I am looking at these 4 programs:

- iMBA at Gies College of Business (University of Illinois) – Coursera - UIUC
- MBA at Questrom School of Business (Boston University) – edX - BU
- Global MBA at Macquarie University – Coursera - MQ
- Global MBA at Manchester Metropolitan University - MMU

Context:
- I live in South America. I have a Bachelor and Master (Italy) degree in Engineering. I don´t have any Business Administration degree but I have managerial experience. I have been working in Energy sector for almost 10 years and I want to switch my career to management; ideally to management consulting.
- I am not familiar with the US (or UK or Australian) Educational system and how one or other school is more prestigious than other.
- I have a limited budget up to 25K USD.
- After completing my MBA, I will probably do a specialization in Analytical Finance.

My research:
- I found out that UIUC is slightly more prestigious than BU in term of University but, Questrom seems to be more prestigious than Gies. Am I correct?
- MMU has the triple crown accreditation and it is less expensive than the others, but it does not appear in any ranking (FT, QS) so I do not know much about its prestige.

Questions:
- I know that UIUC does not participate in rankings but what was their position before they decide not to participate? Or were not they ever in a ranking?
- In case I have an opportunity to go to the US, which of these options would be the most valuable in the US?
- I found (in LinkedIn) that many BU alumni works in Mckinsey NY office, for instance. Is this because of the BU reputation or because of the Geographical location only?
- I'm wondering which school could be the most valuable of the four to me considering my goals and background?

Any recommendation will be appreciated.

Fernando

UIUC's on campus MBA was in rankings, but the logic of rankings (select few, excellent students) runs counter to the Gies mission (reinvent the MBA)

Hello Duncan:
Thanks for your response. I am back with some updates about my applications. I have applied for UIUC and BU. I have included in my list to WBS and I have discarded the others. I have already been admitted by UIUC.

As I said before, I have 10 years of experience in the oilfield industry and now I want to improve my managerial knowledge to have more opportunities in different sectors. Particularly, I am interested in management consulting. I am currently in a recruiting process with Mckinsey in Latin America and I hope to be successful in this process.

My new question is: which of the option will be more suitable according to my goals in the management consulting sector?

My insights:
- UIUC and BU do not have many career services provided. However, I am not sure that I will use them anyway since I am not in the US.
- WBS is very good and more expensive. I am required to go to UK twice during the program.
- I researched about the alumni networks and I looked for Mckinsey employees that studied at Gies or Questrom and I found there are not many. In any case, BU has more McKinsey employees than UIUC. Does BU have better reputation for management consulting sector? Will BU be a better option?

Any recommendation will be appreciated.

You seem keen on McKinsey but along with the other MBB consulting firms, they tend to recruit from the very top MBA schools. This list from their 'McKinsey Early Access' programme might give you a good indication as to what those US schools are now. 

 https://www.mckinsey.com/careers/students/mckinsey-early-access/overview#

Thanks aslamo.
I understand that a residential MBA program in one of the top universities listed in the link is the best alternative to pursuit an offer from one fo the Big Three (Bain, Mckinsey and BGC). However, I cannot do a presencial program now and I do not think I will do it in the future.
I hope that my decision of taking an online MBA will not close me the doors in the consulting sector and will help me anyway either in Consulting or in other industries. Regarding the three options I mentioned (Warwick, BU and UIUC), I find Warwick as the best alternative for an online program. I am expecting to get an scholarship to make it even more attractive. However, I have not found a strong relationship between WU and the consulting sector. On the other hand, between the two American options, I have found that BU has been included in a list for the top MBA to get a job in Consulting sector, which makes the BU program more attractive for me.

What do you think? Any recommendation will be appreciated.

[Edited by Fernando T on Mar 15, 2021]

I'm not sure that doing an online program will add much value to your CV in terms of landing a job in MBB. These companies have well-established recruiting networks from the full-time, in-class MBA programs at the top schools. 

Warwick at least has the option to move on campus for a term. That could help with access to recruiters. 

I'd also go with the Warwick program with on-campus term. MBB recruits almost exclusively from a few top in-class MBA programs; recruiting funnels for most consulting firms run through in-class programs as well. I suggest widening your career goals.