Hey Everyone,

So I have been accepted into the Manchester Global MBA and the Warwick Distance Learning MBA programs but cant decide which one to go for. Before you refer me to other posts about these schools, I have already reviewed them and would like to get some fresh perspectives here especially in relation to the 2013/2014 cohort.

I noticed it has been very difficult to get information about the workshops at MBS and much of their videos on YouTube dont really entice me to join the program although their international ranking is hgh (along with the price tag). Also it seems like they just play games at these workshops. To be honest I dont want to spend thousands of dollars to attend these workshops if they are not thought provoking and interesting.

I was hoping to get some feedback from current students in the program (especially MBS) to find out if they are learning alot and if the program was worthwhile.

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Especailly regarding the workshops at MBS and Warwick Week at WBS. Finally, I would like to know more about the face to face workshops....do you just attend for 5 days and write the final exam....or do you come home and study for some time before writing it?

Thanks and look forward to your responses!

The counterintuitive notion that Manchester MBAs students "spend thousands of dollars to ... just play games at these workshops" suggests that not only you seem to have made up your mind, but also that you have a substantial misunderstanding of the Manchester MBA. You would be wise to be careful to not look only for data which confirm your current bias.

The admissions offices will be able to connect you with current students. Since you've reviewed the posts you will have seen comments by students on those programmes. I recommend you also message them directly, because they are unlikely to read this post. That said I can't see any way to get fresh perspectives about the cohort that starts later this year; after all, that is in the future.

I did not mean that you will not learn anything at MBS. Obviously there will be course content which must be mastered but from the video positing on YouTube and written articles about these induction workshops it seems that this is what is being focused on. I want to find out if people are being challenged in this course rather than going out for dinner and just networking.

I have done my research but what inside opinions from current and past students. I have reviewed all public information good and bad about the programs so your statement regarding my lack of research is false.

From my experience, admission offices connect you with students that have received scholarships and are usually obliged to provide postiive feedback.

In terms of fresh perspectives, I mean decision criteria or recent news about either school. Since you are neither an MBS or WBS student your input does not help. You have already posted your thoughts on other forums and they have been read. So please do not interfere with my post.

What are you looking for? I did an indepth assessment of Warwick and Manchester as well as EMBAs before I decided to embark on the Manchester course.

Be advised that the Manchester method is an approach to applied learning that goes beyond talk-and-chalk.

You will be lucky to have time for dinner, as the impression I got was that the workshops are extremely intense to the point at which there have been some moves to reduce the necessity evening working.

Each Workshop is three days. There are usually two assignments, one completed at the workshop (often group presentation) plus another one to be submitted online several weeks later. Most of the courses also have examinations at the end of the semester making half the overall mark.

The online portals and blackboard delivery of learning materials, interactive tasks and consolidation of your activities is very well developed and I find it very impressive.

Alternatively, a good insight into the Warwick experience can be found on Matt Cooling's excellent blog.

I would try and avoid being scathing of others input on this forum. Your post above comes across as arrogant and dismissive.

BigD

Self-evidently, I'm not sure that I don't have anything to offer. You have gathered the impression that Manchester MBAs "spend thousands of dollars to ... just play games at these workshops". That seems, from first principles, unlikely and it's a service to you to point it out.

While I'm not a student on at MBS, I am an alum of the school and a mentor to people on the MBA. I visit the school regularly and live with a student on the Global MBA. I also work as an admissions advisor to applicants comparing MBAs here in the UK. That said, I'm sure you're right: nothing I can say will be of any value to you, since you've made up your mind already.

PS Since the DL MBAs are aimed at working executives, I doubt the assumption that the students they will put you in touch with will be scholarship holders: they are not many scholarships for those programmes. Of course I have suggested to you that you should contact students directly. However, I invite you to reconsider the other assumption that scholarship holders will lie to you. If you think that MBAs at these schools don't have integrity, perhaps you should consider other schools?

I did not mean that you will not learn anything at MBS. Obviously there will be course content which must be mastered but from the video positing on YouTube and written articles about these induction workshops it seems that this is what is being focused on. I want to find out if people are being challenged in this course rather than going out for dinner and just networking.

I have done my research but what inside opinions from current and past students. I have reviewed all public information good and bad about the programs so your statement regarding my lack of research is false.

From my experience, admission offices connect you with students that have received scholarships and are usually obliged to provide postiive feedback.

In terms of fresh perspectives, I mean decision criteria or recent news about either school. Since you are neither an MBS or WBS student your input does not help. You have already posted your thoughts on other forums and they have been read. So please do not interfere with my post.

It seems that you have a misunderstanding about the workshops at MBS. They are in fact the highlight of each course and they are quite intense. Studying from books is one thing, but it becomes more interesting when a lecturer explains the theory and gives his/her own insights. The real added value of these workshops is that you get the opportunity to put the theory into practice in the presentations that you need to develop.

The quality of the workshops depends of course on the course itself and the lecturer that is teaching it, but overall I'm quite happy with the experience. I would consider the workshops one of the key reasons to choose the MBA at Manchester over another program.

Dear Optidorf,

Thank you very much for the isightful comments you made! This is the type of useful feedback I was looking for!

Can you tell me a little more about the workshops? Did you visit all the global centres? Also would you be able to share the course syllabus for managerial economics and marketing?

Thanks again!

Hi double J,

If you want to find more info about ME and Marketing, please check my posts on http://www.find-mba.com/board/33488

Regarding the workshops, I can tell that some of them are very rewarding. I'm thinking right now at Operations management one and I can tell you that I have learned more from the games we played at this workshop than reading the entire Slack book given as a a study prerequisite.

I'll detail later about OpM and accounting modules.

regards,

Hey cvm,

Thanks for your update! Really useful! Cant wait for your operations management update! By chance which international centres have you attended? Did you find any difference in the quality of workshops depending on the location?

By chance can you share the syllabus of OM with me just so can see schedule, topics etc?

Here it is:

The reading book is "Operations and Process Management" by Slack et. al.

http://www.amazon.com/Operations-Process-Management-EText-Principles/dp/0273768808/ref=la_B001HMOU5Q_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1369985504&sr=1-3

The study guide is made of 4 comprehensive units, like follows:
1. operations, processes and their strategy
2. planning and controlling the operations
3. supply networks
4. process and operations improvement

There is an additional supplement to Slack's book related to service operations.

The rest, they request you to study additional academic papers available in their online library.

Regards,

Dear Optidorf,

Thank you very much for the isightful comments you made! This is the type of useful feedback I was looking for!

Can you tell me a little more about the workshops? Did you visit all the global centres? Also would you be able to share the course syllabus for managerial economics and marketing?

Thanks again!

Optidorf excellent summary of the workshops! Which were the other two electives that you took?

Can you or anyone else also comment on the support WBS and MBS provided in the job hunt? Have graduates of either program found a new job quickly or did the school have any role in helping you obtain a new (and hopefully higher paying) job? Please feel free to comment about this

I don't know about Manchester, but I know that the career support for the Warwick distance learning program is fairly robust: There are, of course, the online resources (workshops, Skype support, etc.) but the real kicker is that you can attend face-to-face recruitment events.

It's my opinion that the in-person career fairs are where the magic happens - and many online MBA programs don't offer these kinds of services.

My guess is that Warwick will have the edge on Manchester for careers support.

The career support at MBS is one of their points of attention which they are trying to improve. MBS' career services consists of webinars (consultancy, banking), network events at the workshops, search engines at their careers site, job flashes that are regularly sent by mail and three hours of face-to-face with someone from the careers team.

There's no such thing as a face-to-face recruitment event and I don't see that happening anytime soon. They do refer however to online recruitment events held at http://www.mba-exchange.com/ but they are only held a few times a year.

Hmmm. Well that does remind me that I recently wrote something about an event I attended for MBA MBA students, alumni and friends in London. I didn't notice many Global MBA students there.

I wasn't aware of that and I don't think MBS has sent a mail for promoting such an event.

The problem with these mails is that there are so many mails sent that it's easy to overlook an interesting mail for a webinar or a job flash. Students have complained about the number of mails sent, but on the other hand students will do the same if there aren't enough mails sent.

Due to the global character of the distance learning MBA at MBS it will always prove to be difficult to organize a face-to-face event that students will attend. I think that online events are more convenient for distance learning MBA students. I attended one organized by Philips at http://www.mba-exchange.com/ and the quality was quite good. The problem is however that these events are organized by the companies themselves and not the school.

Hi Double J
Did you then decide which one you want to go for? Also, could you please give any tips on writing essays for WBS and MBS?

Cheers
Gati