I was wondering if anyone has any experience with b-schools in spain. mainly, ESADE, IES, and/or IESE. i know ESADE and IES are accredited internationally. i have seen IESE ranked high in global pools by both the wall street journal and business week magazine. it seems from other discussions that universities in spain are very different from schools in the US, but i believe the above programs use the case method which is standard amongst most American b-schools. Any input is welcome. Gracias, ny2texas.

ny2texas,

I am in an MBA program in Barcelona at the Universitat Pompeu i Fabra. This is the first year of the MBA program. Because this is the first year of the program there obviously is no ranking but the UPF´s economics department is ranked number 1 in Spain and is well respected throughout Europe. I know for sure the MBA department would be very happy to send you any information about the school and MBA program you wish. Here is the web site www.upf.es. Just change the language from Catalan to English and find the MBA Programme link.

Take care,
David

Hi there,

I got my MBA at Northwestern and attended IESE on exchange for one quarter. Of the MBAs in Spain, I believe that IESE is, by far, the one with the best reputation as well as the one with the best prepared and most international student body.

It was co-founded in the 1950's by Harvard and Universidad de Navarra (a private university run by Opus Dei, although no religion included in the MBA!). So, it was modeled after Harvard and uses the same methods.

IE is getting to be quite well respected. However, keep in mind that it is just a one year program. Probably fine if you are sure you'll be wanting to stay in Spain, but not as well known outside of Spain.

Esade is better known for the undergraduate program.

After working here in the financial sector (in Madrid) for the past 10 years, I can say that IESE has by far the best reputaton and it would probably be easier to find a job after that program (although the other two are respected they don't have the same network of alumnae, etc.)

Good luck!

wow, great info folks. i appreciate your time. i am working towards taking the GMAT within the next two months. if all goes well i will be in spain next fall some time. i keep my fingers crossed.

fyi, business week rankings:

Top International MBA program ranking
1 INSEAD (France and Singapore)
2 London Business School (UK)
3 Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE)
4 IMD (Switzerland)
5 Western Ontario (Ivey)
6 Erasmus (Rotterdam)
7 Toronto (Rotman)

International MBA program ranking - tier 2
Cranfield (UK)
ESADE (Spain)
Instituto de Empresas (Spain)
McGill (Canada)
Oxford (Said) (UK)
Queens (Canada)
SDA Bocconi (Italy)
York (Schulich) (Canada)

The director of the MBA program at the U of Pompeu Fabra comes from INSEAD and the U of Chicago where he spent something like 20 years. He in addition to people from IESE have been responsible for the start of the MBA program at the UPF. All the professors come from top tier universities form the States or Europe. Also the MBA student body is about as international as it can get. http://mba.upf.es

Good luck on the GMAT!!

David

Does ISAE have a website? And where is it located?

Ouch! Nevermind! I found the website by the way. I'm off to sell my blood... I'll look into grad school in about 20 years! :p There's got to be a way!

Good luck on the GMAT's!

Anyone know of any grafic arts programs?