Posted by - rutuja - on 5 November 2011 - 7:12am

• Posted by - shreyash - on 25 May 2012 - 8:32am

  thanx a lot! will keep u poted
  regards
  shreyash

  Reply

• Posted by - shreyash - on 24 May 2012 - 2:41pm

  Hi thomas,
  I am an indian student done with my graduation ( economics ) with distinction marks( overall 1st class ) and with some background in quants ( i dont know if it really helps). Currently working as a student advisor at an educational institution . I would be working for one year. Looking for 2013 intake and I will be appearing for GMAT in nov-dec. My extra curricular activities are good at the college level ( with lots of leadership role) with some internships and a bit of social service. I want to score something around 750 ( looking for full or partial scholarships) present conditions suggest that I am around 680-700. Looking only for top mim programs. What else should I do to enhance my profile? Please help.

  Regards,
  Shreyash

  PS: This portal is amazing!

  Reply

  • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 24 May 2012 - 3:41pm

    Dear Shreyash,

    to be honest: There is nothing you can do so far. Your profile sounds just perfect. The most important things you can do in the future are:

    • make sure that you get a very good GMAT score: minimum 650 (less ist also fine but with 650 you really are among the top; if you make 700 then you are top-top-top!!!)

    • make sure that you prepare well for the application: try to write good essays if they are required in the online application and prepare yourself well for the interviews by clearing such questions like:

    • Why do you decide for our school?

    • why for our program?

    • what do you plan afterwards?

    • how do you plan to finance the studies?

    • how do you see leadership in the future? getting more importance or less importance? why?

    • what is good leadership for you?

    All the best
    Thomas

    Reply

• Posted by - Adarsh16 - on 5 February 2012 - 6:40am

  Hi,

  I have done Engineering in Electronics and Communication from my home country (India) in 2010.
  After that I have been working in the Financial Services sector for the past 1.5 years ( till Jan 2012 ).
  I have applied to ESCP Europe's MIM course and have been shortlisted for an interview in a few days time.
  I wanted to know more about the interview process of European B Schools (what do they generally focus on) and how should I go about preparing for the same ?
  I also wanted to know more about the University (brand name, value of the program etc) ?

  Thanks in advance ! Hoping for a quick response from your side.

  Regards,
  Adarsh

  Reply

  • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 5 February 2012 - 12:13pm

    Hi Adarsh,

    thank you for your question. Please have a look at my *tips about successfully passing the interviews**. If you have more questions I am at your disposal.

    Good luck!
    Thomas

    Reply

• Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 1 December 2011 - 12:12am

  Hi Rahul,

  FROM THE OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE this looks good for a Master in Management. You have a little bit of work experience and above-average exams (if I understand you correctly) and you can also provide information about your extra curricular/ co-curricular activities - something that may help the school to get some insights in you as a personality.

  Now the next steps are: Writing the actual application and - included in it - writing some interesting essays (I guess that HEC asks for essays in their online-application form); preparing the interviews; and finally achieving a good GMAT score (minimum should be 600 points - and 650 would be good if you want to apply for a merit-based scholarship).

  AS FOR THE SPECIFIC HEC PROFILE, I want to recommend you to

  • screen their website for statistics on the previous student cohorts
  • ask them directly (email or phone) if they could provide you with some information on previous cohorts

  Next, I would recommend you to apply for a second or even third Business School - just to have a Plan B in case that for whatever reasons they wouldn't take you (e.g. if they think that they already have too many people from your country).

  Finally, you could also consider an MBA if you wait another year. There are serious differences between a Master in Management and an MBA but I want you to include it in your decision making (inner reflection) process.

  All the best
  Thomas

  p.s. If you like the MIM-COMPASS please let the business schools know about it - and of course anyone who is interested in Management Masters.

  Reply

  • Posted by - rooneyucr - on 1 December 2011 - 9:49pm

    Hello Thomas.
    First of all I would like to thank you or starting this great website.For people like me who were confused due to a proper lack of information over the MIM programmes this comes across as a massive help.

    I'll start off with my profile. I am taking the GMAT in late January.To be very honest, at the very best, based on my current level of preparation I am targeting a score of around 720-730.I completed my under-graduation in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology in India with a CGPA of 8.05.I have been working in TCS( a IT major) since August 2010 and by the time the fall or the spring session starts I would have a work experience of two years.

    A couple of months back when I started on my journey to find myself a good foreign university for management education I was targeting only the MBA programs.But a month ago, I met with some college representatives during the MBA tour who advised me to go for a MIM instead based on the low work experience I had.
    I have been researching a lot since then and finally I am stuck on a couple of questions.

    From the people I have interacted with I came to the conclusion that I could target a few lower FT top 100 b-schools for MBA programs that require less work experience or go for the very best MIM programs.What would be your suggestion in this regard?

    At the moment the MIM programs I am looking to shortlist are:
    HEC Paris
    ESCP Europe Masters in Management, France
    London Business School
    London School of Economics (LSE) Masters in Management (& Strategy), UK( IF I am eligible)
    IE Business School Masters in International Management , Spain
    Grenoble School of Business Masters in International Business, France
    SDA Bocconi Masters in Management (CEMS), Italy
    Warwick-Business-School
    Do you think my profile is good

    Do you think my profile is good enough to get into these schools? I would welcome any suggestion from your side.

    One major doubt I have is about the CEMS programme? Is it open only to those with a prior undergraduate degree in business administration or are there schools to which I can apply which don't require anything of this sort?

    Looking forward to hear from you.

    Reply

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 2 December 2011 - 4:56pm

      Last but not least: For many of the schools in your list we offer a direct contact in the respective university profile on our site. Feel FREE to use our Request Info Button and send them a message with your questions.

      It's good for the MIM-COMPASS if the schools see that users approach them through our channel.
      And it's good for users like you as it offers you a direct channel to the schools.

      Best
      Thomas

      Reply

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 2 December 2011 - 4:48pm

      Hi there,

      thank you for your questions. As for Master in Management or MBA, you are indeed a bit "in between". Typical MBA students have 3 to 5 years of professional experience and typical MIM students have 0 to 1.5 years... but "typical" does not mean that there were no exceptions...

      My guess is that most MIM programs would accept you with respect to your professional experience even though you would be at the upper end of age. Some Business Schools such as the IE in Madrid for example in particular have people with more work experience (I think on average 1.5 years).

      • Advice: Screen the websites or contact the schools about the average work experience of their MIM students - just to find out which program fits best to you; as for the IE Business Schooll you can also participate in their Virtual Info Session on the Master in International Management.

      I have my doubts if it is appropriate to say that you would only get into B-MBA-programs with 2 years. For instance, I know that McKinsey people get into top programs with only 2 years of work experience - but top consulting company employees may be an exception. The actual question is: Does an MBA make sense after 2 years - and my personal opinion is: the more work experience the better.

      This leads us to the "real" question: Why (or more precisely: what for) do you want to do a Master right now?

      • Advice: If you really want to do it now in order to increase your qualification AS SOON AS POSSIBLE then I would go for an Master in Management
      • Advice: If you do not NECESSARILY need to do a Master NOW - e.g. if you have a decent job for the moment - then I would wait another year and go for an MBA then

      As for the schools in your list I would say you have a very decent list although there may be some differences - e.g. I would doubt if Grenoble has the same reputation as London Business School! Even though the admissions processes will be tougher the more reputation the school has I am pretty sure that you will find an MIM place.

      • Advice: Select your top-3 favorite schools and apply only for them.

      As for the CEMS Master in Management one of the key requirements is that you are enrolled in a Master in Management program at one of the CEMS partner schools. I know that most of them require a Bachelor in Business or Economics but I am not sure of ALL of them do this.

      • Advice: Pick out the CEMS schools in your favorite list and ask them directly. It's always good to get in touch with some schools in advance as you get a feeling of theri culture depending on their reaction (response time, politeness, accurateness of their answer etc.)

      Finally: I you manage to get a GMAT score of 700 or more this is top top top... if, however, you should get a score between 600 and 700 don't worry. It will still be a great score...

      I hope I could help you
      Best wishes
      Thomas

      Reply

  • Posted by - rahul.ramanujam - on 1 December 2011 - 9:25am

    Hi Thomas,

    Thank you very much for your response. I have already recommended this site to my friends.
    Thanks again!
    Rahul

    Reply

• Posted by - rahul.ramanujam - on 30 November 2011 - 7:28pm

  Hi,

  I'm an aspirant and wish to apply for the MiM program. My preference is HEC Paris and wish to receive your expert opinion considering I have my deadline coming up soon.

  As for my background - Am a 2009 Engineering pass out and have work experience of 16 months. I apply by the January deadline and will be giving my GMAT in December. Kindly enlighten me as to what would be the student profile as I had a poor outing during my engineering. My profile other wise is fairly above average/good that includes high school and extra curricular/ co-curricular activities.

  Any help would be appreciated.

  Regards,
  Rahul

  Reply

• Posted by - rutuja - on 9 November 2011 - 6:02am

  Hi,

  Thanks a lot for your prompt reply. I would certainly mention MIM-Compass to the universities whenever possible.

  I would not complete 2 years actually because I joined in August and if I get an admit I might most probably leave the job in May 2012 which will make my overall work experience to be around a yr and 8-9 months.
  I am confident that I would certainly want to do an MIM now and maybe go for an MBA later on.

  I have currently applied to Hec Paris. Are the other Hec schools equally good having a reputation as Hec Paris?

  The McMaster Co-op is a program offered in McMaster University, Canada (DeGroote Business School) which is for students having 0-2 years of work experience.

  Can you suggest me any universities in US which offer a masters or Msc programs in General Management? Because the universities I researched either have specialized courses (in Finance, Accounting etc) or have research based programs.

  I am not averse to applying anywhere. So if you know any other good universities, it will help me a lot.

  Thanks,
  Rutuja

  Reply

  • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 9 November 2011 - 3:46pm

    Hi Rutuja,

    in that case a Master in Management makes a lot of sense. You just need to look for MIM programs that do not require a first academic degree in Business or Economics (our search engine filter "Entry Requirements" offers you this option).

    As for the HEC, at least I can say that these schools are different although they have the same name. Also, in Europe I would say that the HEC Paris clearly is more known and has a stronger reputation than the other schools. The strong flagships seem to be the MBA programs but also their Master in Management is in the Top-5 of the Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking. Last but not least, they are a grande ècoles and as such belong to the top schools in France.

    The question is, however, where you want to work in the future. It may be possible, for instance, that the HEC Montréal has better contacts to companies in Canada than the HEC Paris. This is what I would recommend you to clear first of all.

    Best wishes
    Thomas

    Reply

• Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 5 November 2011 - 7:40pm

  Hi Rutuja,

  thank you for your question. My opinion is that you do very well. A GMAT score of 660 is great and most school's of this world (except maybe for Ivey League schools sich as Harvard or Yale) will perceive this as excellent. Even though the GMAT score will not give you a guarantee that you get accepted, a score of 660 is clearly above-average for most programs and may also classify you for merit-based scholarships.

  As for your work-experience, you will have about 2 years when you actually start the Master, right? With this you have basically two options when you think about doing a Master in General Management. You can study a MIM program, that is a Master in Management or Business. Or you can start an MBA about a year later (some schools may even accept you with two years of work experience butI always recommend to do an MBA not before you have a minimum of 3 years). Please read our article on the differences between a Master in Management (MIM) and an MBA.

  If you go for an MIM program, all the schools you applied to already have a reputation:

  • HEC Paris (did you apply for HEC at Paris or Montreal or Lausanne? These are different schools...
  • Rotterdam School of Management
  • Sauder School of Business (UBC)

  I am sure that you will get admissions in most if not all of them. The London Business School also belongs to the top schools in Europe and I would give it a try of the school attracts you. I did not understand what you meant with "McMaster Co-op", however... Maybe you can clarify.

  Since there are many more great schools and programs, however, I would think more about your own preferences and goals. For instance...

  • If you want to work in the US later on a US school could be preferable
  • If you want to work in a specific country in general a school in that country could provide you with relevant business contacts
  • If you want to keep your options open you could look for a school with international cooperations and study phases at partner schools (for example check CEMS and Hult)
  • and so on...

  Also, have a look at the Financial Times Master in Management Ranking.

  Finally, ask the schools of your interest about their experience with people from your country (India?). How many students from you country made the program already? And how did the program impact their career?

  I hope I could be helpful to you.

  Best wishes
  Thomas

  p.s. If you want to do us a favor please mention the Master in Management Compass (MIM-COMPASS) at the schools that you are communicating with.

  Reply