According to my blog statistics the comparison and choice between ESADE and IESE has be one of the main interests of my readers. Therefore I decided to dedicate an article to my choice of ESADE over IESE.
IESE simply was never an option to me!!! It never made it to my radar. ESADE’s reputation was being the school with great people and culture and that reputation had reached me. Nothing alike about IESE. So i never considered IESE to be quite honest.
I met many of the schools at the MBA fair in London in 2008 and I based my choice simply on gut-feeling at the end of the day! LBS for example had some students present and the contact with them was terrible. After seeing how they were reacting to each other, talking to applicants, it was clear that I had no interest whatsoever in applying to them!
Another very important factor to me is the teamwork! I love teamwork and team focus and don’t like the cut-throat mentality of many other schools. When you have a school with a bell-curve grading system I assure you that you will feel enormous horizontal pressure. ESADE students are competitve but we are teams at the end of the day and not competitors. The feeling I got from IE, INSEAD and LBS namely showed me the exact opposite.
But at the end of the day you have to make the choice that feels right. you should definitely look beyond rankings though and consider the soft factors as well. I example only applied to HKUST, RSM and ESADE because these are the ones I had the best feeling about!! it is not only about ranks for me but about whether it feels right…
One last thing that I can recommend is that you ask to attend some of the classes when you visit the schools. And speak as intensively with students while on campus as possible!!! Keep asking and asking and asking!!! The responses and the way people respond will tell you a lot!
Overall i can say that I am very happy, I amazed with the selection of colleagues and definitely enjoy the experience!
I hope that helped you a little with your choice and let’s stay in touch!! Good luck with your applications!
Tags: admission, choice, collaboration, ESADE, hkust, ie, IESE, lbs, MBA, rsm, team, teamwork
My ESADE MBA 
February 4, 2010 at 17:37 |
I find it curious that you would lump in IE with LBS and INSEAD. Maybe you meant IESE? I really think the culture at IE seems closer to ESADE than those others. There is certainly a big emphasis on teamwork and leadership building!
February 4, 2010 at 17:38 |
P.S. I considered both ESADE and IE above many of the others you mentioned, largely because of the culture factor. In the end, I chose IE, largely because I preferred Madrid to Barcelona. Although both are great cities :)
February 4, 2010 at 17:41 |
congratulations and I am sure it is a good choice. When I met people from IE I had the impression that it was extremely competitive and more individual focused than ESADE. My opinion only come from rumours and my talks to IE students. However if you think it is different that it is great!!! IE is definitely a good school, no question.
March 5, 2010 at 12:00 |
You totally right when you recommend to look beyond rankings, visit the school and talk to participants.
I myself did IESE full-time MBA in 2008 and today, with hindsight, I’m more convinced then ever that I did the right choice. IESE uses the bell curve evaluation which by itself is quite competitive, but competition is not bad thing if there’s a good, healthy environment and I must say that is one of the strongest aspects of IESE, the competition you will make you work harder and learn more but you will get plenty of support from your team and class mates.
IESE is the 1st MBA in the world by the Economist, but each candidate have to find their own 1st MBA and this is done by making your own criteria. Hope you find yours!
April 8, 2010 at 17:52 |
so we’ve got the perspective of an ESADE student, an IESE alum, and prospective IE student all in one post :) Pretty good. I’ll be sure to report back once I actually get to IE and find out about the program first hand.