Among Surrey, Southampton, Sheffield, Newcastle, Leicester and Exeter; which Uni is better for General MBA??

Is it worth going to any of these Unis for MBA?? (in terms of ROI)

Has anyone got any idea about the MBA program in these Universities?

Alumni or students currently doing there MBA there?

I have a 3 years work exp with a mixed profile, good academics, IELTS 8.5 but no GMAT and want to go for MBA this year. As per counsellor's suggestion, these Unis are good for Gen MBA and suited to my kind of profile.

If anyone has some experience of these Unis, please share. That will be of great help to me.....Thanks!!!

Has anyone got any idea about the MBA program in these Universities?

Alumni or students currently doing there MBA there?

I have a 3 years work exp with a mixed profile, good academics, IELTS 8.5 but no GMAT and want to go for MBA this year. As per counsellor's suggestion, these Unis are good for Gen MBA and suited to my kind of profile.

If anyone has some experience of these Unis, please share. That will be of great help to me.....Thanks!!!

Hi again Mamit,

When we talk about well-ranked Unis in terms of B-schools, the ones that come to mind are Cranfield, Cass, Warwick, Said, Judge, MBS, and the likes. Quite frankly, I think the costs are very high and I will be a misfit there becasue of my experience. Also, these need a high GMAT score.

Then there are the Lancaster, Aston, Birmingham, Bath, Leeds, Durham etc. where the costs come down to 25K GBP but they need around 4-5 years of work exp. They might also ask for GMAT scores

If we come a little downwards, we have the Bradford, Nottingham, Glasgow, Exeter etc. where the entry criteria revolves around 3 years of work exp and the costs are around 25K GBP. ( I am aiming these Unis) - I might also take GMAT in April (depends on my preps that I havent started yet)

These are all Financial Times ranked B-schools.

My problem is that I cant delay my MBA by another year (You know how the Indian society is; we cant afford an MBA later on in life like the westerners, coz we've got responsibilites....lol )

Back to the topic, then the bottom tier of Good Universities in UK (for MBA) does consist of RHUL, Sheffield, Surrey, Newcastle, Southampton etc. Again 25K GBP and 3 years exp....(somewhat flexible entry criteria)

These classifications are based on whatever knowledge I have of the UK B-schools as of now. Some people may not agree with that!!
.............................................................
My question is very simple;
with my profile, what is the best I can get, where do my realistic chances lie and what is the least I should settle for????

I am sure there are many knowledgeable people on this forum (including yourself) who have been there and done that.

A little guidance can help someone make a better decision. So it is a request to all friends if they have any GENUINE knowledge about these topics and can answer the queries honeslty, to forward their opinion.

Many thanks!

you can go ahead with Leicester,Southampton,exeter.

are these the best in the mentioned group?

yes from my point of view.....

are these the best in the mentioned group?

i got Leicester and newcastle.. confused which one to take...

in my opinion None!

If those were the only two choices I would choose Newcastle, which is AMBA and EQUIS accredited. Leicester is better known for distance learning. However, they are not the only two choices. A ranked programme would be a much better investment.

I think Newcastle has a slight edge. But Leicester is at least AMBA accredited - which at least insures that it's curriculum is not crap.

I'd say look at the course structure, and talk to the placement offices at each program. At least you'll get a sense of where alumni end up, and see what best matches your aspirations.

Leicester also offers a few specializations, including IT marketing and finance - if that makes any difference.

But Duncan's right - if you were able to get into a ranked program, like Cranfield (or really even Birmingham or the University of Strathclyde) - that would be a huge step up.

If those were the only two choices I would choose Newcastle, which is AMBA and EQUIS accredited. Leicester is better known for distance learning. However, they are not the only two choices. A ranked programme would be a much better investment.

yes..looking for specialization..thanks evryone..

for specialization leicester is best
Also check out these rankings http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2009/may/12/university-guide-business-management-studies
Leiscester is 2nd.. i wud suggest oxford and cass business school also.. its in top three in the guardian ranks Also Leicester wiki : mba program is 2nd..
U can also try warwick and edinburgh

The Guardian undergraduate ranking is very volatile: Leicester was 2nd in 2009, but this year is 29th: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2011/may/17/university-guide-business-management-studies

At the MBA level, I think the FT and Economist have better rankings of UK programmes.

leicester is one of the few mba prog that specializes and its the best for IT mgmt... it is one of the few univs with direct placements with IT giants like IBM and some audit firms.. escpecially for IT mgmt and finance mgmt..
newcastle is good too.. but i do not have a lot of knowledge on it

Am I right in guessing that you are someone with a connection to Leicester who has no references to support any of your claims?

There are very few accredited MBAs in the UK with formal specialisation schemes. However, it's unlikely that Leicester is the best for IT management. That's certainly not suggested either by research, undergraduate rankings or MBA careers placements. When you say that Leicester is one of the few universities with direct placements with, say IBM, what does that mean? I am sure that IBM hires from almost all of the UK's traditional universities. For MBA students, for example, the ten schools from which IBM employs the most alumni are:
# Henley Management College
# The Open University
# University of Warwick - Warwick Business School
# London Business School
# University of Manchester - Manchester Business School
# Cranfield University - Cranfield School of Management
# Imperial College London
# University of Cambridge
# University of Oxford
# University of Strathclyde
# INSEAD

PS If you add the big four into the same analysis, then the top universities are more or less the same, except that Cass Business School replaces Strathclyde.

I stil cannot come to a descision between these two:
Newcastle: amba + equis(possibly triple accredition by 2012): as they mentioned during the interview
: a better ranking than leicester- both university and Mba program.
A possible scholarship of 2500 GBP
Fee for 2011/2013: 19200 GBP

Leicester: Mba in IT management(i prefer to be specialized)
amba accredited
fee: 17,700 GBP

I wil not be giving gmat, so these are the few universities i can shortlist and recieved admission.
What i want to know is if accredition would make a big differance.If so, i am willing to give up my priiority in specialization as i can opt to do a dissertation or research in IT Mgmt in newcastle also.

I cannot see any basis for Leicester. I appreciate that you think the specialisation is important, however while at most universities an MBA specialisation would be one quarter to one half of the total courses, Leicester's specialisation is just two electives: in knowledge management and information management (http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/management/postgraduate/taught/mba/mbamodules). At Newcastle, information management is in the core (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/nubs/postgrad/mba/fulltime/structure.htm) and you have three options including one in E-business. The Newcastle programme also include a major management consultancy project, which could also be on an IT issues.

As far as I can see, Leicester doen't even have a dedicated careers service inside the business school. Unless your plan is to do a PhD afterwards, then I cannot see any reason to go to Leicester.

I stil cannot come to a descision between these two:
Newcastle: amba + equis(possibly triple accredition by 2012): as they mentioned during the interview
: a better ranking than leicester- both university and Mba program.
A possible scholarship of 2500 GBP
Fee for 2011/2013: 19200 GBP

Leicester: Mba in IT management(i prefer to be specialized)
amba accredited
fee: 17,700 GBP

I wil not be giving gmat, so these are the few universities i can shortlist and recieved admission.
What i want to know is if accredition would make a big differance.If so, i am willing to give up my priiority in specialization as i can opt to do a dissertation or research in IT Mgmt in newcastle also.