Admission to the best business schools – impossible for Hungarian students?

INSEAD, Harvard, London Business School – they are the world’s best universities to study business. But how easy is it to get access to them for Hungarian students? Based on the up-to-date ranking of QS Top Universities, Harvard provides the highest quality of business education, Forbes.hu notes, but some of Europe’s universities are also included in the list. Several Hungarian university students plan to continue their education abroad. Theoretically, they also may have access to top quality business universities, however, practice shows that it is almost impossible. Education Manager of Engame Academy told Forbes.hu why.

As it may be familiar, there are BA / BSc, MBA / MSc and PhD programmes. Regarding the ranking of business trainings, they are mainly post-graduate trainings. Applying for one is only possible if the candidate has participated in an internship for several years. The trainings are extremely expensive, and they target the employees of companies.

What about the requirements?

Forbes.hu has reported on the fees of these universities, and it seems that it is incredibly hard to get admitted to Harvard Business School’s MBA programmes. Only about 10% of the candidates succeed. Admission requirements are becoming more severe, for instance, grade point average of over 4.5, GMAT result of over 730-750, excellent reference, and an outstanding professional profile. Almost one-third of the candidates admitted are foreign students.

Getting admitted to Harvard University’s BA programmes is also difficult. Roughly only 5% o the candidates gets admitted. Pre-eminent scholastic records, SAT results of almost maximum score, strong reference and outstanding professional profile are basic requirements. About 10% of the students admitted are foreign.

As for the London Business School, it provides post-graduate education only, different business masters programmes, furthermore, MBA and executive masters programmes. About 8090% of the students admitted are international. According to Forbes.hu, requirements include GMA results of over 700 and a generally five-year-long professional experience. For different business and financial programmes, often a two-five years of professional experience is needed. Tasks of the entrance exam include essay composition, handling in CV, cover letter, reference and test results; furthermore, knowing the English language is also required.

Regarding INSEAD, it also provides post-graduate programmes with similar requirements as those of London Business School. It also has MBA and executive masters programmes.

How much does it cost to study at these universities?

First, let’s look at Harvard University. MBA fee is 72,000 Dollars, Graduate training costs 46,000 Dollars. Scholarships may be applied for. It goes without saying that the stronger profile a university has the harder the gaining of the scholarship gets. Besides the fees, students need about 20,000 Dollars for living in general, Forbes.hu informs. As for London Business School having post-graduate trainings only, the fees of masters programmes vary between 30,000 and 32,000 Dollars. In the case of INSEAD, the fee is 77,000 Euros.
According to Forbes.hu, it is obvious that all of the trainings are highly expensive and selective. Often, fees are paid not only by students but mainly by a multinational companies employing them. This is why these educational institutions can keep the fees so high.

What is the highest value such universities can offer?

The good reputation of the university and the programme, practical knowledge and, of course, social capital. Direct corporate relationships, visits to companies, and the implementation of real business projects are all an integral part of practice-oriented MBA and different masters programmes. Thus, students immediately gain utilizable knowledge in the business sector, and they finish their studies with having corporate and professional relations. Moreover, the relations with the fellow students have to be kept in mind, who later find employment at various highly influential companies at different points of the world. Viewing large international organizations, financial and consultancy companies, it is not by chance that most of the employees filling in prestigious posts at these influential institutions gained their degree at these business universities, Forbes.hu claims.

Ambitious Hungarian university students often think about starting even their BA or BSc programme abroad, or, about continuing their studies in masters programme after graduation for the sake of cost-efficiency. There have been many examples showing that a student attending a highly prestigious Hungarian university, for example, Budapest Corvinus University or Eötvös Loránd University, gets admitted to some of the best universities of the list of the 10-20 best universities. However, do not forget that the university the students attended often adds the most to the decision of the board. In this understanding, in case of a foreign student finishing his or he studies in a more prestigious university, she or he will be favoured, Forbes.hu notes.

There are also many cases, however, that the Hungarian students who had already begun their tertiary education in foreign universities, successfully hold their ground in the new environment.

Ce: bm

Source: Forbes.hu