Posted by - Norwegianstudent - on 7 May 2013 - 5:14am

• Posted by - Norwegianstudent - on 8 May 2013 - 3:06pm

  Thank you! I really appreciate your expertise on this field. Lets´s say you were in my shoes.
  You graduate in 3 weeks,and this is currently the only offer you got for the up-coming semester. Your grades are
  average,and you may not get the same opportunity next year. Regardless of the location,but the FT-rankings
  and the programme´s good reputation taken into consideration; would you go for it - or wait until next fall and
  try to get admitted on a more specialized master with economics/managemet as a prereq!

  Again u are very helpful!

  Cheers

  Reply

  • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 8 May 2013 - 5:20pm

    I there,

    for this, I would need to reflect further my own situation as a candidate and screen the business school more. Only then I could decide.

    At the moment, I recommend you to talk to current students and alumni. Ask the school to bring you in contact with them. By this, you get the best information

    The final step is visiting the campus and asking the relevant questions: Is this the world you want to pay for and spend a year at?

    best wishes
    Thomas

    Reply

• Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 7 May 2013 - 3:21pm

  Hi Nikolay,

  thank you for your questions. Let's address them one by one.

  Difference Master in Business and Master in Management:
  Please have a look at our Differences between MIB and MIM article that should clarify it. Basically, there are only differences if the title extension signals them - for example, a Master in International Management or a Master in European Business may be a bit different from a general Master in Management.

  Difference between Master of Science (MSc) and Master of Arts (MA):
  Please have a look at our Degrees MSc, MA, and MBA article that should help you out. Often, the MSc is granted for programs that require a first degree in business or economics while MIM programs with an MA are open for graduates from other disciplines as well. But this distinction doesn't hold anymore as in many cases it is the other way round. Hence, I would ignore this criterion and rather look at the more relevant criterion: For whom is the program designed?

  What's the target group of a program?
  About one third of all MIM programs worldwide is restricted to graduates with a degree in a business- or economics-related area. These are the primary programs you are looking for because they build on your prior experience. By contrast, programs not restricted to graduates from these disciplines likely start on a more basic level and may create redundancies in the curriculum for you. You can search for such programs using our search filter Entry Requirements.

  • Note that I am not saying that programs open for any discipline are not interesting or challenging for you.
  • You need to check the curriculum and the level of depth by yourself. I find it more likely, however, that programs not restricted to graduates from economics or business repeat stuff that you already learnt in your undergrads.
  • The Grenoble Master in International Business for instance is open for graduates from all disciplines. Still, it can be an interesting program for you, for instance when studying with people from other disciplines stimulates your thinking and exposes you to different ideas.
  • Furthermore, sometimes a closer look at the class profiles helps. In the Grenoble MIB, for example, 36 percent of the students are from management or economics disciplines. So, you will not be isolated there...

  What's the right program length?
  According to our Global MIM Survey 2012, about half of the MIM programs are one-year programs and the other half are two-year programs. This has nothing to do with France as you can find one- or two-year programs everywhere. What you decide for depends solely on your preferences. How much money do you have (living expenses)? How much do you want to learn? etc.

  • If your major criterion for choosing a program are your career prospects, the length of program may not play a strong role here.
  • For both program types you may find attractive employers coming to campus.
  • So, it's more a question of what you need to become more competent.
  • Also, keep in mind that longer programs may be more liekely to offer you in-company projects or internships - something that can be beneficial for your career.

  Bottom line: Try to carefully screen each individual program and ask yourself: Is this the program where I want to spend one or two years of my life? Rather formal stuff such as degree titles should be less important.

  Best wishes
  Thomas

  By Thomas Graf

  Reply

  • Posted by - Norwegianstudent - on 8 May 2013 - 1:42pm

    Very good thank you so much! I have to find out more about the courses
    However I just wonder what you mean by "you will not be isolated there"
    Do you mean that in a good/bad way?

    Reply

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 8 May 2013 - 2:33pm

      Hi there,

      sorry for not being clear. I was just thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of being in a class with people who all have a business or economics background (=a more similar background) as opposed to being in a class with people of diverse backgrounds.

      Being together with people of the same or similar background:

      • Advantage: Allows the program to go deeper from the beginning on and to build on the common knowledge base of the class.
      • Disadvantage: Maybe rather similar views on the topics, not much critical thinking and new ideas beyond one's commonly agreed horizon.

      Being together with people with diverse backgrounds:

      • Advantage: Likely different views on topics (e.g., if someone with humanities or medicine as undergrad discusses with someone with economics as a background) can be very fruitful for learning and personal development
      • Disadvantage: Program may need to take some time to bring everyone on the same knowledge level => so potentially boring for ecnomics people in the beginning

      So, both extremes may not be ideal. A mixture, however, may be optimal - so a class with diverse views but with a decent amount of business/economics people who may push the level further in a good way so that the non-economic people really need work hard to catch up.

      This is just a thought. Again, there are advantages and disadvantages. With "not being isolated" I made it in a positive sense - that it may be better for you to study together with a decent number of other people from business or economics, as opposed to beign the only one with such a background.

      best wishes
      Thomas

      By Thomas Graf

      Reply