Cass vs Lancaster/Edinburgh

2015applic...

15 30

Posted Jan 31, 2015 16:15

I have received offers for MSc Management at CASS (they didn't accept me on the MBA) and MBA at Lancaster and Edinburgh.

I currently live in London and want to continue working/studying here - no other city comes close in terms of commerce.

The MSc Management has 500+ contact hours spread over 19 modules. The degree is similar to the French MiM's in this respect. The only negative is the students on the programme will be inexperienced - I have 3 years experience. However Cass is far more reputable than Edinburgh/Lancaster.

Would you all agree that the Cass option is the better one out of the two given my circumstance? I recognise the MSc Management at Cass does not carry the "MBA" tag - but are employers really that naive that they will prefer any decent MBA over a MSc Management regardless of school/content of degree etc? I am sceptical as to the value of an MBA from second tier schools.

I do not know what sector I want to work in after the degree, but I know I definitely want to work in a large blue-chip like Amazon. I do not want to go into Banking and Financial Services.

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Duncan

14.013 15.475

Posted Feb 01, 2015 14:17

You need more options, and a clearer career goal. Find the schools that your target employers hire from. Clearly a graduate of an MBA like Edinburgh or Lancaster will get around $100k, almost twice the salary of a Cass MSc, at $54k. Taking an general management MSc will probably set your career back three years.

Amazon is not a blue chip!

Take a look at:-
GMAT Tiers - strong schools for your GMAT www.find-mba.com/board/27082

How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571

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2015applic...

15 30

Posted Feb 01, 2015 20:54

Apologies I am not sure why I said it was a blue-chip..lol

I am not sure how to obtain a clearer career goal. I can only really do that by studying a variety of business areas and then deciding on the one which interests me the most. I studied a social science at undergrad - this is my biggest regret.

I think you have to take the salary data with a pinch of salt. Lancaster/Edinburgh MBA's have on average 8-10 years work experience so of course they will earn double. Cass MSc's are on average fresh graduates.

Can you think of any reason why I would only earn $54K after the MSc - the same as a fresh graduate? Won't employers value my work experience?

I think the Cass MSc curriculum is fantastic and much more comprehensive than most MBA's in UK. For example the Lancaster and Edinburgh MBA's only have around 290-350 hours of teaching respectively.

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Duncan

14.013 15.475

Posted Feb 01, 2015 21:50

The MBA experience is different. I doubt that the "the Lancaster and Edinburgh MBA's only have around 290-350 hours of teaching respectively". The Edinburgh MBA, for example, is around 20 courses, each of which will be around 35 hours. But a big different with the MBA is that group work, team work, consultancy projects and so on make MBAs ready for different roles. An MSc in management will not lead to MBA roles, and remember that you are not being offer a place on the Cass MBA, which also suggest that the paths and outcomes are different.

Of course I have no idea why your outcomes won't be similar to those of other Cass MScs. My business hired three people from the Cass MSc in 2012 and they were high quality, but not MBAs.

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