I am looking for Full-time MBA course in the UK.
Now I got an offer from Bath MBA (conditional to take 5 weeks pre-sessional eng course).

For Manchester MBA, I had an interview with course director andrecruitment team, but they required me to take GMAT exam again as my score was lower than their expectation. (no pre-sessional eng course required at Manchester according to my IELTS score)
And I'm not sure the new score will be good enough to pass their judgement.

Course fee at Manchester is higher than Baht for about 10,000 pound.
Also, I got scholarship at 3,000 pound from Bath.

Both schools have a good reputation in business. Manchester stands in the higher rank.

I'm not sure that I should re-take the GMAT for Manchester again as the course fee at MBS is so expensive and the reputation of those schools are not much different after graduation.

Please help to advise on my choice.

Hi,

Accept Bath first, then redo GMAT until you meet MBS's requirement. If you still can't, at least you've got a backup. Better be safe than sorry. However, if you are aware, MBA is all about the reputation and brand of the business school so the only ones worth doing are LBS, SBS, JBS, WBS, MBS, CBS and ICBS. Just compare these 7 business schools' logo against their parent universities' logo and then compare any other business school's logo against its own university's logo, then you'll see the difference.

What's your current GMAT score by the way?

[Edited by yipkc on Feb 10, 2017]

Since Bath fell out again in the FT 100 this year, actually falling out of the ranking (http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2017) while Manchester rose again, coming into the top 30, I think Manchester is a better choice. Of course it is also tha case that the average annual salary after Manchester is $20,000 higher. The salary premium exceeds the additional fees in the first year, and leads to higher salary.

Of course, students on two-semester MBAs are different from those on three semester MBAs. With the flexibility foir 18 months, Manchester is designed for people who are changing country, role or industry and may need to take longer to find the right role. If you are not changing those things and simply want to move faster in your current career path, then Bath gets you back to work faster.

Hi yipkc and Duncan,

Thank you for your advice.

My previous GMAT score was 500. I prepared the exam together with doing full-time job in my country.

I plan to continue working in the UK after graduation and want to change my career work to consultation.
As my previous career was an auditor (3yrs, big4). Then I moved to financial analysis (multinational co.2 yrs).
I wonder that after graduating from the school (Bath or MBS), how much the brand of business school affects a starting average annual salary?

Study 12 months then start working sounds to be better ROI. But not sure that the starting average annual salary of 18 months from MBS will cover all that of Bath.

We all know how averages and normal distributions work. 20% higher average earnings is the brand value, and the same student entering the two programs will have different outcomes. MBS also allows you to graduate in 12 months. If you want to change career, MBS is much better and you benefit from the flexibility to choose 15 or 18 to take more electives, do projects, have a paid internship etc. If lower salary and a lower chance of career change are okay to swap for a faster return to employment, then would a part time MBA better fit your preference for risk?

[Edited by Duncan on Feb 10, 2017]

I cannot join a part-time programme and I'm not European. I must resign from my current work and go to study in the UK. So full-time programme is suit me more.
I've decided to take GMAT exam again and wait for the result from MBS (one alumni told me that just score above 500 (plus my experience) is enough to be admitted).

Moreover, I just got an offer from Edinburgh with condition to take the GMAT and an offer from Strathclyde (uncon.).

Then, suppose that I get offers from all these schools, I should go to MBS first, right?
And how about the others, Strathclyde, Bath, and Edinburgh which one should be my second choice?
Strathclyde ranking is good but there are some topics are still unclear.

MBS is certainly better. With other schools, it's also a trade-off between risk and reward. Edinburgh have a much better cohort and higher salary. Strathclyde has a more junior cohort and, as a result, a curriculum that really focusses on the core and the career services team has an easier job of placing people: it is the low-risk, low-reward option, while MBS is high-risk and high-reward. Edinburgh is in the middle. Its 15-month option is worth looking at. I teach on the MA and MSc at Edinburgh, and am a MBS alum: Edinburgh's a much smaller school and city which might be easier to settle into.

Thank you very much Duncan.

Now I am preparing for GMAT exam and hope that I will be offered from MBS)

However, in case I won't have a good score and won't get an offer from those two schools (MBS and Edinburgh), which one should I go, Bath or Strathclyde? Or where else do you want to suggest?
For Strathclyde, there will be many junior cohort, so I'm not sure the class will give me business experience as expected. For Bath, I heard from my friend, who now study MSc at Bath, that the average age of MBA cohort is more than 30, so it would be match my interest.
For location, I don't have much information about working after graduation but many people told me that study in England will advantage me more than study in Scotland such as connection and opportunity to find work, as England has many big city than Scot.
There are many aspects to concern before making decision.

The Bath MBA cohort does seem to be more senior going in, but it's less senior going out: lower salary; lower salary increase; less senior careers; fewer aims achieved; worse careers support. Maybe this can be partly explained by Bath having 40% more women students? Certainly, I think the quality of the next cohort will typically because they have dropped out of the FT 100.

You might want to clarify the place of the MBA in the two year scheme: I think that only applies to undergraduates. Their website says "University of Bath has been selected to take part in a government pilot scheme expected to run until 2017-18 entry. This scheme grants postgraduate taught students (on certain courses including the MBA) six months' leave after their course finishes to stay on in the UK to look for work."

Thanks for further advice, Duncan.
I agreed with you that the quality of Bath may be worse than it was in the past as its rank has dropped in FT 2017.
Honestly, I also consider the job placement in the UK after graduation in a field of consulting or business development. As you said, it seem to be studying at Bath will give me more risks, as its lower rank and other outcomes.

However, at Edinburgh I don't know much about an opportunity to find a job and its career service. I am trying to gather information about this through discussion board and current students, but didn't have as much as expected. Any advice about this?

No, I think that for strong MBA career services you will need a school with a larger MBA cohort, which requires the GMAT. See the post on best schools for placement linked from my profile page.