International/Global MBAs

Sorry, got confused with the two Rs

Yes, I mean Monterey Institute of International Studies. Sorry for the confusion. I didn't even realize that it only had one r in CA. I actually studied at TEC de Monterrey - Queretaro during undergrad, but that is not the school I am referring to.

Any thoughts, suggestions from anyone? I am looking for opinions, facts or personal insights from anyone. I have done a fair amount of research on my own already, and I am just asking as another source of information.

Hawaii and Monterey are both very small niche programs which place a strong emphasis on learning foreign languages. You will learn a very high level of Chinese at UH or Monterey. But that comes at a price..

The alumni networks at these schools are nonexistent. Hawaii only has 5 students in their China focus MBA. So you need to take that into consideration.

Thunderbird has a real big alumni network but the amount of language study will be much lower than at Hawaii or Monterey.

So what do you see yourself doing after graduation? How much Chinese do you expect to be using in your career? If you want a career that demands fluency I'd focus on Hawaii or Monterey. If you see yourself using more English or even your Spanish skills in Asia I would focus my application on Thunderbird.

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If you're pursuing a language-related job (i.e. translator), then MIIS is second-to-none. If you want a career in international relations (i.e. diplomacy, policy analysis, global non-profit, etc), then MIIS would also be a decent choice.

But to be objective, I do have an unemployed friend who is an alum of MIIS' international policy studies program, so I guess I shouldn't comment prematurely about their competence in the IR field. There is also the recent scandal of one of their faculty members being a fraud. Apparently MIIS needs to improve its background checking processes for its faculty.

I'm too new of a member to post links, but you guys can google the phrase "MIIS Bill Hillar fraud" to find out more about this.

But as far as MBA is concerned, I'd stay away from that place (again... unless you want to concentrate on non-profit management). I spoke to a few MIIS students & alumni, they didn't have a whole lot of positive things to say about the MBA program. Even the student ambassador, who was supposed to promote the school, told me that the quality of their career services office was... underwhelming, to say the least. Furthermore, their lack of published in-depth employment statistics is not a very encouraging sign. Moreover, while Monterrey offers a very comfortable seaside small town environment, its not exactly a convenient location in terms of professional networking in the business sphere. The policy & language scene is another story. The Naval Post-grad School is located nearby, and so is the Defense Language Institute.

Bottom line, for those looking for an international MBA, look elsewhere first (start with Thunderbird, its been #1 in the int'l biz niche for over 15 years); if you're looking for translations or international studies, keep this school on your backup list, & I do mean BACKUP because admissions is very easy; this isn't a selective school at all.

I have looked at Thunderbird and spoke to a couple of their recruiters. It seems like a very good school with many international students.
The only concern that I have is their extremely low placement rate. According to the Financial Times, only 40% had found jobs 3 months after graduation. I tried to find some numbers on the Thunderbird website, but I couldn't find this stat.
It doesn't really make sense that this school is ranked #1 for international business, but has 40% placement rate.

Thouths?