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(4.8) |
Thoroughly exceeded my expectations.
True diversity in the student body. You will be making connections that span the globe. IESE does a good job of crafting each incoming class. Each student seems to have an "it" factor, with either an impressive professional resume or personal accomplishments, and an intellectual curiosity that leads to exhilarating conversations and personal paradigm shift. Prepare for culture shock, in the best possible sense.
All of this is set against the backdrop of Barcelona, rich with an incredible culture, food, nightlife, and Mediterranean coastline. Once you've secured your internship and gained a handle on the coursework, students have a host of student-led professional and leisure activities from which to choose. The result is a real-life "choose your own adventure" story. One of the few times in my life where I've felt like
One of the differentiating factors about this school is that it almost exclusively follows the case method. Imagine a classroom full of bright minds from 50+ nationalities and vastly diverse life and professional backgrounds discussing, challenging, and learning from, each other daily over real cases. At the center of the class is a group of fantastic professors that know how to get the most out of each student and lead the discussion to its conclusion.
The case method has its downside, though. You will be called on if unprepared. Those unused to being challenged may initially be frustrated, and those whom are more introverted will have to develop extroverted skills.
IESE's global reach provides global opportunities, but not equally. IESE is a European school, so many of the opportunities provided by career services are based in Europe.
Because I'm American, it was more difficult to find post-grad opportunities than I would have had I gone to an American B-school. But if you are looking to change geographies, this is your best bet.
I've heard that career services has gotten more aggressive in the past year or two, both with working with current students to be proactive in the search from day 1 and with expanding their reach even more to regions outside of Europe. This is a great sign that things are headed in the right direction.
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)
Curriculum, Classes, Professors
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PROS:
Great learning experience for a background outside of business. Solid education and business training. Very demanding curriculum if you are motivated to do well.
Great location in Barcelona. And spring games are lots of fun.
Ability to create an impact via students clubs. The sky is the limit to drive forward programs of benefit for the rest of the IESE community.
CONS:
Admissions team accepted some candidates into the program that lowered the overall level of the class. I would suggest they apply stricter criteria.
Career services in the healthcare area, my interest, only of modest help. Found my internship and post graduation job on my own.
Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (1.0)
Classmates rating (3.0)
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Was previously a student in IESE and I have to say, the student diversity and body is very friendly and open. Like most MBA classes, they love to party and are a smart bunch. Classes are intense, but quite balanced (though there is a huge advantage to those who have done commerce/business as a undergrad), and a fair number of opportunities to get involved in things outside of just studying.
Although I did not like the location at first (i dont speak spanish) especially with the different culture to what I am used to (Spain, is not the most efficient nation I must say...), it has grown on me, and is a beautiful city to be in. It has its own character in local places, and the laid back nature means its a very good place to put your feet up when you want to unwind - and 'working' is not the first thing on your mind.
In terms of what I think is the specialisation, I would have to say its in general management/industry roles. Europe Business schools can be bucketed into 3 or 4 areas: Finance - LBS, Consulting - INSEAD, Industry - IESE/IMD/HEC, A bit of everything - IE/Cambridge/Oxford.
In Industry, where I see IESE as being its strongest, it wont be as competitive and strong as IMD (where they live and breath industry), but theyre a good sure second with HEC. Theyre inferior to INSEAD to consulting, and LBS in banking, but do a decent job at them. There is significant banking and consulting support - and great work/connections from career services in banking has grown their presence in that area.
Things they need to work on: With the recent drop in rankings due mainly to pay and career development, there has been a need to look into developing their career service departments. As a student there, with exception to the banking career development/services, the other career service departments are underdeveloped. Also the brandname is deceptive compared to the average ranking on FT (7th the last 3 years except in 2016), as not many places outside of the MBA circle know about it. I was struggling to find anyone outside of Spain to know of IESE - other than companies that specifically recruit MBAs.
Interesting things to note: A lot of the success in obtaining internships seem to be in spanish speaking countries. I found that international students outside of Latam/spain/UAE struggled to secure the internships they want. First thing is the school may need to work on career mentorship and interview/application training over the rigorous first year curriculum. The exams punish the 10%-15% of the class, as they get a C (read: fail) mark no matter how high you score, as the marks are based on a bell curve. This places a slight emphasis on study for core courses (especially for those who want to exchange in second year) and less time on recruitment.
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)
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Unique experience of doing a top notch MBA in an amazing city such as Barcelona. Opportunity to learn a 3rd language (Spanish) and very strong core curriculum on the first years. Room for improvement in the 2nd year elective courses offering. All the top tier consulting firms and IBs recruit on campus as well as several top notch firms within the industry, but I assume that an US based school would offer more opportunities to those looking at the industry. Very internationally oriented school with an extremely diverse student body that contribute for a very unique experience. One of the best values for money (in terms of tuition costs + living costs in Barcelona) one can get among the top 10 business schools in the world. I am really glad that even though got offers from other top business schools I ended up going to IESE and spending these 2 amazing years in Barcelona. I would highly and definitely recommend the programme to prospective students.
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (5.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)
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The case study method and team experience in the first year went above and beyond my expectations. I was also happy that through the school I was able to secure an internship and then full time job in Europe. The professors are for the most part incredibly helpful and supportive.
Think about if the mission of IESE fits your goals, understand the methodology and team emphasis before applying. It's so much a part of the school that you're doing yourself and your future teammates if you don't research it, understand it and embrace it before deciding to come here. Good luck!
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)
Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
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Consulting
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Entrepreneurship
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