I'm thinking of doing a 1 year MBA course from September 09 and I was hoping to get opinions on the following points:1). Which are the most respected 1 year courses (so far I am considering Said, Judge, CEIBS and INSEAD)?2). What is your opinion on how the current economic climate might affect demand for MBA students in 2010? (Obviously if one knew this definitely they'd have retired a rich man by now!)3). I would have 3 years Strategy/Operations Consulting experience with a strong CV. Would this be sufficient in the eyes of a top business school and potential employer (eg Strategy/Marketing Consultancy firm)4). Big 4 forms don't usually fund MBAs so what are the best options for financing?Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Hi anon,Answers of a kind below...1) According to the FT 2008 rankings: 1 - INSEAD, 2 - Judge, 3 - CEIBS, 4 - Said. Take rankings with a pinch of salt as different people want different things out of an MBA. Nosce te ipsum.2) Current demand is down in the UK and will be for a couple of years in my opinion, but firms are always on the lookout for good people.3) Three years is a little bit thin to be honest, and represents the lower limit of what they'll consider you with unless you're truly exceptional. Five is a better number to conjure with IMHO.4) Options in order: A - Your savings, B - Family and friends, C - Get a job where they will fund you and work your backside off to qualify, D - HSBC and other loan schemes, E - Hope to get a job which will refund some or all of your tuition post hoc, F - Work during the MBA. Actually, you will find that you'll end up using a combination of some or all of these options.My experience; I applied to and received offers for two of the top 10 MBA progammes with five years of solid (but not MBB) work experience. I funded it through a wide range of the resources listed.Best of luck,EC

Why does anyone even consider doing an MBA any more?They have lost all their cache since every man and his dog has started offering them as courses...As an interviewer, I would really rather see strong delivery focussed work experience, rather than theoretical academic views. My own experience of hiring MBAs is that they're no better, and often a lot worse, than mere mortals. Save your money, and stay in your job

For career change and learning some business concept MBA is still valuable.You can get worst people from anywhere not only MBA's but at the same time you get above average people from top MBA's

Maybe because some people get fed up with consulting and want to change to a career where they can make some real money and do interesting work.

Thanks for all the replies so far.I have done some further research since my original post in response to some of the comments above.I personally think an MBA can be valuable if you want to credentialise yourself with a professional qualification from a prestigious school (making MBAs proportionally less valuable from weaker schools), want to learn from top thinkers while networking with top students from across the globe, and perhaps most importantly; to expand your career options. This is nevertheless a very personal decision and is probably not for everyone (particularly given the cost and expected ROI)It seems that average pre-MBA work experience is usually around 4-5 yrs (US) and 6-7 years (Europe). However there is an increasing trend to admitting less experienced candidates (~2-3 years) who can demonstrate strong leadership, career progression and responsibility (Columbia and Harvard are noted for this). I would hope that a 3 year strong track record in Strategy Consulting would be compared favourably to slightly more experience in industry (for example) in terms of an MBA. It also seems that applications have gone up markedly this year and this could rise again with a weak job market (and therefore lower opportunity cost) in financial services next year, which may make getting into top schools more difficult (and potentially a difficult MBA recruitment market if the economy hasn't recovered by 2010/11)My final question is does anyway know of top schools in the US/Europe who have a strong reputation for Marketing (eg compared to Finance)? I have heard Columbia and Kellogg mentioned as strong schools in this regard.Many thanks in advance for any opions offered.