Hi there,

I have the opportunity to take a year out and do a 12 month MBA starting Sep/Oct 2012. I have over 10 years international experience since my undergrad. Am sitting the GMAT soon and preparation is indicating 650 or so at this point. Have a few more weeks prep to go.

I am currently completing my applications to both Cass and Imperial. I like the finance & soft skills elements of Cass and I like the entrepreneurial elements of Imperial.

Am very impressed with Cass.They really run it like a business. From the day I first called, I had a face to face meeting 2 days later as well as many follow up chats. They also put me in contact with alumni in my sector to talk through the program from their perspective.

My experience with Imperial so far has been the polar opposite. It took two attempts for them to respond to my request to review my CV to see if I would be a match. They said that I was. I have been waiting for 6 weeks now to get them to agree to a date for me meet with them face to face.

I had only intended to apply to 2 schools, but am a little disappointed with Imperial for the reasons above. I was wondering if there was a good third option for a full time MBA in Greater London.

LSB is more than 12 months. I have to live in London so Oxford Said, Cambridge Judge, and Cranfield are just to far away from me. Oxford have a rule that you must live close to Oxford. To be honest, I am not sure if I have the grades for LBS or Cambridge anyway.

Would you recommend any other schools in Greater London such as Kingston? Are there any others with good quality general management core subjects, soft skills training plus good brand recognition.

Would really appreciate your guidance.

Thanks,

Europa

Ashridge and Brunel are good. I'd especially recommend Ashridge: it's 28 minutes from Euston to Berkhamstead, and there's a free regular minibus direct from there to the school. There's also Hult and Webster, if you don't mind American MBAs.

Thanks Duncan - will look into Ashridge

There's also Henley: Reading is half an hour from London. They have a 640 GMAT cut-off, so pretty strong students. Given your age, Ashridge is a good fit - if you are a self-starter. Cass is certainly is safest choice of the three.

Hi Duncan,

Many thanks for the extra information. Will also check out Henley.

Out of curiosity, you mentioned that Ashridge would be a good fit for self starters. I still need to investigate Ashridge further, but is it less structured than Cass?

Yes, I think that's a good way to think of it. Both schools have structured and full curricula, as you'd expected from accredited and ranked schools. However, Ashridge is heavily based about projects and leadership development, while Cass is a more orthodox classroom-centred degree.If you want to get into a cookie-cutter MBA job then Cass is a safe bet. If you want to transform yourself, pursue a project and can network effectively then Ashridge is a much more powerful life experience.

Thanks Duncan - that is food for thought. Am a bit intrigued about Ashridge now

Me too: http://www.find-mba.com/board/25152

I attend its MBA refresher programme every year. It's a very different school, really unequalled for soft skills and self-awareness.

Ashridge and Brunel are good. I'd especially recommend Ashridge: it's 28 minutes from Euston to Berkhamstead, and there's a free regular minibus direct from there to the school. There's also Hult and Webster, if you don't mind American MBAs.

Well, Ashridge and Brunel are organisations with half a century of experience and have rooted networks. Private "US" schools which are principally trading outside the US and have weaker roots in the UK will have much less brand equity and network power. Not will they attract the same quality cohort.

Thanks Duncan - how would you rate the quality of the education though in terms of material coverage, exams and amount of work?

This will not be a notable driver of the different student outcomes for the acrredited schools. The difference in the quality of students and faculty will be more notable, and the brand equity of the schools.