pick up the fone and chat with the admissions officer, try to find out if you have any realistic chance of getting in the course. i doubt you get in this year because everybody is jobless now and those recent grads all go to do msc. They will say we dont give out information etc. but just explain your whole dilemma, sounds honest and seeking for advice, they will let you know. Besides, talking to you on the phone is off-record.

i dont know the whole situation but if i were you, i would ask for strath to defer the decision by 1 year. with the fact that they accepted you already and already secured the deposit, i hope they do have some common sense/ moral responsibility and will let you do so.

I will wait another year and that is it. The visa system in the uk is changing and a lot of things as well that i would believe you better wait maximum only 1 year.

Do you mind sharing the backgound a bit more. If you want to get into Warwick, I think you will need a very high 2:1 degree over 65% normally, and if you have a couple years of working experience it would be great. But i dont know this year.

Hi dunho
Thanks for your quick reply..
My profile :
Currentky m working as Product Consultant in Japan based IT company_...work ex total 1 year and more...
I am an engineer in IT...having 75.21 %
IELTS 7.5

but why are suggesting to defer my Strath offer for one year...I dnt want to waste this year ...Is warwick that worth?

your profile is great no doubt you meet the bar but this year i dont know

subtaintial difference mate. Nobody knows that strath is except from the business school which only receives recognition fairly recently. Warwick is a very good brand in the UK the worst in tier 1 below only very few instituitions Oxbridge, LSE more or less on the same par with UCL/Imperial/Edinburgh/Durham. i can say with your background as it is, warwick is the best you can get.

Thanks donho....
but now I am extremly confused....I dont want to waste a year ..I will try and push Warwick for offering me a place..but then Strath..is not that bad even...I suppose..Mya be God not favouring me this time...

and as far as I acn understand....Universities reputation cannot be compared to Business schools value...Strath is not that bad even...
Durham,Edinburgh,Imperial are good universties but their business schools are not doing well in any ranking or course...

what will be the scenario if you dont go for the course in september?

Working in the same company..which I dont want to....because thenn I wil rather apply for MBA...some time after or try here in India only....

i would go for mba instead, what is your career plan after that msc. i wait a couple of years and apply for lancaster or warwick mba. just a bit more money but the degree is much better.

Hi donho
but for that it will take a couple of years..I want to boost up my career with International postgraduate degree...rather keep waiting for MBA...for which am not ready..I think Msc BITS course at Strath is not that bad...I have got replies from several alumnis of 1995 batch also ...doing quite well....and course content is much better in reality....instaed as displayed on website...
I knwo...recent grads go for Msc..but that is the case with warwick ISM.....not with Strath BITS.....Moroever,Strath is not that recent entrant into rankings..It had been doing well..earlier also...If take it this way..ISB India...also got ranking first time...but It is one of the elite school of India,irrespective of any ranking...
Strath is not that bad....I have talekd to people doing ISM course..they themselves told that ISM course is not that good...and its just the name..they are there...

dont mind..can u plz share some information about urself...I mean what du do..and which place u r from..
I could have applied for Lancaster ITMOC course as well but then location is very poor....

Somehow i came across this forum on my way to find out more about MBA in the US.

a lot of ppl give out a lot of info but which is useful but many times incorrect. So i decided to register and share with you more information mainly about UK university/courses.

I point out factual errors and raise some questions about validity of some facts that you use. Somebody said Bath is in Wales which is wrong. Is Durham the third oldest uni in England ? Is it 600 year old or only over 150 ?

I raise some questions so that you as an applicant can look beyond the marketing hype that rankings and uni are making.

I give you a little bit more info about the actual environment of the uni that you are intertested in. In other words, some news on the local newspaper where you can find things like rape, crime, shooting, racist thugs. Things University will conviniently hide away.

Hi donho,
You may be correct with news things,...but this is a problem in India and rather everywhere....Warwick too has problems within its campus...and rankings are not so fake...I have talked to people out there and many more authentic people...Rankings does matter...check wharton business school site...they and many others respect and comment on FT rankings,whatevr it be....
Strath and Warwick are both good...Do not comment like this...especially for good schools....Universities are old and good....
Tomorrow you can say India being a devloping country does not have good B School and ISB is not that good....IIM do not come in ranking,so they are not good...

You have set a parameter with US eyes and not trying to look beyond that/....
So dont mind... I rather ask you to update your information first....There is no hype as such..Its you as an applicant who decide to go....

Hello mate,
Sorry but you get me wrong. If you read my other posts you would rather see a more complete ideology that i am trying to convey

woww.........this is exactly the topic on which I was looking for answers.... :)

My background
----------------------------
I am from India and have a total experience of 4 yrs now...till I get into Sept 2010 I will hav a work experience of arnd 4 yrs 9 months.....I was first thinking to target MBA courses but not thinking for it as they go quite costly...and also I dont have time for preparing for GMAT .... :(
But then I came across some of these techno managerial courses in IT which help you in jumping into consulting.....

donho199 .... what course do u suggest for an international student from Information technology background with 4 yrs of experience ?
Also are such techno managerial courses prefferable for a 4 yrs experienced person rather than a MBA ??

ankitusit ..... good to know abt BITS course from you....so what course did u join finally ?

Shefali..what course did u get into ?

Anybody else...it would be really great if you can provide me your valuable inputs...

Hey Everyone,

My background is also quite similar.. i would be completing 3 Yrs in an IT company in July. I am confused as to what (MBA or MSc) would complement my career better... I am interested in moving into Management and would also like to stay in my current industry.

Some of the top universities would not accept me for an MBA with 3yrs work experience, and i do not consider MSC as a fallback option. I want to know if MSc in management will give me the required exposure and knowledge.
Having said that, with my profile can i target Manchester, Lancaster, Warwick, StrathClyde for Msc??? ...Any advice would be great...thanks...

i would not advise anyone with over 2 years working experience to do an msc.

Suppose that after 2 or 3 or even 4 years you do an MSc which takes one year you then work for a few years and then sooner or later MBA is a step we pretty much have to step in.

Few years ago most people only need a decent BSc to get a decent job but now more and more get an advanced degree. That is why we one way or another get some sorts of post-BSc education.

Suppose in 5 10 years time a lot of ppl have MBA then we have to do MBA as well.

It would means you waste your MSc degree the tuition fees living expenses opportunitiy cost and time etc.

It is very very expensive. Instead what I always think is a good option is to concentrate on what required in an MBA, work towards it be that it require 1 or 2 years and then do a proper MBA.

MBA in itself is a different league, MSc give you some edges but not as much as an MBA give you.

As you guys probably know most good MBA has concentration which you can tailor your degree toward your needs.it would give you a strong technical foundation as a MSc but with far added-values to MSc

At Warwick's MSc Information Systems Management course (2009/10), highest work ex is 7 yrs in the class...its perfectly okay for an individual to go for a specialist msc (like finance, marketing, IT etc) but for general management msc (msc management) many schools like warwick, cass, imperial etc but an upper cap on work ex (i.e. not more than 2 yrs)...

Nes

Hi guys,

Many of you have asked about where I finally joined. I finally chose Strathclyde BITS course. The reasons and current status for your information is as follows:

Good sides of Strath BITS

1. Reputation of Wariwick Uni is higher than Strath Uni but their business schools are close in rankings and reputation.

2. Strath BITS course is very old and you can find 100 of alumnis (I got replies from everyone) who are either working as European head of Accenture or Presidentsin big companies but Wariwck ISM course is very newbie launched in 2007. I could not find a single person who has progressed to higher posts in companies.

3. Strath BITS course covers various subjects such as Operation Mgmt, Finance and Change Mgmt, Business Strategy with excellent methodologies (CAPSIM simulations, business games) as other top B schools. It is more of a MBA with IT specialisation.Warwick course is a basic course for freshers and too much based on writing essays only. (Confirmed with graduates studying there).

4. The class profiles of BITS has been very very good. The course was previously funded (now not funded) by Scottish government and all Scottish natives with valuable exp used to join the course. Even this year, we have people with 20-30 years of work exp and minimum of 1 year of work exp.Each has a different great background and nationalities. Average work ex is 4-5 years. Warwick max work exp is just 7 yrs and that too one or two people. Rest all are freshers.

5. Strath BITS course touches on technicalities such as Database mgmt and Web systems with management point of view with which I was surprised even though when I had done both. I didnt know the things they taught such as EER diagram through blog posting etc, Usability etc. . Warwick course does not touch any technical subject which means you loose the edge over in market because your degree is combo of IT and Mgmt, you must know technical subjects a bit.

6.Location of Strathclyde is big advantage. I live city life, I get opportunities to network and see UK life, unlike Warwick where you are closed in your own town. I am working part time as well on weekends that has boosted my self confidence, which is no way possible in rural place like Coventry. I am able to earn my basic expenditures from part time reducing the overall financial cost of the course. Being a vegetarian, I do not have to rely on one source of food i.e. Canteen of Warwick but I have thousands of options to buy and cook food at home, because its city-Glasgow !!!

7. Because of being in city, we have been able to network with companies and work with them as part of our coursework. I am currently working with Douglas park BMW..Warwick too brings in the companies to interact but that is just the lecture and business game, no useful output. Only Lancaster ITMOC course does something valuable with Accenture collaboration.


There are many other good things of Strath BITS course and a very bad side too...please wait for my next post where I discuss the bad side of Strath BITS course

Hi Ankit, I have an admit in Msc BITS in Strath as well and am planning to take this up for this september. Would be of tons of help if you could let me know on how its faring of and its usefulness. please do let me know. I also am waiting for options from lancaster and manchester!

Hi guys,

Many of you have asked about where I finally joined. I finally chose Strathclyde BITS course. The reasons and current status for your information is as follows:

Good sides of Strath BITS

1. Reputation of Wariwick Uni is higher than Strath Uni but their business schools are close in rankings and reputation.

2. Strath BITS course is very old and you can find 100 of alumnis (I got replies from everyone) who are either working as European head of Accenture or Presidentsin big companies but Wariwck ISM course is very newbie launched in 2007. I could not find a single person who has progressed to higher posts in companies.

3. Strath BITS course covers various subjects such as Operation Mgmt, Finance and Change Mgmt, Business Strategy with excellent methodologies (CAPSIM simulations, business games) as other top B schools. It is more of a MBA with IT specialisation.Warwick course is a basic course for freshers and too much based on writing essays only. (Confirmed with graduates studying there).

4. The class profiles of BITS has been very very good. The course was previously funded (now not funded) by Scottish government and all Scottish natives with valuable exp used to join the course. Even this year, we have people with 20-30 years of work exp and minimum of 1 year of work exp.Each has a different great background and nationalities. Average work ex is 4-5 years. Warwick max work exp is just 7 yrs and that too one or two people. Rest all are freshers.

5. Strath BITS course touches on technicalities such as Database mgmt and Web systems with management point of view with which I was surprised even though when I had done both. I didnt know the things they taught such as EER diagram through blog posting etc, Usability etc. . Warwick course does not touch any technical subject which means you loose the edge over in market because your degree is combo of IT and Mgmt, you must know technical subjects a bit.

6.Location of Strathclyde is big advantage. I live city life, I get opportunities to network and see UK life, unlike Warwick where you are closed in your own town. I am working part time as well on weekends that has boosted my self confidence, which is no way possible in rural place like Coventry. I am able to earn my basic expenditures from part time reducing the overall financial cost of the course. Being a vegetarian, I do not have to rely on one source of food i.e. Canteen of Warwick but I have thousands of options to buy and cook food at home, because its city-Glasgow !!!

7. Because of being in city, we have been able to network with companies and work with them as part of our coursework. I am currently working with Douglas park BMW..Warwick too brings in the companies to interact but that is just the lecture and business game, no useful output. Only Lancaster ITMOC course does something valuable with Accenture collaboration.


There are many other good things of Strath BITS course and a very bad side too...please wait for my next post where I discuss the bad side of Strath BITS course

Hi Ankit,
Seems you have been inactive for along time....
can you share ur experiences about BITS....
How is the course and the class profile...

Hi guys,
kindly help me solve my dilemmas
am working in IT sector in SAP domain for past 8-9 months from a very reputed firm in India & i've decent acads in B.E
i wanna pursue further education in management in UK preferably by next year by when my experience would be about 1.5+ years,i want to have a management profile in IT platform(preferably in SAP) or as a business analyst
should i go for courses like ADMIS(LSE), BITS(strathclyde),ISM(Warwick), ITMOC(Lancaster)
or go for Masters in management and a specialization in IT from institutes like LSE,Warwick or strathclyde
which of the above two branch of course can benefit me?