I’m in a fortunate scenario and would be interested in your thoughts. My company recently has given me the option of paying for an MBA for 2008 start (I’m based in London) on a part-time basis - now this is new and came as shock as I planned on leaving to do my MBA in 2009 full time. My current stats - Nationality: White British Age: 27 Current Salary: £55k ($110k) + bonus ( only £5k) Work Experience : (current) Commercial Real Estate Investment analyst for a real estate fund management company (direct commercial property fund and a REIT fund) which is part of a large leading European Investment Bank Private Wealth Management arm (was bought by them 2 years ago) - been 2 years with them. 3 years - general mix of things for 2 firms (investment management and consulting) Education: Masters in Real Estate Investment from a leading business school in UK (my current company paid for this). BSc in Maths and Economics (from a top 10 UK university - 1st class - equivalent to 3.8 GPA), Investment Management Certificate, GMAT - 710 Extra-curricular - Property investor (bought 2 new Canary Wharf apartments in London off plan over last 2 years that have made a good return, 2 apartment in Europe I’ve developed and doing well), Marathon runner (New York, London, Paris, Dublin, Sydney, Berlin, Madrid) for various charities and competed in competitive rowing events/scuba diving expeditions. Languages - English (native), Spanish My plans after MBA are some area of real estate in investment banking, real estate fund manager, private equity real estate or venture capital. Now my initial plan was to apply for a full-time MBA preferablly in US as I like their MBA programmes better (Wharton, Columbia, MIT, Kellogg, New York, Chicago are all my top choices and in UK as a second option would be London Business School, Oxford SAID) but how competitive would I be as I don’t feel I have any great leadership experience or active charity/communityvolunteer aspects? Also, at the moment I can’t afford to go full-time due to money I have tied up in my properties (do not plan in selling for 3 years) so was going to apply for 2009 - which would give me time to save in just under 2 years. I would then start work in a new firm. The other option seems very attractive - my company will pay for my part-time MBA (all fees, travel, extras and with only 6 months commitment after) which would mean that I could start in 2008. I would then probably consider staying with my company for better opportunites/salary or consider a move after the MBA. Now many part-time MBA’s are not considered as good as full time but there are many MBA’s at some top schools that are identical and I’ve been told my some recruiters that this is the case for those employees staying with their company (is this??) - the stats seem to back it up at the better MBA’s where PT and FT GMAT/Ages are similar. Is it possible to commute to any top MBA programme from UK to US - recommend any? In the UK, I’ve looked at Manchester Business School/ Henley Management College/Cranfield - can anyone recommend any of these or others for my background and goals? Greatly appreciate views?
you forgot to include your height, weight, address and social security number…
Just want to get the best fit possible given my background. Ok, 6"3, 15.5 stone, London , we say National Insurance Number in UK.
Columbia-LBS “global” EMBA would be a blast. You’d have to pick up airfare to NY every other month but the networking can’t be beat. http://www.london.edu/emba-global.html
haha, you have a good sense of humor… I agree with the Columbia EMBA recommendation. Let us know how the application process ends up
Columbia-LBS EMBA looks great but the costs are going to be hard to justify at over $125k. Considering FT at LBS is less than £45k and most top MBA’s are between £30 - 40k. But you do get 2 MBA’s, one from each BS.
Haha, you’re in a position very similar to mine, but it looks like you have an extra year of exp. I think you definitely have a good shot. Good luck with your apps. I’m also trying to make the PT/FT decision, so I feel your pain…
with yourr stats I dont see why you cant get into any progaram you choose …I wd say most part- time MBA’s are on par with full time MBA’s aside from the employment prospects , but then again you already have a job that you dont mind staying in and its gonna be paid for …man i wish i was in your situation .
You should look into the U of Chicago executive MBA program. They have a campus in London. I don’t know much about it, but that might be an option for you, as well (and Chicago GSB was on your short list).
With a 710 gmat and your work background, I dont think having enough volunteer time is going to effect your applications. If you can’t write your own ticket with that application, then there is no chance for me…
Thanks - I’ll take a look at Chicago executive MBA program. Another thing with the part-time Executive MBA’s is the level of previous leadership experience they seem to stress as average age seems to be 30-33.
EMBA program age ranges are very broad, think more like 27-40+ Also EMBA programs are generally much easier to get into than the school’s FT program – a very nice arbitrage.
They also seem to cost a lot more - Chicago FT MBA is much cheaper than part-time or EMBA.
What is the avg GPA to get in Columbia’s EMBA? Does anyone have any idea?
What is the avg GPA to get in Columbia’s EMBA? Does anyone have any idea?
pepsis Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What is the avg GPA to get in Columbia’s EMBA? > Does anyone have any idea? Well they use something more like a balanced scorecard, so there’s no threshold value. Last I heard they accept 1/3 to 1/2 of applicants.
Problem is Chicago EMBA is $120k - that is much more than FT MBA costs! My company will only probably pay up to $80k for tuition.
Given your age,experience and goals it might be better for you to do a part time program than an EMBA. Of the Schools you had listed both Chicago and New York have a good weekend programme that would cost about $85K (the same as the FT program) for the whole course as of now, but they seem to increase it every year! And given your background you have a very good chance of getting into both, but these meet every weekend and I don’t think it is feasible for you to commute. It is a bear even within the US and I don’t think it’s worth the commute for you. I am not knowledgeable about any schools in London except LBS, but I would suggest that if you are going to go part-time, look for options in Europe, especially if you plan to stick around with your company. Please let me know if you have any questions about the PT and EMBA programs in Chicago, since I attend the weekend program there.
If I were an Englishman who had done my undergrad in the UK, I’d do my MBA or Masters in Finance in the U.S. and vice versa if I were an American. I think it it adds value to have a global perspective during one’s education, granted the US and UK (and my country, Canada) are all very similar, but still, they have different government and legal systems. Just my 2 cents
Thanks Deva - The Chicago EMBA looks good just the cost at $120k is much more than PT or FT Chicago MBA (which could be a problem with my employers considering nearly all FT and PT MBA’s at top schools are no more than $85k in UK or US). I think problem with Executive MBA is they are more geared to none 20’s in more senior roles (senior director, etc) or much more work experience - I’m sure some are more flexible but this can explain price differences. I take it the Chicago in London only do the EMBA and not part-time MBA? How effective can you specialise - I would be interested in RE, PE, Finance side. As well as Chicago, the joint EMBA’s Columbia-LBS (would be my no 1 choice) and LSE-NewYork-HECParis are great but my company may be hesitant to pay as they are much higher priced at around $125k. Probably unlikely that they would allow me to top up difference. Also, I think outside US, the UK has by far the next best number of MBA’s (Continental Europe has only a handfull - although few, some very highly ranked schools - IE, IMD, INSEAD, HEC Paris) and I have not seen any programme that really inspires me. I think many UK MBA’s follow a US MBA model. That is the Anglo-Saxon capitalist perspective and the other similar things we share (as well with the other Anglo Saxon countries - Canada / Australia / New Zealand…). That’s why if I never had this PT option and finance was no problem, I would apply FT to the US MBA programs on my list - but it’s too good not to consider in the analysis (what I will get from the programme/my financial costs/my future career outcome/my new network etc).