Post: #1

http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academi...arning.cfm

The Wharton MBA program has a semester abroad program in partnership with other elite business schools around the world.

This semester is offered in the fall semester of the second year of the program.

What would be your top choice and your second choice for a study abroad location given the choices here?

Taking into account the following things:

-Social Scene and Quality of Dating
-Business/Networking Opportunities
-School Prestige Factor
-Novelty Factor

Assume that cost of living is not an issue.

I'll paste the list of schools below for your convenience:

Quote:International Exchange Programs
Wharton offers semester-long international exchange program options at 17 partner schools in 15 countries.

Australia

Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM)
University of New South Wales

Brazil

COPPEAD

China

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
Guanghua School of Management, Peking University

France

INSEAD
HEC Paris

India

Indian School of Business (ISB)

Israel

Arison School of Business, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel

Italy

SDA Bocconi School of Managment

Japan

Keio University's Graduate School of Business and Commerce

The Netherlands

Rotterdam School of Management

The Philippines

Asian Institute of Management (AIM)

Singapore

INSEAD

Spain

IESE Business School

Sweden

Stockholm School of Economics

Thailand

Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration

United Kingdom

London Business School

Post: #2

(10-05-2013 02:48 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academi...arning.cfm

The Wharton MBA program has a semester abroad program in partnership with other elite business schools around the world.

This semester is offered in the fall semester of the second year of the program.

What would be your top choice and your second choice for a study abroad location given the choices here?

Taking into account the following things:

-Social Scene and Quality of Dating
-Business/Networking Opportunities
-School Prestige Factor
-Novelty Factor

Assume that cost of living is not an issue.

I'll paste the list of schools below for your convenience:

Quote:International Exchange Programs
Wharton offers semester-long international exchange program options at 17 partner schools in 15 countries.

Australia

Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM)
University of New South Wales

Brazil

COPPEAD

China

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
Guanghua School of Management, Peking University

France

INSEAD
HEC Paris

India

Indian School of Business (ISB)

Israel

Arison School of Business, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel

Italy

SDA Bocconi School of Managment

Japan

Keio University's Graduate School of Business and Commerce

The Netherlands

Rotterdam School of Management

The Philippines

Asian Institute of Management (AIM)

Singapore

INSEAD

Spain

IESE Business School

Sweden

Stockholm School of Economics

Thailand

Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration

United Kingdom

London Business School

London Business school. Its prestigious, has a lot of successful people (for networking) and London has good clubs/ nightlife.

Post: #3

Wow, this would be an awesome opportunity.

INSEAD is definitely at the top of my list. The option to study at their campuses in either Paris or Singapore is incredible.

Personally, I would rather study in France, because I speak Spanish fluently and am conversational in French (trying to add German in there also). Studying at the Paris campus would allow me to polish up on those languages. Paris is centrally located in Western Europe, and with a Euro Rail pass I could easily visit Barcelona, Munich, London, Amsterdam etc. for a long weekend.

YMG, I'm guessing that you would choose INSEAD - Singapore?

Post: #4

LBS or INSAED, that's where wealthy and connected people from developing nations go to.

You won't catch them in a filipino, Chinese, or Australian MBA program. They go to the UK, France, or USA.

Post: #5

I would not choose an Asian program because I've spent pretty much all of my twenties in Asia so far.

I would almost definitely go with a European school with LBS as my first choice. There's no question that this is where I'd get my bang for my buck.

I'm also strangely attracted to Stockholm School of Economics - less as a networking destination and more as a reason to party in Sweden. However, I definitely feel like this forum is ambivalent about Sweden as a destination.

I'd love to do Paris but neither HEC nor INSEAD are exactly in the middle of Paris by any means. Both of them are way out in the suburbs. I studied abroad at a school near INSEAD and it was a boring and logistically inconvenient experience.

Another option would be to do the summer after freshman year doing an MBA internship in San Francisco and then studying at Wharton's SF/BA campus. This way you get a solid 6-7 month experience between June and December in SF and silicon valley. That is also highly attractive.

Post: #6

HBS is also really liberal with their travel/work/study programs around the world.

Post: #7

(10-05-2013 09:22 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  HBS is also really liberal with their travel/work/study programs around the world.

Are you sure? I don't think HBS has an actual semester abroad program. The best I could find is this little module:

http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experien...fault.aspx

This sounds like a one week trip in January.

I'm not a huge fan of the HBS curriculum and the case method. Maybe this is a kneejerk reaction from bootstrapping business for the past few years but there is something about sitting around and discussing a case study that seems impractical and useless to me.

Maledefined this is not an attack on your contribution at all, I am just going on an HBS rant.

Post: #8

Chicago Booth has more options.

Post: #9

Not quite sure I understand your frame here. Are you a current Wharton student and trying to figure out which study abroad program to pick, or trying to decide on Wharton based on what study abroad options they offer?

Post: #10

(10-06-2013 10:25 PM)paninaro Wrote:  Not quite sure I understand your frame here. Are you a current Wharton student and trying to figure out which study abroad program to pick, or trying to decide on Wharton based on what study abroad options they offer?

I am considering going for an MBA program in the next 1-2 years and was surprised to find that an elite program offered an entire semester abroad. As such, I wanted to see where guys on this forum would go for their MBA semester abroad if they were given the choice.

Post: #11

First off most MBA's have study aboard options. It's a way to promote the brand, students like it and it creates the idea of "global leaders". My friend at NYU Stern was in Paris for a bit and many of his friends studied in China.

Of the list you posted, pretending that I didnt spend a bunch of time in London, I would choose:
1st tier
LBS
INSEAD
HEC Paris

1.5 tier
Stockholm

2nd tier
Keio
Rotterdam

Keep in mind though MBA's in Europe aren't as well regarded as in the US but certain schools are great places to network at.

LBS
LBS is a massive financial feeder to the banks in London and has a great rep in NYC and corporate America. And since the only other competitive business schools in London are LSE and maybe Cass and Imperial, LBS has a lot companies outside of finance that hire managers from there. I've known a couple managers at Disney who were hired after they got there MBA from LBS. It also has a pretty good network from what i've gathered. Further Ive seen people come here and study aboard at LBS and make it out with some pretty sweet job offers.

As for London itself, i guess it depends on your mindset. I'm somewhat jaded from living there the last 4 years but If you like NYC and clubing, London is pretty good on that. However, its an expensive city, terrible customer service, crap weather outside of summer, nothing works as intended, people are pretty cold, and everything closes pretty early. There are some very fine girls, usually from aboard, but the domestic talent really isnt that great past age 20-21. The best part is though you can hop to the rest of Europe for pretty low costs. It's also definitely a tier 1 global city with all major companies having a european office in London.

INSEAD
Insead is also another excellent choice and known throughout Europe and most of Asia. While LBS is known as the finance business school of Europe, INSEAD is the consulting bschool of Europe. Every consulting firm hires out of there and it has probably more students going on to consulting than even the top US bschools. At my old F500 tech firm's London office, most of the MBAs there were from either Harvard or INSEAD.

HEC Paris
HEC Paris is also another good school. It's more french oriented than INSEAD and probably less known outside of Europe. But its one of the best french universities for business. I've met a decent amount of them when I worked in London.

As for Paris as a city, i feel it's a bit more upbeat than London. I wasnt there long enough to fully figure out the city but there is a lot of talent there, on average higher than london; though less standard deviation.

SSE
SSE's actually a pretty underrated school. It gets recruited by the top consulting firms and swedish firms. I dont know much beyond that but i would consider that as an option for myself since I enjoyed stockholm.

I found the place the right size for gaming and chilling. It was absolutely beautiful during the summer. You can get around so easy between bus, subway, fairy, and bikes. Stockholm is one of best cities ive been to for biking. Downsides, if you go outside of summer expect freezing weather. And the prices in Stockholm make London look cheap.

As for the Swedes are a bit shy but they're friendly when you get them to warm up. The girls are pretty decent looking about equal to germans. The guys are push overs and the girls are dying for a guy who can hold a conversation. Also every swede speaks perfect American style english so you shouldnt have any language problems which you will have in paris and to some extent London. They also love american culture.

The other 2 schools are places I'd like to study at are schools I dont think add that much to my resume. Neither are bad since i've heard of them but they're not in the same categories as the ones above. So id be choosing mostly on the city and not the school.

I love tokyo and i think most people have some idea of what to expect out of that city.

As for Rotterdam, i dont know the area but i have to say i like the Dutch. They are probably the most friendly people ive ever met in Europe and most parts of america. The girls are hot with crazy legs. They all bike so they're in shape with amazing asses. And its quite possible to nail a girl who's a foot taller than you.

Post: #12

(10-06-2013 10:40 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

(10-06-2013 10:25 PM)paninaro Wrote:  Not quite sure I understand your frame here. Are you a current Wharton student and trying to figure out which study abroad program to pick, or trying to decide on Wharton based on what study abroad options they offer?

I am considering going for an MBA program in the next 1-2 years and was surprised to find that an elite program offered an entire semester abroad. As such, I wanted to see where guys on this forum would go for their MBA semester abroad if they were given the choice.

Just about all decent MBA programs offer a semester abroad, so I'd say pick your MBA program based on what is the best fit for you, then look at the semester abroad thing secondarily.

For example, Wharton used to have a reputation as being big in finance. If you're more into entrepreneurship, then Stanford is probably a better fit than Wharton.

Post: #13

(10-07-2013 11:40 PM)paninaro Wrote:  

(10-06-2013 10:40 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

(10-06-2013 10:25 PM)paninaro Wrote:  Not quite sure I understand your frame here. Are you a current Wharton student and trying to figure out which study abroad program to pick, or trying to decide on Wharton based on what study abroad options they offer?

I am considering going for an MBA program in the next 1-2 years and was surprised to find that an elite program offered an entire semester abroad. As such, I wanted to see where guys on this forum would go for their MBA semester abroad if they were given the choice.

Just about all decent MBA programs offer a semester abroad, so I'd say pick your MBA program based on what is the best fit for you, then look at the semester abroad thing secondarily.

For example, Wharton used to have a reputation as being big in finance. If you're more into entrepreneurship, then Stanford is probably a better fit than Wharton.

Yup, this is all true.

An MBA is something I'd be interested in doing somewhere in the next few years but I would only take Stanford and Wharton seriously as schools I'd want to go to.

While I agree that Stanford is by far the best MBA program for people interested in technology entrepreneurship (due more to its geography and less to its curriculum), I disagree that Wharton is a strictly finance school (despite its reputation).

For me it would either be those two schools or no MBA.

I like Stanford for many reasons but the strongest reason, by far, is that you are in the heart of silicon valley and the strongest global tech entrepreneurship hub in the world. Hands down.

If I got into Stanford I would not go abroad at all - I would stay in Silicon Valley for the entire two year period and just network aggressively with venture capitalists and tech entrepreneurs in the valley.

As I said earlier, if I got into Wharton I'd go for a Europe stint or I'd do the "Wharton in SF" semester plus a summer internship with a startup or a VC or something like that.

Thus, I wanted to see if anyone had experience with any of these specific cities and schools.

Paris is currently my favorite city in Europe but the experience was ruined because I was living out in the suburbs so it wasn't really a Paris experience. I would not want to repeat this sort of experience at INSEAD or HEC.

I've already spent too much time in Asia so I would want an excuse to go back to Europe.

My top choices at this moment would probably be:

1. LBS
2. SSE

Post: #14

Anybody know anything about Rotterdam or this specific school?

Above all I want to avoid being in some suburb and stuck with only people in the MBA program - particularly if I am in Europe. If I'm in Palo Alto I can certainly deal with being in suburbia because of the other perks.

Post: #15

I guess I'm still not clear on your goals. Where do you want to end up after you get an MBA? VC? Mgmt/strategy consulting? Finance? Starting your own company?

That will help drive which MBA program you choose. I know a fair bit about this -- I have an MBA from one of the programs mentioned in this thread, and I applied to some of the other schools mentioned in this thread.

Also if you want to be in tech and Silicon Valley, why not Haas (Berkeley)? Sure they're basically in SF not the Valley, but a lot of big tech startups are in SF proper now and not south of there.

Post: #16

(10-08-2013 10:52 PM)paninaro Wrote:  I guess I'm still not clear on your goals. Where do you want to end up after you get an MBA? VC? Mgmt/strategy consulting? Finance? Starting your own company?

That will help drive which MBA program you choose. I know a fair bit about this -- I have an MBA from one of the programs mentioned in this thread, and I applied to some of the other schools mentioned in this thread.

Also if you want to be in tech and Silicon Valley, why not Haas (Berkeley)? Sure they're basically in SF not the Valley, but a lot of big tech startups are in SF proper now and not south of there.

Thank you for your feedback.

My goal would be to go directly back into tech entrepreneurship or to get into VC. I feel like both schools are great feeders for this with Stanford being the obvious stronger school.

For various reasons I have committed to these two specific schools or not going to an MBA program. It's quite a commitment in time and money and if it's not Stanford or Wharton I do not consider it worth my while to pursue an MBA, period.

Your contribution is appreciated. But let's please focus on the original point of the thread. This thread was not created to discuss the merits of different programs, my goals in applying to a program, or why I should choose Haas/Booth/HBS/Stern/Sloan/Columbia over Wharton/Stanford.

The question was "if you were going to spend a semester abroad at one of these global business schools, which one would you choose?"

Post: #17

(10-08-2013 10:52 PM)paninaro Wrote:  I guess I'm still not clear on your goals. Where do you want to end up after you get an MBA? VC? Mgmt/strategy consulting? Finance? Starting your own company?

That will help drive which MBA program you choose. I know a fair bit about this -- I have an MBA from one of the programs mentioned in this thread, and I applied to some of the other schools mentioned in this thread.

Also if you want to be in tech and Silicon Valley, why not Haas (Berkeley)? Sure they're basically in SF not the Valley, but a lot of big tech startups are in SF proper now and not south of there.

Paninaro, I have two years succesful experience in IB (recognized boutique in Latin America), I want to do VC after MBA, maybe impact investing in emerging countries. I'm considering Chicago, Harvard, Stanford and Columbia, what do you think of these options?

Thanks.

Post: #18

(10-09-2013 10:03 AM)bars Wrote:  Paninaro, I have two years succesful experience in IB (recognized boutique in Latin America), I want to do VC after MBA, maybe impact investing in emerging countries. I'm considering Chicago, Harvard, Stanford and Columbia, what do you think of these options?

I don't know enough about Booth (Chicago) to comment on them. For tech VC, Stanford is the way to go from those on the list. Harvard is more leadership-focused, but it's got such a good name that you can't really go wrong.

If you want to focus on LatAm, consider a school that at least somehow touches on that. For example, I heard that Kellogg (Northwestern) just opened up a satellite campus in Miami, though Kellogg's rep is more for marketing than IB.

I guess in the end, you can sort of shape your destiny. Most MBA programs are set up so the first year is all the standard courses, then the second year is almost entirely electives. So if you want to focus on a certain area, just make all your electives in that area of study. I sort of did this, but then I branched outside my comfort zone with some electives, just for perspective and fun. Studying the economics of the NFL or deep analysis of company financial statements aren't quite in my area, but were fun and challenging nonetheless.

Post: #19

(10-09-2013 01:08 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  The question was "if you were going to spend a semester abroad at one of these global business schools, which one would you choose?"

Ok getting back on topic then. I'd say among your list, look closely at location. As others have mentioned, places like INSEAD aren't quite in the city, so your social life will be just your classmates, or you'll have a hike into the real city.

Then look at your preferences. As a foreigner, you'd likely do well with the ladies in many of the Asian schools mentioned on your list, but if you're not into that look, then that's a waste also.

I'm familar with about 70% of the schools on your list, and some are 2nd-tier instead of 1st-tier, but if it's just a study abroad it makes little difference anyway as that school's not where you got your MBA from. If you want to narrow down the list further to like 5 schools, I can certainly give you some feedback among those.

Post: #20

(10-09-2013 03:08 PM)paninaro Wrote:  

(10-09-2013 01:08 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  The question was "if you were going to spend a semester abroad at one of these global business schools, which one would you choose?"

Ok getting back on topic then. I'd say among your list, look closely at location. As others have mentioned, places like INSEAD aren't quite in the city, so your social life will be just your classmates, or you'll have a hike into the real city.

Then look at your preferences. As a foreigner, you'd likely do well with the ladies in many of the Asian schools mentioned on your list, but if you're not into that look, then that's a waste also.

I'm familar with about 70% of the schools on your list, and some are 2nd-tier instead of 1st-tier, but if it's just a study abroad it makes little difference anyway as that school's not where you got your MBA from. If you want to narrow down the list further to like 5 schools, I can certainly give you some feedback among those.

Ah sure, thank you.

As you mentioned I am not terribly concerned about the prestige of the school I am going to as, when it's all said and done, it's the degree granting school that counts more than anything else. Thus I'd be fine with going to a "tier 2".

Here are my top 5 choices in no particular order:

-London Business School

-Stockholm School of Economics

-Wharton San Francisco Campus Semester (2nd year fall)

-Keio (Tokyo)

-IESE (if Barcelona) or Rotterdam (TIED)

I really don't know much about Keio, IESE, or Rotterdam besides the fact that they are located in or around Tokyo, Barcelona, and Rotterdam. I also don't know much about Rotterdam but the Netherlands seems like a cool place to be.

Post: #21

i have been reading this thread avidly.

I am not an MBA student...however, it is something i am considering for the future.

i have also read commenter "westcoast" objections to getting an MBA somewhere....

it is nice to see many different inputs on this topic.

good thread.

Post: #22

Nemecine,

I don't think WestCoast is opposed to people getting MBAs across the board.

What he's saying is that your experience matters far more than your degrees, in the field of finance.

So if you went to, say, Bowdoin but you managed to snag an intership with a boutique firm, and they then offered you a job after graduation, it's a smarter move to accept that offer than to get an Ivy League MBA and assume that you'll be able to land a job at J.P. Morgan due to your MBA.

Post: #23

(10-09-2013 08:20 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  Here are my top 5 choices in no particular order:

-London Business School

-Stockholm School of Economics

-Wharton San Francisco Campus Semester (2nd year fall)

-Keio (Tokyo)

-IESE (if Barcelona) or Rotterdam (TIED)

I've never heard of Keio. SSE I looked at a bit in detail a couple years ago (was thinking to apply there) and didn't feel it was up to par academically. The rest (I assume you mean RSM when you refer to Rotterdam) are all decent.

The FT has traditionally been a more euro-centric ranking, so having a look at their rankings may help guide you:
http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolran...nking-2013

Post: #24

(10-09-2013 08:20 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  Ah sure, thank you.

As you mentioned I am not terribly concerned about the prestige of the school I am going to as, when it's all said and done, it's the degree granting school that counts more than anything else. Thus I'd be fine with going to a "tier 2".

Here are my top 5 choices in no particular order:

-London Business School

-Stockholm School of Economics

-Wharton San Francisco Campus Semester (2nd year fall)

-Keio (Tokyo)

-IESE (if Barcelona) or Rotterdam (TIED)

I really don't know much about Keio, IESE, or Rotterdam besides the fact that they are located in or around Tokyo, Barcelona, and Rotterdam. I also don't know much about Rotterdam but the Netherlands seems like a cool place to be.

So checked up on a couple of the schools you listed.

I forgot Keio is like the number 2 or 3 university in Japan and has a very good rep within the country. However, i didn't know it has the 2nd most Japanese CEO alumni after Todai. But Japan is not known for its MBA programs. It's rare for anyone to get anything beyond a BS/BA since most people do on the job training. Even then, japanese colleges have a reputation for not teaching much and students just screwing around,(though US bschool isnt far off), So i wouldnt be expecting much in the way of work but probably some good networking opprotunties for classmates and businesses. Though, Japanese English ability is questionable in my mind.

Rotterdam is a decent school but i dont know anything about the Management school. i looked it up, its rated number 1 in the netherlands and 12-13 in Europe so its mid tier in Europe and not remarkable globally where anying lower than top 20-25 is questionable. The dutch sometimes teach post moderny so i would check if : 1) RD teaches traditional b school methods, 2) you would like the alternative method.

As for IESE, theres a couple of good business schools in Spain. IE is the better one I believe but IESE is still good. Spain is pretty broke though so unless you just want to chill, there probably isnt much going on in spain.

Post: #25

The Indian School of Business is the clear choice.