Indian Applicant Age at matriculation - 27 Workex at matriculation - 4.5 yrs - top cpg firm in India No global exposure, no european language Post mba- switch to consulting or stay in CPG (strategy, brand) preferably in UK. Spain, France and Germany are also fine if language issue wont be an issue Kindly advise on below- IESE v HEC v Oxford V Cambridge - all have similar avg gmat scores - Iese has higher tuition than the rest(almost 1.5 times), rest are similar - even living costs don't differ much -oxford/cambridge don’t have an internship option -oxford/cambridge don’t have good career centres( apparently) - tough to find a job for non native speakers (apparently) from hec/iese -oxford/cambridge have bigger brands worldwide but relatively smaller compared to hec/iese for mba - hec/iese ranked higher than oxford/cambridge I can apply to only TWO of the four Kindly advise, keeping in mind my profile, post-mba goal Posted from my mobile device

Hi doublewhammy .. All of the schools you mentioned are Top 10 in Europe. There are some differences in the program structure, duration, and other things. You need to do a bit of research on each of them. Try to gather information from the alumni, events, current students, and adcoms. You did not mention many details about you, still, I will clear some doubts : If you want to stay in UK post MBA, go for UK MBA programs. UK has started the 2-year visa extension. You will have a bigger alumni network and a better reputation in the local country. Replying to your points- 1. Yes, all the schools have approx. same gmat average but try to push your score above 700. 2. IESE has a higher cost of MBA because of high tuition, cost of living in 19 months duration 3. Oxford/Cambridge offer a 12 months MBA, so an internship is not possible 4. Career center reviews based on an individual. Take any school, you will find mixed feedbacks. I heard the same for HEC/IESE. Please consider that getting jobs post MBA in Europe is different than in India. You need to do a lot of networking here. You do not get the job just by the Brand name you carry. 5. Yes, it will be tough if you do not speak the local language. You must be ready to learn one. BUT, there are global MNCs which does not mandate the language. However, competition is tough. 6. I would not completely agree with you on this point. 7. Rankings does not matter as long as your MBA goals are clear and fit with the school More suggestions: 1. Research on each school 2. Get a 700 or above 3. Apply to all schools. YES, all 4. I do not know much about Oxford but rest of all are good in consulting Feel free to post for further discussion.

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11 May 2020, 07:07

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doublewhammy

Thank You for the response.

1) Do you think changing industry and function from CPG/Sales to Consulting will be tough without internship (Oxford/cambridge)
2) I would love to learn a european language, but by the time I graduate I would still not be fluent - won't that impact my chances at global MNCs, considering they would want local speakers for specific markets barring UK, ireland etc.
3) Which of the schools is more generous in terms of scholarship (based on high gmat) to Indian candidates?
4) Any idea on which schools places more candidates in the UK? (IESE or HEC)
5) is there any way of applying for application fee waivers at any of these schools?
6) don't u think gmat bar for indians would be higher than 700 for these schools?
7) do any of these schools welcome/impede existing PGDM holders from India

1. It is neither tough nor easy. You need to prove why you are interested in consulting and what steps you have taken to get into consulting. You can move to consulting with extra efforts.
2. Fluency does not matter unless you want to work for a small local company. Well, consulting jobs require local language skills. So, I still recommend targeting UK schools. If not, then I recommend minimum B1/B2 level.
3. All should be generous if your profile is unique/strong
4. I do not know the stats but I know that many students go to UK (mostly Indians)
5. No but Application fee is not so much when you are going to invest more than 100k Euro
6. Yes, it is recommended but not mandatory. The more you have, the more you can compete safely among similar pool candidates. Still, it all depends on your profile. If you are bringing an exceptional diverse profile, you could get an admit with lower GMAT. I hope you know, 750 GMAT people get dinged. Overall applications has to be strong.
7. All of the European schools welcome them. They should be able to convince the need of a Second MBA. Most of the reason are: International exposure, diversity, global outlook and networking, etc.

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11 May 2020, 14:38

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doublewhammy

I believe Leadership is pretty on point with most of his answers so i'll just add my own thoughts to them.
1. moving into consulting isn't impossible, it's far easier say, than moving into IB, and yet people have moved from engineering to IB. It requires a lot of prep, but most schools have their consulting club ready with the exact prep you need. (but yes it is a lot of work.
2. some schools provide you the oportunity to learn the language as an extracurricular (in IESE learning spanish up to B2 level is possible through their business spanish program, allowing you to finish a B2 level IF you study for it and commit to it!)
3.fully agree with Leadership
4. UK is a lot of the placement for IB and consulting but it's not exclusively UK. with Brexit though i'm unsure how this will evolve in the future.
5. why are you trying ot get $200 waved? I don't see any logic why they would waive it unless your profile is so impressive they are actively seeking you out
6. Most if not all of the top schools look at your profile holistically. Your GMAT is only part of it. if your gmat is higher you might have a bigger chance of getting a scholarship, compared to a student with a similar profile, but... who has the exact same careerpath as you do?
7. as long as you can justify as to why the MBA is a logical next step in your career development the business schools welcome you. (this is part of your application essays)