Choosing your MBA: Location is a critical part of the decision
WHY SHOULD the location of a business school be a factor in choosing one MBA programme over another? It’s not immediately obvious. Many potential students will select by the educational value of a course, and how specific features of that MBA programme might impact on career progression. Many others will go by a school’s position in MBA rankings. The diversity of a student cohort will be important to some. Against these, the physical location of a school may seem an indulgent concern, an aesthetic choice rather than of critical value. This perception couldn’t be more misplaced.
Where a school is based impacts on a great many other aspects of an MBA. An exciting, vibrant city campus, with excellent transport links, can attract a greater diversity of students, and particularly from abroad. The educational value of an MBA will be improved by its power to convince outside lecturers or experts to speak at its events – the more convenient the location, the better. A student’s ability to enter a particular sector after graduation will be advanced by nearby internship opportunities.
Location, therefore, is both relevant and important. And not always in the most obvious of ways. Potential MBA students should unpick their preconceptions about a business school’s location and consider it carefully, in light of their personal preferences and priorities.
CONVENIENCE AND RELEVANCE
MBAs don’t just involve lessons in front of a whiteboard, in a generic classroom that could be anywhere. Students have valuable opportunities to pursue practical electives, or to enjoy direct contact with outside business experts. Imperial College Business School, for example, offers an experiential leadership programme, designed to develop leadership skills through live projects with the charitable sector. Cass Business School hosts special interest groups and corporate events, where students can network with and learn from leading figures in business.
Steve Cousins, MBA admissions manager at Cass, argues that his school is better able to attract lecturers and corporate attendees because of its location in Canada. “We do particularly well in getting high-profile speakers because we’re on the doorstep for these people.” London’s diverse economy also gives students the chance to seize on a wide variety of expertise. “We do have strong links with the City, but it’s greater than finance. People from Silicon Roundabout, directors of human resources, directors of communications, they all come to our events.”
Location also has an impact on the way Cass’s course is designed. “Our programme is influenced by our location – we’re very much concerned with our content being relevant.” Cousins believes that Cass’s position in the heart of London means it is consistently on top of educational and business-relevant developments.
BROKEN PERCEPTIONS
It would be a wrong to dismiss all schools outside the capital, however. Many sectors have a strong presence outside London (armaments in Hampshire, life sciences in Oxford and Cambridge), and you would be wise to tailor your choice to those local strengths. Cousins admits that “if someone is thinking of a particular sector that they know is particularly strong in another city, that probably is a better place for them to go to.”
But, it’s important to research around preconceptions. Cousins warns against taking on second-hand views. “Look at student cohort profile, the student make-up.” And see where students tend to go.
Elaine Ferneley, MBA director at Manchester Business School agrees. Although her school made a “philosophical decision that it would follow a pragmatic, practical approach to teaching,” partly influenced by Manchester’s industrial past, the breadth of its course means that 20-30 per cent go into financial roles, and a similar number into consultancy. The Manchester MBA may “not be known as a financial MBA,” but that doesn’t prevent it being used as one.
UNIVERSITY LINKS
It’s also important to consider the relevance of the broader university to an attached business school’s MBA. Often these links are tight and collaboration can be beneficial. Said Business School, for example, part of the University of Oxford, requires students to be a member of an Oxford college. Being an integral, embedded member of the university gives students the benefit of cross-disciplinary contact, and can act as a vital incubator for new and innovative approaches to business problems.
Additionally, Said has recently launched the Oxford 1+1 MBA, a two year course which allows MBA students to undertake an additional MSc within the wider university. Drawing on Oxford’s broader expertise in the environmental sciences, for example, students can improve their employability in relevant sectors.
Imperial College Business School has a similar approach. Professor Dorothy Griffiths, acting principal and head of programmes, says its programmes have “evolved around the science, technology and medicine” bias of the wider university. “We’ve a deep relationship to our institution.” Its marketing courses, for example, follow a distinctively analytical approach when compared to other schools. “It’s at the hard end of marketing, proper data analytics stuff.”
PERSONAL PREFERENCE
But don’t underestimate the importance of personal preferences and requirements in your decision. MBAs are tough, intensive programmes and they won’t be any easier if you loathe the place you live. Consider whether you’d prefer to study in a campus setting, or in the middle of a large city. Will you be content to relocate away from friends or family, from established connections and networks?
Cost could also be a factor. London is expensive and there are alternatives, perhaps outside Britain, which could offer similar benefits. Nick Barniville, director of MBA programmes at ESMT Berlin, for example, believes that his school has a competitive advantage because of cost. “Berlin differs from London in the fact that it is affordable” – it is “one of the cheapest capital cities in Europe.” Since classes are taught in English, and with discounted German lessons at the Goethe Institute thrown in, language need not be a problem.
Ultimately, however, it’s important that your decision – over location, school, or particular course – leaves sufficient room for flexibility. MBAs are useful because they offer breadth of teaching and experience, they give students the opportunity to progress further and faster in a wider range of careers, and they afford indispensable new networks and contacts.
So while location should be one of the most important elements in your decision, put the salient benefits of that location into context. Will the reasons that motivated your choice of a specific school, in a particular place, still be true when you graduate?
IMPERIAL COLLEGE BUSINESS SCHOOL
Location: South Kensington
Description: “Innovation, entrepreneurship, and design”
Fees: £36,000 (October 2012)
Length of course: One year
Financial Times MBA rank: 46 (2012)
Class size: 47 (2011)
Percentage international students: 87 per cent (2011)
Average student GMAT: 658 (2011)
Average salary increase after graduation: 72 per cent (2010)
Graduates entering consulting: 27 per cent (2010)
Graduates entering finance and banking: 15 per cent (2010)
Percentage employed within six months: 96 per cent (2010)
Percentage of graduates who made a location change post-MBA: 51 per cent (2010)
SAID BUSINESS SCHOOL
Location: Oxford
Description: “The Oxford experience”
Fees: £37,750 (2012/13), plus college fees in the region of £3,200
Length of course: One year
Financial Times MBA rank: 20 (2012)
Class size: 248 (2011-12)
Percentage international students: 93 per cent (2011-12
Average student GMAT: 698 (2011)
Average post-MBA salary: £64,800 (2011)
Graduates entering consulting: 35 per cent (2011)
Graduates entering finance and banking: 20 per cent (2011)
Percentage employed within three months: 90 per cent (2011)
Percentage starting a new business: 15 per cent (2011)
HEC PARIS
Location: 12 miles south west of Paris
Description: “Rigorous and thought-provoking”
Fees: €48,000
Length of course: 16 months
Financial Times MBA rank: 18 (2012)
Percentage international students: 87 per cent (2011)
Graduates entering finance and banking: 25 per cent (2011)
Graduates entering consulting: 19 per cent (2011)
Percentage employed within three months: 90 per cent (2011)
Percentage of graduates working in France: 44 per cent (2011)
Percentage of graduates who changed job: 69 per cent (2011)