Best Master in Management degree for MBB firms ?

Hi A,

EDIT: reading your edits, you mention you want to work in continential Europe, i.e. not UK. If that is true, it still depends on the country. If you want to go for Germny, MBB is recruitng heavily from EBS Universitaet, WHU, St. Gallen, Uni Mannheim, LMU. Studying at Bocconi in Milano is also of very good reputation. But if you say you want to go to France, the selection of school would be different.

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as Ken said, I d also agree it depends on which country you want to work in. If you would like to work in Europe, this could work. I d also check out ESADE MIM. Seen plenty of MBB consultants having pursued that program.

However, I d again think carefully about a 1-2 year degree vs. more job experience first and then MBA. MBB can work out with a MIM, however you also need to be clear on something. Good grades are just the baseline. Will taking 20 courses in a MIM make your a more well-rounded person professionally and personally, will it make you more mature? In the end academics are just academics, I think often overinflated in terms of gain. If you go for MIM make sure you overfocus on getting the best possible non-MBB internship, could be consulting, but could also be banking or corporate. Go for the biggest companies you can get into with the best reputation. Then apply to MBB in your 2nd year or towards the end of your MIM. 

Again - it is about recognizing the competition and making sure to go ABOVE AND BEYOND (this is what MBB means to me). Academics are just one part, more extracurriculars, more internships, part-time jobs, perhaps co-founding sth, social impact, new languages would help to differentiate yourself from the mass of applicants. Make sure you carefully draft a networking strategy and start asap - otherwise it will be tough.

MBA could obv be risky since you typically only get into the top programs if you have already quite good experiences by the time you apply. However, getting into some programs in Europe is easier than in the US - could work out. Def consider getting a MBA coach helping you with the MBA applications.

Best,
Denis

Hi there,

Welcome to the community!

First, I think you should apply to all of them. Then, once your options are narrowed down, you'll have an easier decision in front of you!

If you're looking to work in Europe, I'd tier your programs as follows

Tier 1

HEC Paris MIM

London Business School MIM

INSEAD MIM

Tier 2

IE Business School MIM with specialization in Strategic Management  (almost tier 1)

Imperial College of London MSc in Management

ESSEC MIM

Tier 3

Melbourne Business School Master of Management

Duke Fuqua MMS: Foundations of Business

Hello!

Pretty detailed post to be a 1st time :)

It totally depends on which country or region you want to later work, since the main difference among the ones mentioned is the network adquired. 

I was adjunct professor in the MiM from IE, in Madrid, let me know if you have specific questions

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

In addition to what other coaches have said, here are some additional pointers to consider:

• Post COVID- pretty clear that COVID will continue to have impact in UK and Europe throughout 2021 and at least for early part of 2022. Make sure you consider this risk for employment opportunities, visa restrictions etc
• Your main reason to do MiM now as job market is competitive is flawed in my view. Any decision to pursue further studies needs to be backed up with a genuine desire, need to fill skills gaps. Please dont do this for the wrong reasons 
• You have to work a bit harder on your story, networking etc post studies compared to MBA to land in Strategy Consulting- but the options you have mentioned are all good and will open up opportunities for sure

Good luck!

Hi,

Not sure how it works with MIM, but with MBA you have to apply to many schools. Personally, I've applied to 7. Usually, you select 1-2 top schools of your choice and invest a lot of time in applying. For the rest of the schools - you just reshuffle your package a bit.

Thus, I recommend looking at the countries you would like to work in the future and the internship opportunities in these countries. I believe that you can't apply just with MIM, you should have at least one internship

Best

What top-ranked program do you go to? If you go to an IIT then you do not need any Masters degree to get in now. Maybe an NIT (Trichy, Suratkal) but that's harder to manage.

What is the rush to not wait 2 years and apply to an MBA? I wasn't clear based on your question. If it is personal I understand but honestly you are applying to programs that are not feeder programs for MBB. You ideally want to go to INSEAD or LBS for an MBA if you want to be in Europe. It is a lot harder to get into MBB from non feeder programs, not impossible but you are setting yourself up for a lot more work than necessary.

Udayan

Hi,

Considering your goals and the list of schools you provided, I would recommend LBS, HEC, Essec in this order.

My recommendation is to start looking at alumni as they are the people you could potentially contact to establish your network in Europe (and in MBB companies).

Good luck.

Best,

Antonello

My sense is that it depends more on which country you want to work as you have quite a range with your list. If you were to consider working in Europe, the European business schools you've listed are all good (I am least familiar with Imperial for Management) and it will be more about how you differentiate yourself within your peer group. I'm sure you've already thought about it but considering your background, why not consider one of the top Indian schools (i.e., IIM) as I've seen many go straight from undergrad to an IIM MBA degree then join an MBB. 

Hi there,

I've read your update saying that you wish to work in Europe - in that case it'll be easier for you to study there also from the future visa/work permit perspective (in case you need it).

If you need any advice regarding the application or work experience in Europe - just drop me a line.

Cheers,

GB

Hi!

I see lots of useful answers below. 

Adding another resource for candidates who are looking into this topic:

• Expert Guide: Are MBAs worth it?

Best,
Cristian

I'd go with international rankings, e.g. FT:

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-management-2020

Between the schools up there in the top 10, there is little difference, all will open doors. INSEAD also launched a MIM recently which is probably not yet in the ranking, but it will certainly also be high up in the list given the brand name.

To chose between your priority ones I would go with the one where the culture/exprerience/location is most attractive for you.