Businessweek has this information about selectivity at those schools:

IE: Accepted 29 percent of applicants in 2008

IMD: Accepted 26 percent of applicants in 2008

ESADE: Accepted 45 percent of applicants in 2008

So, as you can see, ESADE is the least selective of those schools.

Unfortunately, INSEAD didn't provide selectivity information on its BW profile... so you can't directly compare!

I don't think you can go wrong with any of them... they are all very prestigious, and have highly respected programs. I'd look at the course offerings and see which best fits what you're looking for. Or, just apply to all of them and make a decision between the ones that accept you.

Hi,
I have been admitted to IE and ESADE for Master in International Management for september this 2009.I am from India.My family has shifted to Spain.

I intend to settle in Spain (or maybe Europe). I am having the toughest time deciding which school to choose as this is a really really important decision for me.

I need to keep the following things in mind before making the decision:

-Which is a better school IE or Esade?? Which has a better curriculum?

-Which school would offer a better job and at a better managerial position?

-Which is a better place to live in...in terms of the people,the weather,the fun quotient of the place.

-Which place has better people and is there a difference in the dialect in the language between madrid and barcelona?

-Which school has better INTERNATIONAL standing and a better international mobility.

-which city would it be easier to settle in and live in?where are people more friendly?

IT WOULD BE REALLY GREAT IF SOMEONE WHO HAS STUDIED AT EITHER OF THE SCHOOLS WOULD GET IN TOUCH WITH ME.

Others also,please help....as i have absolutely no time to decide....and its a really important decision.

help would be very very much appreciated.especially someone who lives in Spain.

Hi samrath,

IE has better brand recognition than ESADE, it is more international and offers better career prospects. The school has been doing some aggressive marketing and is aiming at getting the worldwide recognition it deserves. Look where the school was 30,20,10 years ago and look where it stands now, and you'll see the progression. 5 or 10 years from now, an IE degree will be far more valuable than one from ESADE.

Good Luck to you.

Among the three, IE might be the best choice in terms of the brand recognition and reputation. As a matter of fact, LBS, INSEAD, and IE are the top three business schools in Europe.

I think each schools has various identity which must be considered before accepting their offers.
One should not select their schools blindly from ranking perspective.
It is deceiving. Such as IE ranked so high because they managed to get students from asia/ latam (with low salary) and place them in europe (with higher salary).
Thus, the incremental salary is the highest among all schools, that's why their rank is so high.

One similarity is that all the programs take less than 2 years.
IMD: 11 months
IE: 12 months
ESADE: 12 or 16 months.

IMD focus on placement to industry such as Medtronic, Phillip, etc.
Both IE and ESADE are focussing on enterpreneurship/consulting business.

If I have to choose between the three, I would choose ESADE, why?
1. It's located in barcelona. Europe's VC hub.
2. The program allows me to do internship (if I choose the 16 month option).
This is crucial for career-switcher to finance.
3. More time to learn the language (again if I choose 16 month option)
4. Barcelona is so much better than madrid in the standard of living and cultural aspects.
5. It doesn't matter whether you graduate from IE or ESADE or IMD, they all top schools.

Btw, people always assuming that getting into powerhouse management consulting is a walk in the park after obtaining degree from IE, ESADE or IESE.
But the truth is you need to get your spanish skill to the business level fluency.
So if you're aiming McKinsey, Bain, BCG office in madrid. You better work your butt off to learn you spanish 24/7 before school starts.
That's my advice.

Rhino,

I agree with your post on the whole, except I disagree a little bit about your Barcelona vs. Madrid arguement.

Madrid is the largest city in Spain and is the biggest financial center. (Even though Barcelona has an edge in some sectors.) Also, it is the better place to learn Spanish, since people in Barcelona speak Catalan.

I do agree though that Barcelona is a beautiful city, perhaps "nicer" than Madrid. And you can't beat having the beach right there :) Culturally, each is charming in its own way.

As you can see, the topic of Madrid vs. Barcelona is one of much debate: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/326026

<blockquote>Among the three, IE might be the best choice in terms of the brand recognition and reputation. As a matter of fact, LBS, INSEAD, and IE are the top three business schools in Europe.</blockquote>

Since when has IE ever been mentioned in the same breath as INSEAD and LBS? If you're talking about IMD, definitely. But not IE.

I don't know, I've noticed some suspicious IE promoting on this board and the Businessweek board recently...

Several different screen names but similar comments.

I actually got IEApplicant confused with someone else in my other post, and mixed up some of the things they said. So, this response would also work on this thread:

I think your statement is pretty strong... obviously, it's impossible to predict the future. IE has definitely grown a lot in recent years, and raised in its reputation. But who knows what direction is will go in the future? One could argue that IESE and ESADE are safer bets because they have been around for a longer time and have a more consistent reputation. But, anyway, I don't know about 5 to 10 years from now. But, today at least, all three schools offer good opportunities, I believe.

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However, I agree with you fishball INSEAD, LBS and IMD are considered the top in Europe. I have never heard of any of the Spanish schools being included in that league. If any, it would be IESE maybe as #4.

All I know is that several years ago, I was on the verge of attending the IE program, but decided against it after I looked into their placement report in detail. IE is no where near LBS and INSEAD.

I guess perhaps IE's admissions committee needs to shore up their numbers this year. Got to have more applicants to get that bonus...

http://gmatclub.com/forum/ft-rankings-75163.html#p567822

I don't know where the $145 K comes from. I know on FT it is the "weighted" salary, and I'm not sure how they "weight" it.
But the "average salary" that IE reports on its own placement statistics is 58,500 euros, which would only be around $78,000 US right now.

http://imba.ie.edu/pdf/placement_report.PDF