What's the best European business school?

<p>In central and northern Europe? No French or English Universities or Med.</p>

<p>INSEAD (France) and IMD (Switzerland) are clearly the best b-schools in Europe. </p>

<p>They are head and shoulders above the others and are the only institutions with a strong global reputation.</p>

<p>I would argue that the London Business School aso has a strong global reputation.</p>

<p>However, I agree that INSEAD is probably the best of all the Euroschools.</p>

<p>never heard of insead. HEC (hautes etudes de commerce) is probably the top business school in france if not europe.</p>

<p>Definitely INSEAD or IMD.</p>

<p>^^^wait so HEC is undergraduate?</p>

<p>
[quote]
never heard of insead. HEC (hautes etudes de commerce) is probably the top business school in france if not europe.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>wrong. </p>

<p>HEC is not even close to matching INSEAD's European (much less global) reputation - making HEC (at best) a distant No. 2 b-school in France*</p>

<p>*evidence you ask? find me ONE ranking that ranks HEC above INSEAD (or for that matter IMD) - every single global / european b-school ranking has INSEAD / IMD above HEC (take your pick: Businessweek, Forbes, WSJ, Financial Times, etc.)</p>

<p>Frankly, HEC ranks behind all the European heavy hitters - the elite Euro MBA programs:</p>

<p>INSEAD / IMD and LBS / IESE</p>

<p>sakky, yeah LBS can claim a decent global rep, but certainly not at INSEAD / IMD's levels.</p>

<p>What about Stockholm or Helsinki school of Business?</p>

<p>INSEAD is #1 in Europe if you ask me. IMD and LSB are close second. </p>

<p>HEC is a solid MBA, but it does not compete with the heavy hitters.</p>

<p>would insead compare to say wharton school of business or is it even better? where would HEC compare to american schools?</p>

<p>I don't think INSEAD is quite that good. I would say it is more like Dartmouth or Duke. However, given the fact that it is #1 in Europe, the attention INSEAD gets and the career opportunities its graduates get are on par with those of Wharton.</p>

<p>I don't think INSEAD is quite that good. I would say it is more like Dartmouth or Duke. However, given the fact that it is #1 in Europe, the attention INSEAD gets and the career opportunities its graduates get are on par with those at Wharton.</p>

<p>INSEAD and Wharton have an alliance - (not just in name) - INSEAD MBAs and Wharton MBAs can exchange a semester and take classes at each others' campuses (INSEAD - France / Singapore) and (Wharton - Philly / SF), I'd say the student bodies are quite comparable (if there was a major disparity they wouldn't have agreed to such a firm alliance).</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/campus/alliance/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/campus/alliance/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.insead.edu/alliance/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.insead.edu/alliance/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It really depends on whether you aspire to have an international career or a career which will help you leverage experience with a global perspective (in which case INSEAD is an excellent choice if not the best). However, if you are pretty sure you plan on living, working and staying in the States for the forseeable future, then clearly its hard to beat Wharton. </p>

<p>Fact is, I've been very impressed with the INSEAD grads I've met.</p>

<p>^^^are u in business school right now?</p>

<p>I'm a Wharton MBA graduate. </p>

<p>are you in b-school?</p>

<p>nope. i am a senior in high school but i have a cousin going to hec business school, stanford law school, and another one going to yale law school.</p>

<p>i see, i'm sure your cousin has told you that HEC is the best b-school since sliced french baguettes... but i'd beg to differ (and frankly so would most people who know).</p>

<p>that doesn't mean that HEC isn't a top MBA program - it most certainly is a great program, but just not No. 1, and definitely not on par with INSEAD.</p>

<p>From what I've heard, IMD is INTENSE...it's a one-year program where they work you like a dog for 12 hours a day.</p>

<p>One top reason to choose an elite Euro-B school over an elite US school is that most of them (with the notable exception of LBS) take only 1 year to complete. Hence, the opportunity cost for attending is significantly lower. </p>

<p>For that reason alone, I think that if I had to choose between INSEAD or Duke, I would probably choose INSEAD. </p>

<p>Of course one major issue regarding INSEAD is that they require that you prove that you are able to speak at least 2 languages competently (i.e. in a business setting) before you matriculate and 3 by the time you graduate.</p>

<p>sakky,</p>

<p>I've spoken to a number of INSEAD grads about this, and basically the language requirement has become less stringent over the years (in the beginning they REQUIRED French and German at a minimum, but this has evolved over time since they realized that they were unwittingly graduating linguists over future CEOs).</p>

<p>Since all classes are taught and conducted in English, we can assume that everyone basically speaks English and so that counts as one down right away. Also, if your "mother" tongue (i.e. if one of your parents have any language other than English as their first language - then you can choose that language as your "mother" tongue).</p>

<p>For instance, if your parents are Polish (or German or Japanese, etc. you get the point) and YOU were born and raised in the US (or UK) - you can still elect Polish (or German or Japanese) as your "mother" language - i.e. you can't be "tested" on it. Then you choose English as your "2nd" language (basically 2 down already and you haven't even picked up a pencil) and then all you need is a 3rd, and for this 3rd, supposedly all you need is a "working" ability - and from what I've heard the basic "test" is kind of a rubber stamp joke.</p>

<p>But I agree with your point about the 1 year aspect - it's a great hook for people who may have a bit more experience (or who don't want to sacrifice the opportunity cost of a full 2 years) - and that is enough to choose it over another program such as the ones Alexandre had pointed out (i.e. Dartmouth or Duke).</p>

<p>On the flip side, it's supposed to be a hellish year given you have to cover everything that is covered in a proper 2 yr MBA program (which means days filled with classes and assignments and NO MAJOR breaks between semesters - something to think about in terms of recruiting).</p>