Applied to a number of business schools for the Sep14 intake - INSEAD, LBS, IESE, Oxbridge. Unfortunately only got accepted at IESE. Now im having second thoughts on whether i should reject IESE and then apply for the US business schools. If i shouldnt reject, whats a good excuse for me to defer? What prompted me to apply to US schools now is a number of factors: firstly IESE is a 19 month (+ 2 month Spanish language course) MBA program - 21 months is pretty much a year, and it'll cost me 72k EUR in tuition. This will roughly equate to the same as attending a top 7 US business school, both in funding and time. If that was the choice, I would prefer to attend a US business school (no offence to IESE), for the international opportunities and recognition. Do you guys, as consultants, share the same view about IESE? Its not INSEAD or LBS, but is IESE on par in consulting in the UK as the Booths/Kelloggs/Haas/Sloan for the USA?My background: - 5 Years WE - Head of a finance department in a Australia Bank (regional interaction with AU/NZ/HK).- Own online business- Tons of community work - helping underpriviledged children- Know a few languages: English, Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, basic French.Downside - average GPA (3.4) and poor GMAT (650).My goal:I really want to get myself in the door in consulting, ideally for MBBB, but i would be happy to settle with the likes of LEK, Oliver Wyman etc. I would like to work in the UK, but i would also be happy returning to Australia if that is what it takes for me to get into consulting. Ideally from strategic consulting to a business development/strategy department in the consumer goods/industry sector.Thoughts? Advice?

The University of The West of Scotland do a really promising program.http://www.uws.ac.uk/mba/

MBB will look at your whole academic record, not just where you took your MBA, and that GPA and GMAT will rule you out. As for settling for the likes of LEK, OW etc...well they are just as stringent in their application requirements. Don't get misled by the talk of 'tier 2' strategy firms - they are only tier 2 in terms of brand recognition and perhaps revenue. The work is the same, their people just as capable as MBB, and their demands on applicants just as high.IESE has a strong recognition in the European market. Frankly as strat consulting is out of the question, you will be focusing on other types, and for them an MBA from IESE will dl just fine.It's really a choice of bird in the hand or...?

But will GMAT and GPA in my undergrad degree truly be the measures on whether I receive an interview with MBBB or even the 'tier 2's? Surely they would also look at your experience and/or your education to which you receive your MBA? Although im not the person that excels in the classroom/exams, im more the person that prefers real life experiences and learning on the job and on the fly. Such as owning a online business (managing it since university, while generating profiteering opportunities both on the supply chain and tiered pricing - currently generating $20-30k annually), advisory work for non-profits on the weekend, as well as being the youngest head of a finance department managing a team, while being 25 years old? Im hoping those factors is enough for them to oversee a 3.4 GPA (which in AU is a top 25% of the class, as no one really gets above 3.6 except with a selected few), and the poor GMAT, but i scored in the top 15 percentile for quant in the GMAT. But no one else see it as the case? That the important factor is not just business acumen but something I did years ago? Or is really my only shot at networking my way up?

The fact that you are asking me if your undergrad grades will even matter with MBB just underlines your lack of knowledge of the companies you are aspiring to join. Sorry to be blunt, but you clearly haven't understood exactly what you are aspiring to.I take your point that experience should count. It does but for MBB et al it is simply not enough. Fact of the matter is they neither can see past a low GPA nor would they need or want to. MBB get applications from the very top of the academic class, and even then most wont make the cut. When you look at their rates, you understand what the metric is and why there can be no exceptions. Don't waste your time and money chasing something you cannot achieve. It's just a reality that unless you have perfect academic scores as a baseline and can then add in stellar experience thereafter, you are chasing rainbows applying to MBB and the other strat houses. Given your experience I even wonder whether you would enjoy it anyway - you seem a little more entrepreneurial and spirited, and MBB isn't really the place to express those traits. Look to consulting - but to the more mainstream firms.

Can I ask why you want to join MBBB? You seem to be being fast-tracked in your Australian bank, you have a team, you do great stuff in your spare time, you are an entrepreneur. What is your reason for putting your 100k USD into an MBA rather than trying to expand your business, grow a non-profit or otherwise enjoy yourself? This is not meant to be a loaded questions - I'm sincerely interested as to why someone so successful believes an MBA and MBB is really a step forward. In this case it sounds like an expensive step back / sideways...

I'm sure they'll forgive a low GPA and a low GMAT score if you subsequently obtain an MBA from Harvard.You see, the problem with saying that you're more a "real life" kind of person is that everybody says that. Academic tests however very quickly sort the wheat from the chaff - it helps to discern those that just say they're clever, from those that really are. Saying that you applied to Insead, LBS, Oxbridge and so on but got an offer from The University of the West of Scotland does not mean that you're an Insead, LBS, Oxbridge calibre sort of person. You have to be "real" here.And besides, why on earth anybody would spend 72k EUR on an MBA from anything other than one of the top 5 schools is beyond me, but that's a separate discussion.

Part of the reason is that i dont like what i do at work - pretty important if i do it for 5 days a week - and i feel it really adds no value to a bank in terms of innovation and financial institutions are quite vanilla in their product strategy and development. Bank operations, while interesting for some, are a bit too 'cookie-cutter' of each other based on my observations from my experience in a US Investment bank, Swiss investment bank and an Australian bank. I do eventually want to work in business strategy/development for a industry company - thats my eventual goal. This combines everything i have done in terms of my experiences: Consumer markets (online business), helping others further themselves using the tools that I have (through helping non profit organisations) and utilising my quantitative/finance knowledge from my work experiences. What has always intrigued me is the movement of a company like: for example "Lego". Where they went from plastic blocks to a new consumer market and product diversity such as lego technic, movies, games, ipad apps, licensed models (star wars etc). This is what i feel like i want to be part of in terms of investment decisions and business strategic direction. Its a dream, but i would like to be at the forefront of companies that decide to break into a new market.My thought is that i should get into consulting first before moving into industry - because i feel that industry is too big of a leap for me at this point. Do let me know if there are more logical avenues for me to get to my eventual goal, very keen to hear as MBB or consulting may not be the only solution? Correct me if im wrong, but consulting would get me exposed to consumer goods/tech/telco/mining etc, what each company does, what its strong/weak in, the market that its exposed to, risks etc. Itll get me a wider general view of business operations across most or at least a selected few sectors away from just banks. Itll give me experience of solving company problems, working solutions to real existing issues in the company and each specific and tailored to individual clients.

For me, its more for the career change (industry and job function). I rather do this and forgo the salary i have while i am still young. I dont want to regret not trying for what i want to do in life when im 30+ and potentially starting a family. Yes its a hit on me financially, and i can *just* fund it myself...but im hoping the experiences and personal/professional development that i have from it will take me to where i want to go. This may or may not happen, i might not get to consulting, i might not get to consumer goods - but i certainly gave it my best.

Well, despite the focus upon them, it's not just MBB that recruit from business schools, and they are arguably not the best place for your profile. Why not shoot for positions at Google, Facebook or other silicon valley places? Even go into the UN or the World Bank. Don't get hung up on MBB...Also, do an MBA if you really want to network - don't do it because you think there is something "missing" from your experience. This is bulls*it. You can learn more than an MBA will ever teach you from freely available sources. Invest your 100k USD - this will be much more important to your family when you're 30 than 3 letters after your name...

For U.S. schools, the tuition/expense is actually ~$200k.

whiteshields1830,If you want to get into MBB, forget IESE. Try INSEAD, LBS, HArvard again. If you want to get an MBA, do it at a 'true' top school. IESE and IE do not fall in this category.Finally, there is a list on here somewhere, which shows MBB - business school stats. I don't know the link, but Tony Restell does.