HEC/ESADE/Mannheim - Which one?

Yeah, where did you enroll? I'm also thinking about Mannheim so if that might have been your decision- tell me!!!

UPDATE: It won't be HEC or Mannheim. I eliminated Mannheim first for two reasons. First, the class size is rather small (less than 60 or so); while having a larger class size could increase the risk of being "lost in the crowd", I felt that having a class size as small as Mannheim's would reduce both the opportunities for networking in my class and the selection of electives that the school could conceivably offer. Second, the shortness of Mannheim's program does not allow for internship opportunities as well as HEC or ESADE, and I felt that an internship would help boost my opportunities post-mba.

As for HEC (as opposed to ESADE), it came down to a variety of reasons. My demographics (age, mostly) would fit more at ESADE than at HEC, and (if the Economist's new rankings are to be believed) it seems that there would be a more diverse population at ESADE than at HEC. Another point is that I felt ESADE's Creapolis would give me a good chance to work with companies while I'm studying at the school, and this could lead to further opportunities. In the end, though, it came down to my intuition - I just felt that HEC wasn't going to give me the education that would be best for me.

I'm still technically waiting on IESE to respond, but I'll most likely be heading to ESADE this upcoming August. In any case, I'll be studying for my MBA in Barcelona - hardly the worst place to do so!

Hi! Thanks for your reply. I do understand some of your reasons to not apply for Mannheim. I was wondering about your comment on the class size though. I mean, yeah, the networking part plays a role but do you think it is that decisive? Apart from this the learning conditions are WAYYYY better in a smaller class. But, ok, thats just my opinion. Why did you apply for Barcelona in the end? Would really like to know more about the school:)

any hints?

I applied to both ESADE and IESE because they're #1 two of the best business schools in Europe and #2 located in a non English-speaking country. To that last point, getting the opportunity for immersion in a foreign language would be immensely helpful for my career goals (and it's one of the reasons why I didn't apply to any schools in America or England). Yes, there's IE in Madrid, but I just never got a good feeling towards the school, so it didn't make the short list. I ended up getting rejected by IESE, but that didn't break my heart too much. For one thing, I didn't do so well with the second interview (mostly because, at that point, I was just "out of gas" with all of the application stuff); for another, I was really off-put with how the school's attitude during the admission progress. I actually had both application interviews for both IESE and ESADE on the same day, and it was quite the dichotomy: for IESE, the woman that interviewed me asked me a question, I gave an answer, she furiously typed notes into her iPad, and on to the next question. For ESADE, though, the interview was a lot more personable - the interviewer (with whom I have had an open dialog concerning the MBA program for about two years) took time to go through each question, explained the significance of each question, what the admissions committe would be looking for in my answers. At the end of the interview for ESADE, the interviewer acknowledged that ESADE might not get back in time for my application schedule (I had gotten the acceptance from HEC that very day), but he would do what he could to see that my application would be judged favorably. Again, this was in contrast to the second interview that I had with IESE three weeks later: my MBA offers from Mannheim and HEC were to be decided the very next week, and I mentioned this to the interviewer. What did she say at the end of the interview? "We'll get back to you in about 2-3 weeks".

Talk about tone deaf!

So I'll be studying at ESADE come August. Like I said, I think the Creapolis holds a lot of potential for collaboration and networking opportunities while I'm there, and picking up Spanish would be a great plus for my career. In addition, the 18-month term seems like a good balance between the 1 and 2-year program lengths offered by most schools in Europe and America, respectively.

What's the list of schools that you're looking at?

Hi SKabanov!

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer. The foreign language aspect really does make sense to me. Just found out about a German school which I'll be applying for:

https://www.nithh.de/media/media-center/ ... ideo-clip/

found out about them via the FB campaign and they seem to have a decent reputation. Apart from this I'll be applying for Mannheim which will be tough, of course. So...I'll wait and see.

While it's good you went for the school that fits you, HEC has prestige/career opportunities in the EU and I'd go the extend of saying, you shouldn't even be putting it in the same line along with the other two.

Not to mention HEC is also hired Bain&C to consult on development of their MBA program.

Hi foars! So you're saying that HEC is top-range? What makes it so special compared to the others...the ones SKabanov mentioned and NIT (the one I'll be applying for...in my previous post). I think choosing the school that fits you is the best thing you can possibly do. Fame is not everything;)

Well to begin, ESADE and Mannheim are popular for their under/post grad programs and their MBA program's are not there yet. Their recruiting is also very regional. Hardly anyone knows about Mannheim outside Germany so you can't leverage the brandname for interviews and the alumni network. ESADE comes after IESE and IE so you'll have to compete with graduates from those two schools first.
The recruiting is surely better at HEC. I can't say much on how it's special because it's like comparing Columbia/Sloan to Darden/Anderson

Well, PoetsAndQuants reported that ESADE's MBA program isn't doing too bad. And plus, the new Economist rankings actually put ESADE ahead of HEC for career opportunities (with a much higher proportion of graduates finding a job through career services).

I just wanted to give my opinion with hopes of making you reconsider HEC. It largely depends on career options you're targeting as well, not much difference unless you're looking at consulting/banking.

BTW economist ranking is joke, and in general don't go with xyz rankings. Brandname, student body/network, global reach, companies that recruit should be the only factors.
Go with your gut feeling and where you think you'll fit the best.

Hi! yeah, ok, HEC is probably top range then. but do you get in so easily? that would be my next question. better a less renown school than NO school. and NITs rankings aren't so bad as well...

So you are saying, you don't have to learn French for using the career service opportunities at HEC? The fees for HEC is no doubt lesser than that at ESADE, but I would like to know more of the networking initiatives at HEC and how the university helps out the students in getting what they desire to do post MBA.