Oxford v/s IE

IE is definitely ahead of Oxford in the rankings. Besides that, I don't have that much data on either school. Have you visited both schools and/or talked to students and alumni? That sure helps with school selection.

Hey... A person I know in my company suggests Oxford over IE. He is in business development role, an alumnus of Oxford, and quite knowledgeable (he is Indian, I also am)...
His reasoning was based primarily around language and cultural issues of placements. He also advised me to check the geographical spread within Europe of placements with the B-School office, as many of the Spanish executives don't speak English (if language is your concern, especially business communication demands a great deal of fluency)

Dear arjtryarjtry....

I am also thinking of applying to IE/ Oxford/ LBS/ INSEAD combo next year, as Europe is much relaxed in Visa etc... Could you kindly do me a favor and post your profile... It helps me greatly... Also can we get in touch??

Subject: Oxford v/s IE

Perhaps it might help if you list out your post MBA aims and where you want to be located. IE may be ahead in rankings but Oxford i certainly no pushover.

Hi Arjtryarjtry,

Congrats with your admit to IE; it’s certainly a great school. However, as Bsd-lover suggested, it really depends on your goals whether to prefer it to Oxford.

Here are some factors that you might want to consider:

Programme focus: Both programmes are considered well-rounded, and for both, entrepreneurship is a strength, but there are differences. For example, Said is particularly known for social entrepreneurship. Also, its finance curriculum is also quite strong. If you look at previous year’s statistics, it becomes clear that a good share of Said’s placements were for finance jobs. While it most certainly will change in the upcoming year, it still characterises the programme focus. IE, I believe, has stronger ties with industry; but I remember that I read somewhere that this is not exactly the school for those interested in finance.

In which country you’d like to work: If you are interested in job in the UK, Said is a better choice. For Spain (and Latin America), IE is definitely more preferable. However, you will really need to learn Spanish. In Europe outside the UK, I think IE still has better reputation among the recruiters – but the gap is not huge and is compensated by Oxford brand strength.

Brand strength vs B-school strength: Well. You are right that some people will care about b-school quality first – and the recruiters of the major companies are among those ‘some people’ - but for the majority, brand strength is much more important. And from this perspective, Oxford has clear advantage. The university name is recognised all over the world, and a fact that you have a degree from Oxford will certainly impress people you meet – including even those who are far from the world of business and live outside the Europe.

Culture: studying at Oxford could give you much more than just a grand uni name to put on your CV. Being a student of such a university is a unique experience (you’ve probably already heard about the college system, the university life and the possibilities that will open for you there). On the other hand, Madrid, where IE is situated, is a wonderful city and clearly has its charm.

There of course are other factors that could influence the choice: quality of students (IE students seem to have a bit stronger stats so far), education method (IE uses a case-based method intensively, while at Said, they have a more balanced approach), diversity etc. But in general, I would advise you to revise your goals and decide for yourself which school will be better for you.

Anyways, best of luck to you, and I wish you to get an admit from Oxford soon!

awesome Reply ...

what bout you, where all have you got admits from?

Imhoetep

sure.. me also from India
mail me at arjtry@gmail.com



will def do my best to help you.
also kindly introduce me to your office alumnus, so that i can talk to him . It would be really helpful.

Thanks! No admits yet: I, like you, am waiting for Oxford R1 decisions...

The IE decision will be greatly influenced on where you wanna build your network.

At IE most students will be from Spain, LatinAmerica and Brazil. If you are not so interested in building your network on those countries then maybe Oxford will give you a broader range. Remember that outside the classroom, it will be very likely that you speak Spanish almost all the time.

sometimes I don't understand why people include language factor of where school loactes at....especially when it comes to IE. Like saying 'you will speak spanish out of classrooms'...no one ever said INSEAD that you will speak french out of classrooms' in fonty.
Most of renowned school out of english speaking countries, they run programs in English.
The reason why IE has stonger presence in spanish speaking countries is probably because % of latin students and its placement. However you have to know that IE runs MBA programs in English AND spanish. I think most of those spanish speaking biased figues come from those aspects of IE.
When it comes to MBA program runs in English. Placement figures can be a different story

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