Any good MBA schools in Germany?

Question

About a year and a half ago I backpacked thru Germany and had an incredible time. Every aspect of it. I left vowing to return one day. Now that Im doing the GMAT and applying to MBA schools I thought I might toss in an app to somewhere in Germany - hey, you never know.

any recommend any schools in Germany? I should note I'm an English only speaker.

any recommend any schools in Germany? I should note I'm an English only speaker.

bsd_lover · Answer

Try the German Regional elites : ranks-and-clusterings-of-various-international-b-schools-78320.html I have a mate in ESMT Berlin and he can't stop raving about it as well.

ManhattanReview · Answer

Its good to put out the feelers for MBAs in other countries. Germany MBAs are actually gaining more recognition outside Germany, especially for the top ones such as Leipzig, Mannheim, etc. These would probably be the first to look at if you're going top tier. WHU is also a good choice. You may also look into some schools in the US that have some joint programs such as Gisma/Purdue. These are just off the top of my head.

If you'd like any help with your admissions work, let us know! Good luck on your apps.

TheSituation · Answer

Thanks for the responses. I'll have a closer look at some of these schools when I'm putting together my application packages. For right now, trying to do this one step at a time and the first step is to get a stellar GMAT score.

My real concerns are:
-that being an English only speaker will be a big disadvantage and may actually hurt my grades.
-the MBA in Germany wont be recognized, or viewed in a favorable light, in Canada.

juvi999 · Answer

-Almost all MBA programs around the world are in English. I do not know a single one that is not. So you should be okay with not knowing German. However, b-schools like muti-lingual candidates. Of course, they can overlook it if you have a strong profile.
-You have to look at school's credentials such as accreditation and rankings. It is important that European b-school has EQUIS and AMBA. If it does not have AACSB, it is still okay. AACSB is not as well known in Europe but if you are planning on working in the US or Canada, you might want to look for a school with triple accreditation (triple crown) which means that it has AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. To my knowledge, only Mannheim Business School has that but you should check.

TheSituation · Answer

juvi - great post. Just the info I was looking for.

I'll look into Mannhiem further. Any insight into the MBA school in Munich?

I suppose if I put some effort into learning a bit of German it would help out, but I doubt I can get a grip on it within a year though.

Now if I could just get the CAD to improve against EUR we'd really be talking!! MBAs are expensive but in Europe is seems more expensive for international students... might price me out of the market.

thanks

currency

tmino · Answer

Mannheim and WHU are probably the best known MBAs in Germany. WHU also has a joint exec-MBA with Kellogg. Munich Business School is rather unknown and not sure how good (or bad) recruiting is there (but you'll live in a great city). ESMT in Berlin is a quite young MBA and was set up to be the HBS of Europe. That failed miserably. Don't be fooled by the companies which donated money to set up the school (e.g. BCG, McK). These companies themselves don't even recruit there. But again, awesome city and you'll probably have a good time. Depends what you want to get out of an MBA in Germany. Another good German speaking MBA program is in St. Gallen in Switzerland.

TheSituation · Answer

tmino, great response. Thank you.

If I was to broaden out my sights from Germany what other non-elite schools are worth checking out? Is there anywhere in Eastern Europe that might be decent....Prague maybe? Or is the former bloc still playing catchup in this area?

tmino · Answer

Haven't heard of any MBA in eastern Europe except for Skolkovo in Moscow.
https://www.skolkovo.ru/content/view/351/399/lang,en/

Otherwise check the list bsd_lover posted above. Has some other decent programs in Europe. In addition, Spain has two non-elite MBAs: ESADE and Instituto de Empresa (IE).

juvi999 · Answer

In the Financial Times rankings, there are two b-schools in the Eastern Europe but they both offer only executive MBA programs. One is Stockholm School of Economics with campuses in Latvia and Russia and Kozminsky University in Poland.

TheSituation · Answer

Here comes a true rookie question... ready?

What exactly is defining difference between an MBA and an ExecMBA?

To me it only looks like an EMBA is targeted exclusively to those with significant work experience as well as its less flexible in terms of coursework electives.

One of the marquee programs I'm targeting here in Canada only offers an EMBA but doesn't specifies any mandatory work exp. It is a young program, maybe that's why.

How much of a factor should the MBA/EMBA offering be in my evaluation of schools?

juvi999 · Answer

I don't know much about executive MBA programs but I know that a minimum of work experience has to be 5 years (when MBA programs require 2-3 years) and the average age in a program is usually over 30.

tmino · Answer

Exec MBAs are usually part-time (evening or weekend courses). Moreover it's more of a nice networking thing for managers. Often, these exec MBAs are company sponsored. Average work ex is 8-12 years.

Traditional MBA is full-time. Average work ex is 4-5 years.

24837 · Answer

Generally speaking, Germany offers a wider Range of MSc, it's not too big on the Exec-BSchools.

If you know the german language and possibly plan to work here imho it offers great opportunities:

1) Admission for foreigners with a 650+ GMAT shouldn't be a problem.

2) put in relation the size of germany's economy to its number of respected Business schools and you'll understand why Alumni from WHU, Mannheim and HHL and a few others are much sought after.
(Hell, people from the lower 50% of WHU undergraduate occasionally get invites to McK & IB interviews!)

3) Yes, German BS dont have the best reputation in the world. but Germany itself is a huge market.

Mannheim has the highest salary of all MSc in Mgmt in Europe, beating LSE, HEC, ESADE...
MSc in Management is 500€ per semester - the standard fee for any degree on a german public university.

rankings.ft.*com/pdf/masters-in-management.pdf
(remove the * - i am not aloud to post links a sa new member

)

Most MBAs in Germany are fairly new, they'll need more time to see what good they are.
hope that helps, for other schools across Europe check out the CEMS-programme.

) Most MBAs in Germany are fairly new, they'll need more time to see what good they are. hope that helps, for other schools across Europe check out the CEMS-programme.

Fwabs · Answer

Purdue has an MBA program located in Hannover, Germany. 11 month program, receive a degree from Krannert and a degree from University of Hannover (Both MBA degrees). PM me if you want.

falanx · Answer

well, imho U of Hannover is not exactly considered 1st Tier in Germany...

cherrymuckle · Answer

Nitin Maholtra set up the ESMT Entrepreneur Club and has played a hugely proactive role in organising meetings of ESMT students with the Berlin Entrepreneurial community, associating the business school with the tech world of Germany and luring VCs over from America.
Nitin says he wants to develop an ecosystem comparable with Silicon Valley and its close ties to Boston/Cambridge.
 https://www.businessbecause.com/MBA-Europe/esmt-attracting-top-vcs-to-berlin-article81188.htm

toughnut · Answer

i am struggling to choose between mannheim and whu, can you recommend the better option

sukhbarindergill · Answer

Hi,

Can anyone tell me something about the ESB Business School, Reutlingen University, Germany. 
I want to know about the quality of this B School in terms of Rankings, Placements, teaching?

prithwish1989 · Answer

Hi,

I am Prithwish. I want to do an MBA from a business school in Germany. Kindly evaluate my profile.

My profile details:

Xth- 89.6%
XIIth- 80.5%
Graduation (B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering)- 81.0%

TOEFL: Scheduled on Nov 17, 2013
GMAT: Scheduled on Nov 30, 2013

Professional Experience: 19 months (at Tata Consultancy Services as of October 2013)

Knowledge of German: Completed A1 level. Starting A2 in January 2014. If I am going to join a course from fall 2014 I will have finished my B1 by that time. Also I intend to continue learning German once I am there.

My primary concern is are colleges going to consider my application as I will have around 22 months of WE when I apply. By the time I join it will be over 2 years.

Could you please help me in shortlisting colleges (I intend to apply for 5) and what sort of target score I should have for GMAT and TOEFL.

I need to know what are the sort of job opportunities on offer after completion of the course. Also what sort of GMAT score is required for obtaining a scholarship.

Final question of mine is regarding Visa issues. I have heard from various people that obtaining a work visa in Europe is tough. I intend to work in Europe for a few years before I come back to India. So I need to be sure that I can get a job as well as a visa to stay and work there.

Thanks in advance for any clarification regarding my queries.

Thanks,
Prithwish Sarkar
Calcutta, India

Any good MBA schools in Germany?

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