Hi guys!!

Sorry if I sneaked into this section, but i woudl need a tip from your perspective..

I have been admitted to both of the following schools: RSM and IE.

I am a junior Consultant (male, 27, Italian - Roland Berger and Deloitte background) and I am more oriented toward remaining in the same indutry after my MBA, with open windows on a career in finance.

If i had to change country after myMBA, i would be more intersted in working in northern Europe (London, Amsterdam) than in Spain.

Moreover, one of the most important drivers, to me, is education over marketing. I mean, i d like to get that school which can provide me with better technical skills. On the soft ones side, I am pretty confident :)

Which school would you suggest me to choose?
Is there anyone up for giving me some insights?

I am asking because I have to decide by the end of this month and I have got a completely different idea about both schools

Thank you vey much, Alessio

Hi guys!!

Sorry if I sneaked into this section, but i woudl need a tip from your perspective..

I have been admitted to both of the following schools: RSM and IE.

I am a junior Consultant (male, 27, Italian - Roland Berger and Deloitte background) and I am more oriented toward remaining in the same indutry after my MBA, with open windows on a career in finance.

If i had to change country after myMBA, i would be more intersted in working in northern Europe (London, Amsterdam) than in Spain.

Moreover, one of the most important drivers, to me, is education over marketing. I mean, i d like to get that school which can provide me with better technical skills. On the soft ones side, I am pretty confident :)

Which school would you suggest me to choose?
Is there anyone up for giving me some insights?

I am asking because I have to decide by the end of this month and I have got a completely different idea about both schools

Thank you vey much, Alessio

Yes, Nes is absolutely right, these schools are among the best Europe! - IE seems to be considered a bit better(in the rankings, at least), but it is also more expensive, and RSM have lots of finance possibilities.
i think, that if money is not the problem, go for IE - you will surely get good value for your money, and, a big plus, you will be in Spain and not in Holland(and it makes a big difference)!
and there is also the language - you can surly learn to speak Spanish very good in one year, which can come in very handy, if you ever need to do some business with south America. i have lots of friends that lived(or are still living) in Holland, and non of them learned the language(because everyone speaks English there) - not that dutch is any help anywhere outside Holland anyways.

Nes thank you a lot! D.jung, thans to you too! I appreciated!
Honestly i have to tell you a couple things regarding my perception..

But first, a question: Nes what does alma stand for? How can I manage to do what you mean?

Now let s go to my perception..

Yes it is true.. rankings side.. IE better than RSM, but i think all of us should be able to go deeper into the reading of any rankings..

At the moment, I am more oriented to RSM

I have interviewed some alumni and those of IE told me that finance chances are very few! I think, given anyhow I want mainly to continue to work in consulting, that once i purse an MBA, do not want to get any door closed..

Apart from the brand recognition, which can also stem from investments capacity of a school (IE's fees are not even comparable with those of RSM) it is important to figure out what levef of facutly quality to get..

If you get a look at the last FT rankings, specifically at the column (percentage of professors with PHD) you will find an attractive 100% at RSM (among the top three in Europe as Faculty Research) and a not convincing 80% at IE (if i remember well) and as I said previously I am looing for a school that is outstanding especially in terms of education than networking..

I believe that once you get an interview in a top company (networking) you must also be able to sustain that interview and to stand out for your skills, both soft and technical..

Therefore, i am not saying IE is not a fabolous school as it looks like, but just that I probably prefer a school which aims at excelling in education and professors to a school which claims that enterpreunership is the focus of its MBA program..


What do you think?

Alessio

Well, i would try and see if you find them in the specialty ranking(there was one published last year by business week) - maybe you would get an answer regarding the quality of finance studies.

about the pro cent of PHDs - i wouldn't worry about that - a PHD doesn't automatically mean better teaching.....
i would also look at the complete school rankings from the economist(if you haven't done it yet):

http://www.economist.com/media/wmba/emp.pdf

http://www.economist.com/media/wmba/rot.pdf

lots of revealing parameters here, which can help you chose the right one.

and yes, regarding the alumni - you should always recheck and be suspicious - alumni tend to be very loyal, especially the ones that the school give as reference.

and again, i would like to repeat myself regarding Spanish - it is number 3 in the world, in terms of the number of people understanding it, and the economy in south America is booming.

tHANK YOU VERY MUCH D.JUNG!!
The links you posted up can be very useful to me!

You know what? probably my view (RSM over IE) is somehow dependent on a specific fact which happened to me..

There is a student who was with me at Bocconi (top one in Italy) I would not recommend him at all professionally speaking even if he s a very good guy and his professional background is a proof of it.

Well, at IE he was admitted immediately and even before getting the necessary TOEFL score (one of the requirements). I do not trust that much flexible admission processes..

Nes thank you a lot! D.jung, thans to you too! I appreciated!
--------------------

What do you think?

Alessio

Thank you NES! Always very polite!

WOW! You could switch the RSM for IE in the above post and you would get almost the same results! Many professors flown in because they cannot get any good ones to stay!

I am nearly done with IE - I finish next month. A survey of some recent IMBA students stated that IE failed to meet the expectations set in the recruiting process 55% of the time. 55%? That's a 45% success rate.

Only 10% of the professors are actually GOOD. The rest were utterly disappointing. They boast about the launch and accelerate and change programs but they are nothing but slide-reading-week-long slogs of terribly boring presentations made by people who cannot teach to save their life.

Note that IE dropped 6 placings in the recent Economist rank.

There was an excellent program director, MG, who quit for reasons unknown. The newly promoted dean, DB, is maybe 33 years old? Very young and not so experienced. The new vice dean, ES, is pretty much a square and has only seen students get more dissatisfied with the program as it goes on. The program has added another intake essentially doubling in size. They did not double the facilities nor the number of professors. The school can't fit everyone! It is the classic example of growing too quickly.

Oh - 30% of last years grads STILL don't have jobs. Blame the Economy? OK, but when other schools aren't doing nearly so bad, what's the message? Its easy to go well when the economy is good. What about when the going get's rough? Not-so-much.

Career center? Complete joke. They will not help you get a job unless you are Spanish and want to continue to work in Spain.

I would not spend the 50k to go here again. If the tuition was 25K? Maybe. It is not worth its pricetag at all.

wOW!!! IT REALLY seems like I went from a win-win solution to a lose lose one!!!
I think you guys are both too extreme in your position.
Why don t you be more specific in describing why your MBA did not fit your aspirations?

My friend studies at Rotterdam on OneMBA, he likes the program v much, says the cohort is of v high calibre, though program is demanding.

Hi all!

just before reading these very interesting posts from the 2 graduates i was wondering how can a prospective student approach and analyze the feedback given by alumnis.Everyone says that it is really important to talk to former students to see what they have to say.I always thought though that alumnis will never have to say anything bad about their MBA programme....I guess i was wrong!!But,without implying anything about RSMMBA's or IE graduate's credibility, to what degree can a person like me or ALE should take into account the good ar bad perceptions of any school?

An alumni's opinion-especially if it is bad- can influence s.o. a lot,just by thinking that RSMMBA for instance paid a lot of money for something that -if i get it right-in the end will not help him get a good job ,which for me is the most important thing about a MBA

Given the fact that both RSM and IE are supposed to be great schools (''top tiers''!) but maybe luck the brand name that others have,do you think that in the end,one should mainly focus on that?the brand name?...for example would it be better for ALE to go to let's say CASS ar IMPERIAL for his MBA from both academic and professional point of view???

i think it is just natural - if a school has a good reputation(a big name), people develop very high acceptations and are more likely to be unsatisfied/have problems with the program. i am pretty sure you will find unsatisfied students in any program, no matter how good it is supposed to be......... this is not to say that you shouldn't listen to what they have to say, it is just that you always have to take that fact into account.