Oxford Full Time MBA (w/ $$$) vs. INSEAD Executive MBA

Dear All,

I am trying to decide between the FT MBA at Said vs. the EMBA at INSEAD. I originally applied to the FT MBA program at INSEAD but was offered a spot on the EMBA course. I suspect this may be because of my age (35) although the team at INSEAD is trying to convince me that I am over qualified and will likely not 'enjoy' the FT experience. A bit about me....

I am an engineer from a Tier 1 private school in the US and have experience in Tier 1/boutique management consulting (3 years which I quit as a senior associate) followed by 7 years as an entrepreneur, social worker, budding politician and public servant (in no particular order) across two continents. My view of my situation and the schools on offer is as follows....

I am originally from an Anglophile country in South East Asia which is dominated by Oxford graduates in pretty much every walk of life so that's a major plus for the school in my book. I also like the fact that it has a stellar reputation in social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and finance (which is an academic area of opportunity for me). Although, I am not currently planning on returning to the US I may move to Canada after my MBA and I feel that the Oxford brand name and its rigorous academic reputation carries some weight regardless of rankings in the US and by corollary in Canada. Based on my considerable research, graduates from INSEAD and Oxford returning to Canada are getting similar opportunities. With Oxford, another draw is its family orientation (I am married and have kids) and the fact that one can get 2 degrees in two years, with a ton of graduate options, including the new Blavatnik School of Government which is enrolling its inaugural class in September 2012 and is virtually guaranteed to become a European rival to the Kennedy School at Harvard. So I may be able to get an MBA/MPP or MBA/MS in 2 years from Oxford which is appealing to me and should hold me in good stead no matter where I end up in the world.

On the other hand, I am pretty experienced as a businessman and the depth of the INSEAD network globally, and its reputation as a business school amongst ultra elite employers is attractive. The EMBA is modular, so I can keep doing what I'm doing and fly to a new destination every other month to hang out with some senior executives and discuss our businesses. The cons with INSEAD are that the EMBA is a different diploma from the MBA, the school is full of 'A' type personalities (I don't mean that in a bad way but just something I have observed because I'm a bit laid back myself and see business as a means to an end), and that there is, I feel a bias amongst recruiters and full-time MBA students towards EMBAs (as in they don't view them as legitimate alumni) and one does not get access to the same opportunities. The INSEAD EMBA is also quite new and the ROI is unproven. INSEAD may also cost me up to 40% more than Oxford and I can not get the EMBA team to give me a straight answer about post EMBA employment opportunities compared to FT MBA students and/or any data on the subject.

In an ideal world I would like to build an infrastructure financing business for a decade after my MBA and would eventually like to run for office and get involved in social work, but in case I don't make enough money to support my ambitions, I would like to have access to the best possible employment opportunities, globally. No interest in going back to consulting, but would like to get a deep understanding of finance during my MBA and explore Clean Tech/Infrastructure alternative investment opportunities (I currently work in the Cleantech industry as a management consultant).

My options, the way I see it, are,

- go to Oxford and get 1 or 2 top tier degrees and enjoy the FT experience
- enroll in INSEAD EMBA, keep my job and make the best of it (although a quick sample of INSEAD EMBAs from LinkedIn do not seem to be doing very well compared to INSEAD FT)
- petition INSEAD to allow me to go full-time (suggestion from someone who had a similar experience although I may still pick Oxford as most older students who get into both schools seem to prefer Oxford FT over INSEAD FT)
- go to neither and re-apply next year to MIT Sloan Fellows (which dinged me this year but is a good fit for me) and LBS (which has a 15 month option and is also a good fit for me) and perhaps Wharton. The other M7 options state-side I think are fairly challenging considering my age and goals, plus the 2 year commitment and visa issues in the US. I can currently work in my home country, the UK or Canada without a problem. But again, no guarantee that I will get into any of the 3 so its a bird in the hand vs. something not even in the bush....

Apologies for the long post but really struggling with the decision and badly in need of some perspective because I've reached 'analysis paralysis'.