I don't care reputation in Japan.

Now I'm finalizing the application for 3-4 schools out of following list.
In terms of my CV check , I got good response.
I haven't got IELTS and GMAT, currently I'm preparing IELTS and don't plan to take GMAT as I need to focus on IELTS.

Could you rank these schools and suggest other schools if any?

・Strathclyde
・Bath
・Warwick
・Manchester（Probably GMAT is needed finally)
・Durham
・Edinburgh
・Loughborough
・Lancaster

[Edited by K.Japan on Jul 29, 2020]

I think the three-year average FT ranking of these firms is reliable as a proxy for the quality of the faculty, students and international portability of these MBAs: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2019 I'd pay particular interest to the 'Aims Achieved' score. Imperial, Manchester, Cranfield and Durham do well. LBS and Oxbridge lead. Manchester seems to have a good MBA network in Japan.

Why are you looking only at UK schools? EDHEC seems to have a bigger network in Japan than Manchester or Oxford.

Thank you for your advise, Duncan.

I don't persist in UK, but the problem is that EDHEC ( also ESADE,IE) require GMAT.
Just in case I will contact their admissions officer which might give me helpful suggestion.
Regarding IE, they can accept ieGAT, I'm not familiar with the test though.

Edhec does not require the GMAT to apply, and only asks for a score of 600. You can apply now and take the GMAT at your leisure.

Thank you for your tips.
What do you think i n comparison between EDHEC and IE?

IE seems like a stronger school.

I got offer from LBS Sloan, Warwick, Manchester and so on.
Although I think LBS Sloan is best program for me, the total fee is about 50K higher than others.
I bother over the big gap of those fees.
Is LBS Sloan worth additional 50K investment compared to Warwick or Manchester?

[Edited by K.Japan on May 15, 2020]

This really comes down to goals. Sloan will give you a much more senior cohort, much less stressed about getting into McKinsey or Goldman. It's great for strategic leaders. Warwick is a fast-paced programme with a small core and many electives. It's perfect for people who want to deepen and accelerate in their current area. Manchester is idea for people changing role, industry, direction, country etc. 

Thank you for your comment, Duncan.
I plan to change my career from current finance industry to key position of start-up.
Do you think Sloan will work much better for that career transition than Manchester?

[Edited by K.Japan on May 15, 2020]

I sense that you want to be hired by investors to run a Japanese start-up funded with venture capital. LBS has the advantage of giving you leadership and strategy skills. Manchester would give you the functional skills of general management and strong consulting skills. I think LBS and Oxbridge are more credible with Japanese investors. Manchester could be better if you were really an entrepreneur, rather than the manager of a start-up. 
Personally, I don't know enough about Japan to know how viable your strategy is. 

Interesting post.  What I've heard (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that Japanese who go for their MBAs in North America/Europe are those sent by their company as a "reward" and most Japanese use it as a 2 year-vacation.  I don't really know anything about Japan but what I understand is that Japan is very "insular" in the sense that non-Japanese universities (except perhaps Harvard) are not really that well known or respected as they would be in Europe/North America.  Could you let us know your reasons for pursuing an MBA outside Japan with the intent of going back to Japan?  Thanks. 

Ouch. Holiday is not quite right, but certainly it is a long term investment rather that a career change or an instant acceleration for sponsored Japanese students. 

Just thinking about the preference to be light on finance... Imperial and Edinburgh  come to mind. The average gmat is high at Warwick... so that might be quanty. Edinburgh is very popular with Japanese  students. 

I don’t think current sponsored Japanese students stay in vacation.Indeed Top school’s students invest huge
money for admission such as GMAT preparation and essay, interview consulting.I believe intensive full time MBA overseas
that enhance several skills. In terms of post MBA, I just feel there is high probability for finding a good position in Japan. But I agree that point of view of short
term ROI, MBA is not so attractive for Japanese student, which means most Japanese students see long term view or various perspectives of Return.

Regarding Edinburgh in my understanding, among
UK school which don’t require GMAT, Edinburgh is the most renowned in Japan and location is attractive for Japanese. Durham,Lancaster, Bath would be
competitors of Edinburgh.

In my case I could take alternative GMAT tests
for Manchester and Warwick.

[Edited by K.Japan on May 16, 2020]

That makes sense to me. Edinburgh has a big difference of location: a very pleasant campus along the south side of the city centre while Warwick, Lancaster and Bath are quite remote from the city and Durham, at Ushaw College, is also remote from the university. I am an Edinburgh PhD candidate, and I also feel that the school's MBA is much smaller and more personal than those others. I think there is a lot of self-selection, and the MBA  students at Bath seem very similar (for example, much more diverse than greater China and the Indian subcontinent).

[Edited by Duncan on May 16, 2020]

Personally, in your position, I would feel comfortable that all of these were strong options. A lot of it comes down to the course design, the range of depth of electives and whether the international exchange programme is interesting (I look one, and found it very useful). For those reasons, I think I might pick Manchester because of the long format. At Edinburgh and Warwick I think you can add an exchange onto the end. 

LBS have much stronger reputation in Japan.The modules and cohort would be better. Overall I want to choose LBS Sloan. But, as Manchester is strong option it's hard to pick one. LBS Sloan is only 1 year without international exchange.Should I ignore the gap of 50K investment? If there is no big gap of investment I will definitely pick LBS Sloan.
Duncan, even if the investment amt is same, do you still pick Manchester?

You are right: perhaps I am distracted by the cost at LBS. I did the MBA there in 2004, and the fee was £22,000 a year. Paying £75,000 for an MSc just seems incredible. I appreciate that many older applicants are fearful of the GMAT, but for the same fee you could take the IMD MBA, which really would be better since it's so much more intense and personalised than the Sloan programme, which is just three terms. Cranfield is four, in comparison, and Manchester is five. 

Hey, really want to know what is your final choice. Could you share? Manchester or Edinburgh?

Manchester as in Alliance Manchester? SO they are better than Edinburgh in terms of placement?