I've received admits from all 3 aforementioned schools and would like your advice on it.

1) Loughborough with 40% scholarship (plus 1year internship)
2) Durham with no scholarship
3) Strathclyde with 7000 GBP scholarship

My aim is to work in the sports, media or entertainment sector in the UK in the short term, and in the long term, hopefully start my own venture. I'm from India and the post study work visa coming back should help me with the former. I'm looking at networking and connecting far and wide to make it happen, and make the most of the MBA. My main aims are international mobility and a career boost, hopefully in the Media or Sports market.

I would highly appreciate any advice.

Take a look at How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571 It seems that Strathclyde has more MBA alumni working in sport and media.

Ignore the scholarships: The sad facts about scholarships http://www.find-mba.com/board/37055

I think you will need to focus on a specific functional role.

Hey Duncan,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Is the one year internship at Loughborough not that useful? I was hoping it would give me more time to form connections and network in the UK market.

Beyond that, Durham seems to have a better FT rank than Strathclyde but it seems to be very low on international mobility. However, I've also seen people get placed in firms like Google from Durham. Yet from your other threads, it seems Strathclyde edges it in terms of placements.

With my main aim of international mobility, which among these would be the best option for me? I'm quite confused right now, and more research is just leading to more confusion.

P.S.- I'm still waiting to hear back from Edinburgh and Lancaster.

Loughborough doesn't obtain the internship for you, so I am not sure what the added value of that is. If you can find a paid internship then does it matter if its in the context of the degree or not?

Yes, you can compare the schools using 2019 data, for ease of comparison, and see that Strathclyde is the safer option, but there is the classic trade off: low salary but rapid placement or high salary and slow placement.

Edinburgh and Cass could be good options: Best MBAs for international students' placement http://www.find-mba.com/board/41143

CASS is a little out of my budget. I'm waiting for Edinburgh to respond, but I need to answer Strathclyde by the 8th of March.

With Loughborough, even if I have to get the internship myself, the major benefit is the additional year I get to network and connect with people in the industry, which the others don't offer. That's the biggest draw of the uni for me, not their scholarship.

Between all these Unis, it seems like Strathclyde is the clear winner. Am I correct in thinking that it is as good as say a Durham or an Edinburgh?

This really depends on your goals. Strathclyde has the strongest core curriculum and is the best business school in a huge conurbation. If you don't have specific career goals, it's a good option. But Choose your career goals before you pick a MBA.

My short term goals are managerial positions in Media, entertainment of the sports sector, probably in marketing. However, I also plan to use the MBA to develop my skills on the Finance side of things - and if it ends up interesting me, I may transition to that sector entirely.

Long term goal has always been entrepreneurship: creating my own venture, and Strathclyde does have a strong reputation for that.

Could you tell me your views about the University of Edinburgh in comparison to Strathclyde?

Thank you for the quick responses and the advice, it's really helpful, Duncan.

I think you would benefit from much clearer career goals.

I don't think I can add much to what has already been written about Edinburgh by me and others. It's aimed at a more senior cohort, but it certainly has overtaken Strathclyde when you balance up the better roles against the slower entry into the workplace.

Hey Duncan,

Thanks for all the advice. If I could have a final word from you- Is there a clear winner between Durham and Strathclyde? The rankings say Durham, but it isn't the greatest for international mobility, where Strathclyde seems to stand out.

It's a hard choice, and it might be driven by which alumni network is better for your goal. Durham has improved career services and student quality while Strathclyde has, at best, stood still. Personally, I would pick Durham because I think that falling out of the ranking will push student quality down at Strathclyde.

CASS is a little out of my budget. I'm waiting for Edinburgh to respond, but I need to answer Strathclyde by the 8th of March.

I've received admits from all 3 aforementioned schools and would like your advice on it.

1) Loughborough with 40% scholarship (plus 1year internship)
2) Durham with no scholarship
3) Strathclyde with 7000 GBP scholarship

My aim is to work in the sports, media or entertainment sector in the UK in the short term, and in the long term, hopefully start my own venture. I'm from India and the post study work visa coming back should help me with the former. I'm looking at networking and connecting far and wide to make it happen, and make the most of the MBA. My main aims are international mobility and a career boost, hopefully in the Media or Sports market.

I would highly appreciate any advice.

Schools offer you scholarships generally because you have a stronger profile than the average student in their MBA cohorts. It helps them to have you, but doesn't do much for you in the long run.

That said, you may want to mention your scholarships from competing schools to the school(s) that didn't offer you anything. Might give them some extra incentive to offer you a scholarship.

Would Durham think it's competing with Strathclyde? Looking at the FT ranking, they might think they are competing with Cass and Imperial.