Research MBA Programs

Hi everyone,

First, some good news. I just recently received offers from University of Manchester (UK) and HEC Montreal. I am also awaiting responses from York Schulich , UBC Sauder and Concordia. I'm having some trouble deciding among these schools.

Here is my background. I graduated from Software Engineering and I have been working in IT as a programmer-analyst for the last 4 years. Doing an MBA is definately a career change for me even if I decide to continue working in the software industry. My plan is to go into product management (so marketing), but time will tell. Therefore, I favor schools with longer programs with internships because I feel it would be difficult for me to find a job otherwise. However, the one-year program at HEC Montreal is so darn cheap that I may be crazy not to go. Also, if I study outside of Montreal, I'm would probably want to go back to Montreal to work afterwards.

I have provided some notes on these schools. Please help me choose!

University of Manchester
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- Decent international reputation and solid rankings in FT and Forbes
- Great international experience
- Love the curriculum structure --> internship + exchange program + international business project
- Ideal program length -> 18 months
- expensive tuition: around $52,500CAD, but has paid internship
- Bad reputation for teaching

HEC Montreal
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- Great reputation in Quebec, but relatively unknown internationally. Only appears on Forbes rankings because of low tuition fees -> high ROI.
- Program length: 12 months (very intensive from what I hear)
- Super cheap tuition for quebec students -> 6,500 CAD
- Good reputation for teaching
- A little concern about job prospects as it took a friend of mine over 6 months to find a job

Sauder
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- Good reputation in western part of Canada, but relatively unknown elsewhere. Appears in both rankings
- Tuition around $39,000 CAD, but has paid internship
- program length 15 months (includes internship)


Schulich
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- Good reputation Canada, but relatively unknown internationally. Appears in both rankings
- Tuition around $$48,000 CAD
- Ideal program length: 16 months (flexible)

Concordia
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- Good reputation only in Quebec
- tuition also very cheap for quebec students probably around $7,000-10,000 CAD
- Ideal program length: 16-20 months
- The big problem is that I did my undergraduate Software Engineering degree at this school

Given your synopses, I'd say Machester. I think that the "reputation for bad teaching" will not bear out to be the case. I know it is easy to focus on costs now, but, look at it as an investment and sometimes the less expensive option does not turn out to be the best in the long run.

However, my last point would be that this is your life - all the schools could be good for you, you need to also think about where you would be happiest!!!

Good luck.