First time I write in this Forum, so thanks in advance for all your good advice.-I am an engineer with six years of professional experience in Germany and the UK. I have applied to a number of full-time MBAs in the UK, and I am currently in the interview round. I still do not have a clear view of the job prospects associated to the graduates of the different business schools. My choices include the Cranfield School of Management, the Judge Institute of Management in Cambridge, and the Said Business School in Oxford. As for my professional background, I am currently working as a Project Manager within a first tier supplier in the automotive sector. As of now, I an interested in general management or management consulting, and after graduating I would like to work in the UK or West Europe. My question is whether there are significant differences in job opportunities&salaries for MBAs graduated from the Judge, Said and Cranfield business schools. My first choice is (was) Said, but a £10K Scholarship from Cranfield makes me doubt. Thanks!

Hi thereI'd say that right now, today, Cranfield has a couple of advantages:1. It's been going a lot longer and has a much bigger MBA alumni network; many more people in their 50's in top positions in the Uk will have done an MBA at Cranfield (or LBS) than Oxbridge. They may have done their first degree at Oxbridge of course, but even this may mean that they are aware that the entry requirements for Oxbridge MBA degrees are not the same as for undergraduates.2. Cranfield is holding its own in terms of rankings: check out the EIU and the FT latest rankings and you'll see it does slightly better than the others in the former and worse in the latter.3. Cranfield MBA students are generally slightly older.However, having said all that, nothing can beat the Oxbridge brand. Sooner or later (maybe within 5 years) the Oxbridge schools will be up there with Harvard in terms of rankings, faculty, recruiters, etc etc. Also, if you are planning to work outside Europe, the brand will always get you a lot further.I chose Cranfield because I wanted an MBA that was as good (if not better) than Oxbridge and I didn't need the brand...and Cranfield was a good deal cheaper for me for the same reasons as you. But if it's the brand you'll be wanting in 5 years' time, choose Oxbridge.

They are all good MBA schools and really the question has to come down to what you want to get out of the MBA, the experience you're looking for, and so on. With an MBA from any of these three, any bottleneck on your career opportunities will be down to your performance in interviews, the quality of your applications, and relatively banal things.If I were you, I'd probably go for Cranfield as you have the experience to benefit from the more mature environment and approach that they have. Also, Cranfield has the best reputation of the three for engineering as a discipline, and for turning engineers into businesspeople. Combining that brand with your automotive experience could give you a "killer" USP (unique selling point) in applying to consulting.Also, the fact that you have a scholarship will make the MBA look even better on your CV - showing that you were at the head of the class at Cranfield will be more powerful than passing out as just another regular alumnus of Said.

May be worth checking the Financial Times MBA rankingshttp://rankings.ft.com/rankings/mba/rankings.htmlSaid & Judge always rank pretty highly but a part of this is future salaries, and pretty well acknowledged that McK's et al's preference for Oxbridge MBA's distorts there rank (i.e. McK pay loads more and this squews the data).That said £10K aside, I would edge towards Judge / Said & then Cranfield, as I think that educationally they will pretty much be up there but you may get a better network from Oxbridge and quality of life likley to be better whilst you're there than at Cranfield (not much there apart from University and an Airfield).

Agreed the money going in to Oxbridge at the moment means they'll be world MBA brands soon. Worryingly though, the 2 big MBA rankings - FT and Business Week - have a very wide disparity in their rankings across the board so who knows?

My money would be on Oxbridge -especially Said.They are already challenging LBS and are considered top 20 global schools in their own right.The Oxbridge brand doesn't do any harm either.

Thank you all for your outstanding advice. Comparing Said and Judge, some people think that Said has two disadvantages when compared with Judge: (i) too many students (approx. 220 Said vs. 107 Judge) and (ii) class “clusterization” at Said due to high proportion of North American (38%) and Asian (mostly Indian) students (34%). seem to make sub-groups within the class and reduce the class contact. On the other hand, I would argue that Said class just reflects the MBA global scene and is another challenge the students should face during the MBA.

...although personally I'd prefer a more diverse cohort than "Rest of The World, 28%". It's a lot of countries to cover...See it as a challenge if you wish but you could view any other attribute in a similar light if you were keen to have such a positive perspective on matters. I think the challenge might be more justly laid with the Said admissions committee to select an interesting, balanced and stimulating cohort rather than be overwhelmed by the brand-obsessed from two particular markets.

It is old versus new. My unqualified opinion is that Cranfield is slipping a bit while Oxford is on the up.. Certainly Oxford is much higher in the rankings. Also, the Oxford MBA in its current form is much newer than the Cranfield, which is probably why you do not see too many 50+ year old MBA's in executive positions.