IMD school reputation

Question

I have not been much interested in European schools until I received an email from IMD and visited its website.

I have wanted to go to either Duke or Georgetown in the States but as I looked at the world MBA ranking, IMD was way higher ranked than both schools.

My quesiton is if there any disadvantes for me if I can go to IMD and graduate with MBA degree and get back to the States to get a job?

Is this school attractive to US employers? Most of people who graduated from IMD got jobs in U.K or any European countries.

Does anybody know about this school?

adcxaway · Answer

IMD is solid gold especially if you're interested in moving into industry (less into finance and consulting - if I'm not wrong). It may not be so recognized in the States, but it's up there in Europe. i would go to IMD if I could get accepted, without a doubt.

bsd_lover · Answer

ranks-and-clusterings-of-various-international-b-schools-78320.html The above thread has some reputation / cluster related information ?

bgrocker79 · Answer

Thanks, adcxaway

I will see if I like it or not. They are coming to DC area this Thursday so I will go see them. Thanks again for your post.

p.s> I like Finance and Consulting indusry. As you said, they are not strong at those industries, then I might not consider that school.

a11c99 · Answer

Also consider that they don't have internships or exchange programs, so there are slim chances to be involved in a project in US during the school (except maybe a visit to tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley).

Bergeron · Answer

IMD positions itself as a full time MBA program when in my opinion, it is an Executive MBA program. IMD stresses "leadership" and the ages of the students appears older than the other schools with more work experience. My experience is that they are disorganized and have a haughty attitude. So I didn't apply and happily applied to INSEAD. 
In my opinion a much better school. Never mind the fact that Switzerland is undergoing a tremendous upheaval right now regarding immigration. The recent minaret ban is emblematic of the kind of xenophobia stirring in Switzerland and that will translate into a difficulty finding employment. My best friend was the head of recruiting for a Forbes 100 multinational. When I asked him what he thought about IMD he said "who's that?"
I think the school is also very overpriced and living expenses in Lausanne are outrageous. IF you can even find an apartment. A friend of mine is looking for 5 months still because they don't rent to foreigners. Google will tell you all you need to know. . . Just my opinions and experiences!

tarun · Answer

Head of recruiting for a Forbes 100 saying "Who's that?" in reference to IMD. Is that not a little overkill. Isn't the school consistenly ranked among the top 5 outside US?

bgrocker79 · Answer

People might not know that school especially US recruiters. But, I agree with you. It is overkill. This school has ranked top 5. If they are "great" recruiters, they should know.

knfevg · Answer

Fully agree with you. It tells more about the person who said that than about the school

Bergeron · Answer

No need to dispute what I am saying. Just ask around. Also search Google and the forums about employment in Switzerland. Recently they reduced the amount of visas they are giving to foreigners for work in order to help the native Swiss. I would rather go to a school that is recognized around the world rather than regionally when spending that kind of money. Just my opinion. Also research how many people are interviewed versus how many are accepted. IMD is one of the few schools that doesn't interview outside of their school. INSEAD and others will have alumni interview you in YOUR region. IMD has no problem to bring you there for an interview so long as it's on your dime. Right?

Evgeny, Israel. : Do a Google search for the climate in Switzerland in regards to immigrants. Tell me what you find. THEN tell me you still want to go there. :-)

knfevg · Answer

Bergeron, it really hard to say anything about your opinion because it is SO disconnected from the reality....
1. IMD doesn't offer employment only in Switzerland, but in all over Europe (and US if you REALLY want it). 
2. IMD is as recognized around the globe as INSEAD (who's brand it not too much known, compared to HBS, MIT, Oxford, Standford, Yale.....)
3. The acceptance rate after the interview in IMD is about the same as in other schools (~50%)
4. They don't interview out of campus because they don't interview at all. They invite you for a one FULL day session with several "tests" and not only an 30 minutes interview (like other schools). I think it shows how much do they invest in selecting a team. BTW, if you consider a cost per hour of a ad-com member, you will see that IMD invests ALLOT of money in these sessions (about 7 people from the ad-com and the faculty)
5. If you are willing to invest ~$150K in an MBA, spending ~$1K more wont hurt you.
6. The climate regarding the immigrants isn't good in any country and maybe even worth in Switzerland, but who cares? You come there for 1 year, you're life is around IMD (as you don't have time for anything else) and than you leave to any other place you whish......

I'm not trying to say that IMD is the best school, but it's for sure as good as the other top 5 schools, and in specific things it's the 1st one...

bgrocker79 · Answer

Bergeron, it really hard to say anything about your opinion because it is SO disconnected from the reality....
1. IMD doesn't offer employment only in Switzerland, but in all over Europe (and US if you REALLY want it). 
2. IMD is as recognized around the globe as INSEAD (who's brand it not too much known, compared to HBS, MIT, Oxford, Standford, Yale.....)
3. The acceptance rate after the interview in IMD is about the same as in other schools (~50%)
4. They don't interview out of campus because they don't interview at all. They invite you for a one FULL day session with several "tests" and not only an 30 minutes interview (like other schools). I think it shows how much do they invest in selecting a team. BTW, if you consider a cost per hour of a ad-com member, you will see that IMD invests ALLOT of money in these sessions (about 7 people from the ad-com and the faculty)
5. If you are willing to invest ~$150K in an MBA, spending ~$1K more wont hurt you.
6. The climate regarding the immigrants isn't good in any country and maybe even worth in Switzerland, but who cares? You come there for 1 year, you're life is around IMD (as you don't have time for anything else) and than you leave to any other place you whish......

I'm not trying to say that IMD is the best school, but it's for sure as good as the other top 5 schools, and in specific things it's the 1st one...

I just want to mention one thing. They do have an interview out of campus. I think it was held in some Asian country. It was exactly same format- doing research about it confirmed it happened. Regarding reputation, it is top 5 schools which can be compared with MIT, HBS..

knfevg · Answer

You are right indeed. They interview also in Asia and South America

Bergeron · Answer

I appreciate that the IMD shills have corrected me thanks to their "research" :-)

I have corrected the errant sentence to reflect this oversight. One can also now fly to Asia or South America. I wonder if the cost of hotels and flight would be a tax deduction? IMD positions itself as a full time MBA program when in my opinion, it is an Executive MBA program. IMD stresses "leadership" and the ages of the students appears older than the other schools with more work experience. My experience is that they are disorganized and have a haughty attitude. So I didn't apply and happily applied to INSEAD. In my opinion a much better school. Never mind the fact that Switzerland is undergoing a tremendous upheaval right now regarding immigration. The recent minaret ban is emblematic of the kind of xenophobia stirring in Switzerland and that will translate into a difficulty finding employment. My best friend was the head of recruiting for a Forbes 100 multinational for 12 years. When I asked him what he thought about IMD he said "who's that?" Just my opinions and experiences! Also search Google and the forums about employment in Switzerland. Recently they reduced the amount of visas they are giving to foreigners for work in order to help the native Swiss. I would rather go to a school that is recognized around the world rather than regionally when spending that kind of money. Just my opinion. Also research how many people are interviewed versus how many are accepted. IMD invites everyone to them for interviews. Others will have alumni interview you in YOUR region. IMD has no problem to bring you there for an interview so long as it's on your dime. Right? Do a Google search for the climate in Switzerland in regards to immigrants. Tell me what you find. THEN tell me you still want to go there?

bgrocker79 · Answer

I appreciate that the IMD shills have corrected me thanks to their "research" :-)

I have corrected the errant sentence to reflect this oversight. One can also now fly to Asia or South America. I wonder if the cost of hotels and flight would be a tax deduction? quote] But, take a look at the population. Many of them from Asia and Europe. Do you think which one will be better to fly to Swiss or to fly a certain Asian Country in order to save money? If they really want that school, they have to see it no matter how much they will spend. Also post graduation-as far as I know IMD salary is very high Thus eventually it will offset quicker than other schools. Regarding seeking a job is very challenging everywhere and through my experience, getting a job in U.S. is one of the most difficult thing because of immigration law well and I could say most expensive too.

Bergeron · Answer

Really???

IMD is ranked in the bottom HALF for "salary percentage increase" according to the Financial Times Global ranking from 2010. They are the ONLY school in the top 25 that has a percentage less than 100%! They list 86% to be exact. Unless you work for the school let's stick to the info from the FT rankings or another reliable source.

knfevg · Answer

hmmm.... can it be because people that go to IMD ALREADY EARN GREAT SALARY!?!?!!?!? God, Bergeron, if you have no chance getting in, that doesnt mean the school is bad... And, BTW, they are ranked number 1 in Economist

Can you please elaborate on "My experience is that they are disorganized"? I work with several IMD alumni and had a chance to visit the school and met several of the ad-com, faculty and program members, and the LAST thing I can say about it (or heard about it) is that they are "disorganized". The only thing I COULD agree with you is that the program is somewhat similar to EMBA. But I dont as this program DOESNT takes executives and give them new tools, but they take low-mid range managers and educate+train them on BA

bgrocker79 · Answer

In 2009, it looks better but yes in 2010 it doesn't look that good. But maybe you might want to check this out. https://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolra ... 0376|20406 p.s)I clicked this link but didn't work but you can try to make a chart for money value. IMD is the first one out of 9 ultra elite schools( HBS,LBS, UPenn, Chicago, Columbia, INSEAD,IMD, MIT,Standford) Also, the school's reputation can be very subjective just like some says Mc donald coffes is the best while some says starbucks is the best. Whenever candidates visit to schools, they might look different things. That's why even many different source made different rankings. But somehow I agree with you becase there are also standardized measurement such as number of dotors in that program or how diverse the MBA program is, and so on. I respect your experience but you don't need to say that IMD is bad. Rather you could say it wasn't my type of school.

a11c99 · Answer

I agree that IMD students earn higher pre-MBA salaries, as they tend to be more experienced. But as post-MBA wages are not greater than the ones for other MBA programs and the tuition fees and living expenditures are among the highest for the European programs, IMD's ROI is one of the lowest, thus IMD might not be the smartest choice, from a financially point of view. And as this topic already caused bitter pro' & cons' stances, this might be an indicator that IMD reputation is still ... debatable.

knfevg · Answer

Any school is debatable... Let's say INSEAD - ranked high but the the reputation of it is droping and they are beeing "acused" for being a "MBA machine".
BTW, the proportion of faculty member to the amount of students is on of the best in IMD (1/3)

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