Recommendations depend on the person's goals and options. If someone wants to work in the German-speaking region, and they can already speak German, then WHU is one of a handful of very strong options. But if someone did not want to work in the DACHs, then it would be totally eccentric to not attend one of the world's best business schools. Indeed, lower taxation in the UK means that gross salaries don't need to be as high as in Germany but that does not mean that LBS alumni do not have faster growth in their careers. At WHU the vast majority of the students will be from DACHs so the additional international experience of an exchange semester is great, but at LBS the world comes into the same classroom: students, faculty and recruiters are internationally-oriented. The three-term structure at MBS is certainly more intensive than WHU's two semesters plus a thesis. I don't think there will be more learning.
Obviously the odds are hugely against you being selected to go to Columbia. Since Columbia does not have a MiM, students from WHU will have to be at the level of Columbia's MBA students to get a seat. That will be both demanding and competitive. More realistically, pick a few schools at random from WHU's 200 partner schools. Is this experience really better than the third term at LBS, where you would be studying alongside LBS MBAs and Sloan Fellows?
Personally, I think that if you are Austrian that you'll get a much richer experience studying outside the DACHs region, but if that's where you want to work then WHU is one of the obvious choices, along with ESMT, HHL, HSG, Mannheim and the WU.
[Edited by Duncan on Jun 24, 2015]
Recommendations depend on the person's goals and options. If someone wants to work in the German-speaking region, and they can already speak German, then WHU is one of a handful of very strong options. But if someone did not want to work in the DACHs, then it would be totally eccentric to not attend one of the world's best business schools. Indeed, lower taxation in the UK means that gross salaries don't need to be as high as in Germany but that does not mean that LBS alumni do not have faster growth in their careers. At WHU the vast majority of the students will be from DACHs so the additional international experience of an exchange semester is great, but at LBS the world comes into the same classroom: students, faculty and recruiters are internationally-oriented. The three-term structure at MBS is certainly more intensive than WHU's two semesters plus a thesis. I don't think there will be more learning.
Obviously the odds are hugely against you being selected to go to Columbia. Since Columbia does not have a MiM, students from WHU will have to be at the level of Columbia's MBA students to get a seat. That will be both demanding and competitive. More realistically, pick a few schools at random from WHU's 200 partner schools. Is this experience really better than the third term at LBS, where you would be studying alongside LBS MBAs and Sloan Fellows?
Personally, I think that if you are Austrian that you'll get a much richer experience studying outside the DACHs region, but if that's where you want to work then WHU is one of the obvious choices, along with ESMT, HHL, HSG, Mannheim and the WU.