Determining Quality of School such as EAE in Spain

Question

Besides the rankings here and the more commonly known ones from Financial Times, how am I to determine if a certain school is good or not if it's not in the the more known top 50 or 100 rankings' lists.

I'm trying to be realistic with my chances based on my credentials and potential GMAT score. If I'm looking at plan B's for mid-tier schools, how can I judge their quality? For instance, since I want to go to school in Europe, hopefully in Spain, EAE has popped up and it is part of AACSB, AEEDE, and is #2 ranked on MERCO and top 50 rated by American Economia but it doesn't require the GMAT to the application. Is this a good school or not?

vivek6199 · Answer

Almost all the good schools require a GMAT score for admission to FT MBA program. Still, if you are interested , you might talk to their current students from the website or linkedin and check out the opportunities in your area of interest.

cxa0897 · Answer

Check their website for an employment report,that's probably the best way to judge if its a decent school or not. If you can't find one, its cryptic, or it has really low participation, it is probably not a good school.

Edit.

EAE shows only a list of "some employers", no average salary, no % employed. At least on the career opportunities page...maybe I'm missing something though.

I'd be skeptical, and I would suggest that you reach out the school to see if you can get a full employment report to help you judge the outcomes

bb · Answer

One way you can evaluate it is based on the competitiveness of applicants - do you know the average GMAT Score? What about GPA and Work experience? You can also estimate it based on the number of applicants and other elements to get an idea (these things are harder to fudge than employment reports) but many European schools don't release their numbers

Jedimaster · Answer

Coming from India I can understand your concerns. Here the first evaluation is on the basis of ranking. Each B schools ranking uses specific sets of factors to rank them, thus until your requirements align with the factors they are not that useful. I suggest my students to create their own list of factors of doing an MBA like:
1) Industry
2) Profile
3) Linguistic/geographical and other barriers
4) Budget
This should help in creating a primary list of schools that you would target. Once you have your score you can further filter your list. It would also help to look into the current economy of the region too. 
 In terms of European schools please also understand most school in Europe do not require a GMAT score, it is an add on. This isn't the same as in USA where GMAT is a necessary requirement to apply to a top B school. European schools are good too however they serve very specific industries/ profile.

dlieb02 · Answer

Current EAE Business School Student in Madrid

I am originally from the States and being part of the AACSB, AEEDE, and is #2 ranked on MERCO has nothing to do with the quality of education in Europe. EAE does not require the GMAT.. for a reason.

Problems I have encountered during my studies:
1. 80% of the the professors are not able to express themselves in English (in an English program). I have had really great professors that unfortunately have no idea how to communicate with us.
2. The majority of the administration also does not speak English.
3. Lack of support from the administration. We do not have any events or team building activities (as promised). This also decreases the students' motivation and increases absences.

In short: This school is on the lower range in terms of tuition. You get what you pay for. If you are looking into a quick and cheap degree where you may learn a lot if you are extremely self motivated, this is the place for you.

Angelia11 · Answer

Yes Spain is a great destination for learning. With more than 70 universities, it could be the ideal place for you. Aside from the opportunity to learn a new language, Students are able to enjoy a wonderful quality of life. The delicious Mediterranean cuisine, gorgeous beaches, stylish shops, vibrant nightlife and world-class sporting and leisure activities make this city the perfect environment for students of all ages.

Get to know more about these schools. Hopefully you will find your suitable one. 
ESADE Business School
EAE Business School - Campus Barcelona 
Universitat de Barcelona 
ESCP Europe - Madrid Campus 
IESE Business School - Universidad de Navarra - Madrid Campus 
EAE Business School - Campus Madrid
Anyone of those can be a perfect fit for you. You can also check this  Study in Spain  page. It all about the list of study programs in Spain.

Determining Quality of School such as EAE in Spain

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