I don't have a MBA as I'm an ACA and to be honest the fact MBA's tend to be so financially based doesn't add that much for me, but I have spent time at Insead and considered in detail doing one. It is a massive investment in time and often finances doing an MBA so I personally think you need to know what you are looking to get out of it, something that boosts your earnings / career progression or something just more for you. For me personally it needs to be a balance between reputation and relevance. There are so many courses and places to study these days I think it's possible to get both.

Can't go wrong with Insead if you can get in.

you're generally right, but there are some horror stories around. Such as the class of 2yrs ago, who graduated during the credit crunch, meaning that only about 20% had jobs to go to...

My view on the MBA is do it if it is going to add to your career potential. If not, then dont bother. May seem a bit obvious, but in may work places, actual experience is trumping MBAs and other academic qualifications.

great answers, thanks for all your help! And man, if i could get into Insead it'd be a no brainer!

my dilemna is that i'm looking at schools generally around the 30-60 rankings in the FT/Economist (for whatever they're worth). Now, the things that are most important to me is the quality of the faculty and international representation of the student body. I think those two things would hopefully combine to give me a great education.

But with those schools (places like U of Warwick, Cranfield, Bath, etc) i would imagine the impact of their MBA would most likely be felt in the immediate 2-5 years after, and then only with UK companies. Which is fine, i don't mind staying here another few years. The benefit with the top 10 places (or 20) is that people see Insead/wharton/stanford and you'll get an interview for the next 20 years just on that degree.

for mine, i think it'll boost me in the first few years to a track above where i currently am, but then my experience will come more into play.

it's a tough one, as these courses aren't cheap! And boatyyy, i agree about the technical degrees, and even more about computer technology, but i know enough about myself to know those aren't for me, my mind is quantitative enough for those programmes.

interesting you mention that about the key markets. i went to undergrad to Boston U (i'm a yank but living in london for 5 years) and while the school is generally regarded as good enough, the communications department (that i studied in) was regarded as top of the table (along with syracuse) which helped when i was initially looking for jobs out of school.

one of the reasons i want to do my MBA over here is i figure when i (eventually) move back to the states international work experience along with an international MBA will hopefully help!

well i currently work in private education with a company that has 11 schools in the UK/IRE. I manage a team for the company (my team has one person in each of the schools, i work in our head office in london). I've been working for this company for 8 years. Started as a teacher, moved to senior teacher, then project managed new product development for 3 years and have been doing this current job for a year.

So it's been great. My company has taken care of me and progressed my career nicely. However, for the first time i can see the ceiling.

Ideally i'm looking to start my own company but don't have enough of a knowledge base on things like financial projects and quantitative analysis to put together a proper business plan. Failing that, i'd like to re-enter the corporate world on a different tract, one with more direct involvement on the direction of the company. An MD position ideally. Now, i'm not going to be qualified for that after just getting the MBA, but hopefully the MBA plus a few more years experience would get me there.

that's the hope anyway and the reasons for wanting to get it. Actually just had a sit down with our current MD who reckons it was one of the most useful things he's ever done (though he went to INSEAD) and couldn't recommend it enough.

They should create a course in "Common sense"
There are so many academics out there that have all qualifications under the sun but are bloody useless at managing a team or interacting in a normal manner.

haha completely agree, that's why i'm hoping with my work experience plus the MBA, i'd be a pretty attractive candidate to some corporations.

Usually, major corporations in most fields tend to hire people who went to top schools (not necesseraly internationally) no matter the degree (bachelor, master or MBA) unless you really have an insane experience (e.g. you're one of the best at what you do etc...)...

If you don't care not working for those corporations, the MBA you choose won't be the most important thing as sfinks said.

The MBA has pretty global teachings whichs seems to be what you're looking for. Be careful though, there are some disguised Msc that have been turned into MBA's because MBA sounds better.

Median age for an MBA is probably 28//29 has it usually requires you to have 3 to 5 years experience so you shouldn't be around too much parties & distraction.

If you don't aim at the Top 10 or even the Top 15/20 globally, there shouldn't be too much difference in teaching quality & international recognition (it depends how you rate local recognition ) so I would suggest if you're looking from the Top 30/Top 60 to choose a program that fits your need as the names become less relevant the lower you go in the rankings...

colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

This only lists US universities, but a good site.

And for those interested, one that rank world wide and rate by subject.

www.topuniversities.com/

the nearest I got to looking at an MBA was this book. it was a good read.

Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School

My wife just finished her executive MBA at Warwick (with a distinction). She called the program 'common sense for adults'. She said that she didn't learn anything new during her three years apart from the correct nomenclature.

I'm glad that her company paid for it, otherwise I would have slapped her for spending our money on the course instead of artwork.

Here are the FT rankings:
rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings-2012

well, just found out i got in to all four schools i applied to Cranfield, Warwick, Bath and Reading (henley). Cranfield is the best ranked school by most metrics and also gave me 12k scholarship which is awesome. Just typed my letter of resignation so won't be pulling in a salary in the future, guess a year off from art buying isn't the worst thing

Congrats! That's fantastic news for you.
What do you mean not buying any more art? You've got 12k to spend on art now!!
Enjoy the course fella.