Editor's Note: BusinessWeek collected graduate comments in 2000 during its ranking of full-time MBA programs. The next ranking is scheduled for fall, 2002.
I am very happy to have chosen IESE for my MBA. I have had an extremely interesting and valuable experience! --Entrepreneurship
I very much enjoyed the program here at IESE, especially the very open, friendly, and helpful staff, the not-overly-competitive atmosphere, the very international student body, and the opportunity to live in Spain and learn another language. --Consulting
Genuinely bilingual. I am now fluent in Spanish. Unparalleled introduction to Spanish and Latin American business world. World-class campus and location. Competitive, but community atmosphere. Rigorous academic program; imaginative use of the case method. Several star faculty; good visiting professors both years. --Venture Capital/Private Equity
The IESE is changing for good in many areas. It is a very demanding and discipline-oriented school. However, it still needs to improve the career-placement department. This in order to take care of the high number of non-European students that are not willing to stay in Spain and are interested [in following] a real international career, in Europe, America, or in Asia. --Marketing
Thanks to IESE I have had the opportunity to work and study in three different continents in two years, learning not only from my teachers and classmates at IESE, but also from my working peers in Chile and my fellows in Chicago. I have had the opportunity to organize transcontinental events with students from other business schools. I have had the opportunity not only of knowing how to do things but also [how] to implement them, of learning that it is important to work in groups but also to work in groups with my classmates at IESE and Kellogg and with managers and employees in my summer internship. I have had the opportunity to have interviews and job offers with the companies I liked. I think that to study at IESE has been not only the most exciting experience in my life, but also the best investment I have ever done. --Consulting
Last year we had a "not-so-good" professor and we complained. Next class another professor came to the class, the next class the chief [of the] department came, and the next we were assigned a new teacher. --Operations
Barcelona is THE best city to study in. The school still needs to free itself a bit more from its Catholic roots. --Finance
I made a mistake selecting a two-year course. I think that two years is too long. Also, I learned much more in the first year than in the second. --Anonymous
After comparing IESE with the Columbia Business School, where I spent one semester on exchange, I can claim that IESE is surpassing the US schools in respect to international diversity. IESE is a very friendly and entrepreneurial university. --Anonymous
IESE has its own intrinsic value: being a bilingual program one has to learn another language and be able to act in a dominant culture other than one's own. IESE creates the environment of an expatriate manager who has to adapt to a local situation and at the same time be able to deal and cooperate with people from 50 countries. Teamwork is a key goal at IESE. The case-study approach dominated by the Harvard material offers a higher level of confidence to the student in facing future real-life business issues. --Anonymous
The outstanding element of the MBA experience at IESE is not the academic learning and enhanced-career opportunities, which are fine, but the quality of the environment. The location in Barcelona is wonderful, and the atmosphere on campus one of the best I have ever lived and worked in. Like all good business schools, the program encourages competition and achievement but at the same time fosters genuine friendship amongst students and professors from over 40 different countries. --Anonymous
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