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Aston or Bradford?

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kelly gilbert

Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 35
Aston or Bradford?
Thu May 01, 2008 09:43 AM
I decided on Cass. Just paid my deposit yesterday. So it looks like I'm off to London in September! I think/hope I made the right decision...

[Edited by kelly gilbert on 01 May 2008]
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lukeh
Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 387
Aston or Bradford?
Thu May 01, 2008 11:09 AM
Congratulations, I'm sure you'll love it. Let me know if you have any questions re. getting yourself established in London - housing, student services, bank accounts, loans etc. Believe me, there are always a few things worth knowing that no amount of official literature can tell you.
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J. Sara

Joined: 04 May 2008
Posts: 1
Aston or Bradford?
Mon May 05, 2008 07:29 PM
Hi! I'm new to this website and found that this is an active post. I have received admission to Aston, Leeds as well as Edinburgh. At the moment I'm quite confused regarding my final decision. Can anybody help give me suggestions?
Thanks in advance
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shveta

Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Posts: 6
Aston or Bradford?
Tue May 06, 2008 10:53 AM
hi Jara..I think Aston is better than both of them as Edinburgh is in scotland area which cannot fetch u more job apportunities.Moreover Aston has advantage of being in Birmingham and also has good ranking.
Thanks
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kelly gilbert

Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 35
Aston or Bradford?
Tue May 06, 2008 11:05 AM
Edinburgh has a fantastic reputation, but along with Leeds, is mostly known for its undergrad. Aston is in the center of UK's 2nd city and is accredited in the UK, Europe and the US. The only drawback to Aston is that it is smaller than the others. But you will be studying and living near other Birmingham uni students, so your network will be great.
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deepbawa

Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 10
Aston or Bradford?
Sat May 17, 2008 05:41 AM
Dear All,

I have accepted the offer from Aston.

Regards.

Deep.
9810904848
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lukeh
Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 387
Aston or Bradford?
Sat May 17, 2008 11:26 AM
Congratulations. And good luck. I think you made a good choice.
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hersh

Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 6
Aston or Bradford?
Wed May 28, 2008 05:23 AM
hi , i have almost finalised on aston business school over strathclyde and bradford.. i did my own preferences analysis.. since we know that pref mba is scraped now.. choice should be made purely on the grounds of accred, research ratings raac 2001 and placements.. exchange program , class size, global mix.. placements percentage and your preferential line of career..

aston/ bradford/ strathclyde

1>rankings too confusing: ft global doesnt take aston into account because its small and fairly new in age as compared to strath and bradford so it scores very less over there and thus are out.. but when it comes to only uk certain factors are discounted and it scores well over them.. thats the hitch.. moreover its emba is ranked very well meas future alumnis at higher posts and good networking.. future prospects seems great. economists rankings seems to have much realistic figures .. go for that.

2> raac 5 for aston 4 for bradford .. strath i dont remember
mind you 4 is not good.

3> tripple accred.. aacsb is a accred given for advance curriculum.. means challenging material highly updated with latest researches.. this accred makes the us schools ahead of everybody.. so to have accsb makes lot of sense.. and a much global recognition. aston and strath stands brad out

4> class size less in aston than any of these.. you can churn more out of the faculties.

5> class mix.. lot of indians and chineese study in strath ..and brad.. again not healthy sign as you get limited`in the breath of network.. look at aston recruiting favourite countries.. malaysia.. germany .. taiwan.. russia.. apart from uk india and china..
sounds too good at global front.. strath and brad.. largely into uk india china.. though they are emmerging economies but mba is all about generalization not specialization.

6> xchange program.. only in aston.. again it shows the well thought mba ..

7> lakeside accomodation.. my heart on it.

8> placements.. aston is very aggressive as compared to other two.. with no hsmp advantage.. students in these colleges will find it hard.. scotland less job opprotunities..

9> as per the feedback i have got.. aston has the best industry links among the three..

so according to my waited average method aston>>strath>>bradford.

i ll appreciate if anybody can add value to my research..
help me to take decision or reinforce my decesion .. i have very less time..
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deepbawa

Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 10
Aston or Bradford?
Wed May 28, 2008 12:02 PM
Dear Hersh,

I think you have already covered all the points.
Trust me Aston definately scores well over Bradford and Strathclyde.

Accomodation- you can try for Heights- you will get free internet as well.
for any queries you can call me on 9810904848.
regards.

Deep.
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hersh

Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 6
Aston or Bradford?
Thu May 29, 2008 08:53 AM
thankx deep for your attention.. shall be in touch with you soon..
one more thing.. what about leeds .. how you compare leeds to aston..
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kelly gilbert

Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 35
Aston or Bradford?
Fri May 30, 2008 11:44 AM
The only point I would note is that Aston does not fit into the UK Home Office's list of the 50 best MBA programmes in the world. If you have an MBA from Bradford or Strathclyde, you automatically surpass all the requirements of the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme - no questions asked. I was admitted to Aston and Bradford, and that was something I had to think about myself.
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deepbawa

Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 10
Aston or Bradford?
Fri May 30, 2008 02:00 PM
dear kelly,
I would like to inform you that the high commission has already removed all such lists.
Have you selected your university?
Regards.
Deep.
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hersh

Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 6
Aston or Bradford?
Sat May 31, 2008 04:03 PM
hi kelly .. i agree with deep .. on the contrary why dont you do a self hsmp calculation and then take a decision .. you get ample calculators on the net.. but trust me .. aston is far better than bradford..
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kelly gilbert

Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 35
Aston or Bradford?
Sat May 31, 2008 08:07 PM
Well thanks very much for that information. It's always good to be kept current on the news.

Between Aston and Bradford, I made my decision to accept the admission from Aston. That was until I received my letter of admission from Cass Business School in London, which is where I will now be going in September.

Had I not been admitted to Cass, I would have loved to arrive Birmingham and attend Aston University.
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hersh

Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 6
Aston or Bradford?
Sun Jun 01, 2008 04:49 AM
congrats kelly... city is definately better than all of them.. you will definately find a good career after that.. my future endevours are with you.. be in touch.. my email id is.. lakhianihersh@yahoo.com
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rocky_8100

Joined: 02 Jun 2008
Posts: 1
Aston or Bradford?
Tue Jun 03, 2008 04:01 AM
hi everybody though this is my first post I have regular reader of this thread......btwn aston & bradford I had decided on aston but the twist in tale is I got an offer from Strath recently so now I am confused.....pl. guide me...
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deepbawa

Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 10
Aston or Bradford?
Tue Jun 03, 2008 01:34 PM
Dear Rocky,

Strathclyde is in Scotland, and i personally feel Aston scores well over Strathclyde.
you can check various points highlighted by Hersh.
He has covered most of the points.

regards.

Deep.
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Salil

Joined: 02 Jun 2008
Posts: 3
Aston or Bradford?
Tue Jun 03, 2008 02:38 PM
Hi All,

I am new to this thread and during blogging, I found this thread and found it very useful. I am also in same dilemma of choosing one between Aston and Bradford.

Well thanks to Hersh, who has done an exhaustive study on both these school and I agree with him and would love to go with Aston.

But I have one query in concern to Aston. In Aston, along with competent faculty, companions/peers must also be competent. Then you can have a good discussion in the class room. As Aston has all qualties, but their entry requirements is just to quality the english competency. They don't have any GMAT requirements, or any particular test which sometime makes me feel that their screening crieteria is just academic credentials, which is an outdated system of selection.

So the stuff of students may not be that good. May be I am wrong but has any one felt the same ? If some one can put light on this matter, especially Hersh, who has given such a good explantion, then i think I can finalize the offer from Aston.

Wish to get a positive response from all of you.

Cheers
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deepbawa

Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 10
Aston or Bradford?
Tue Jun 03, 2008 05:28 PM
Dear Salil,
I think you are getting into a debateable scene now.
I totally agree with you that gmat is an important criteria that the university should have. But at the same time just because the university does not have that criteria it does not degrade the university.
Anyways I wish you best of luck.
Regards.
Deep.
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lukeh
Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 387
Aston or Bradford?
Tue Jun 03, 2008 07:08 PM
I agree with deepbawa. Don't forget that UK nationals (who will comprise a significant proportion of the student body) won't need to take either qualification. So even if the university were to insist on GMAT etc., half the people enrolled on the course wouldn't have done it.
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Salil

Joined: 02 Jun 2008
Posts: 3
Aston or Bradford?
Wed Jun 04, 2008 05:38 AM
Hi Deep, Lukeh and folks,

Many thanks for replying back. I agree with both of you. Times ago, there was no competition exam like GMAT and people those who have done MBA from esteemed B schools in that time are the frontrunners of today’s world economy.

Please let me know, in Bradford they have asked for GMAT on the website or their internal exam. Those who have got the admission call from Bradford, have you all taken GMAT? Is Bradford giving waiver in GMAT requirements? Because if Bradford is also giving waiver for GMAT, then automatically my query will be resolved. Then in every aspect Aston is far better than Bradford.

I request you all to post the true facts.

Cheers
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deepbawa

Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 10
Aston or Bradford?
Wed Jun 04, 2008 01:13 PM
Dear Salil,

Trust me 99% students at bradford are not asked to write GMAT,

anyways if you have any more questions , please feel free to contact me on 9810904848.

regards.

Deep.
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hersh

Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 6
Aston or Bradford?
Wed Jun 04, 2008 08:37 PM
hi salil,
congratulations for your offers!

addressing your concern following thought process comes to my mind!

1> first of all i have also been offerd place in bradford,i filed aston and bradford at the same time and i got the offer from bradford in 7 days and aston took 15 days to make an offer to me.. both without gmat.. this definately tells something about selection criteria.. with bradford i felt as if no one has applied to them as i cant be so lucky to get offer in 7 days in such a prestigious college.. from selection point of view i found durham business school selection most stringent of all the offers i have , they conducted my interview for an hour and in the end made conditional offer asking to write an portfolio analysis..anyways average gmat score for aston business school is 620 as per which mba ranking and bradford shows not applicable.. means though aston havent kept the gmat criteria but peple with gmat scores who have applied averages 620 whereas bradford is not applicable.. shows the popularity..

2> what are you looking at.. i guess personal development through mba program and more importantly through external factors like class mix and all.. then aston ranks well above bradford for student assessment and personal development ...
intelligent class mix can be looked upon from two different angles depending upon the kind of person you are..
1> if you think you are intelligent and think you are independent enough to acquire knowledge from books and dont need anybody then you should be happy with less intelligent people studying with you as you can top the class..
2> if you think you love competetion as it motivates you towards learning and ofcourse learning from them then you should look for the class mix.with intelligent people..

3> mba is no value addition course .. they only tells you how to approach the problem more structuredly.. but cant enhance your intelligence in problem solving .. its persons fundamental and intrensic value that will take him ahead not the gyan from anybody..

so yes you will have other alternatives to same questions if you have class mates intelligent enough to think..

i feel who all have got offers from the aston must have passed certain xyz factors , thus its my intution that we all must be of same calliber with 19 20 here.. coz.. intelligent person would have fancied his chances to much better college and might have got offer too and person below us would have not qualified..

in the end we can probably disclose our identities in terms of achievements in our accads and work exp.. we can fairly judge the intelligence pool.

regards
Hersh
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Salil

Joined: 02 Jun 2008
Posts: 3
Aston or Bradford?
Thu Jun 05, 2008 07:03 AM
Hi Deep, Hersh, and community members !!

Your explanation and optimistic approach has made me clear, if I join Aston this fall session, then I would be pleased to study with you guys.

I have another question, if you guys/gals like to discuss here, because this is also a general question relating to all of us. Everybody here is going to do make an investment by studying MBA and we all hope to get the good returns of this investment.

But friends, Is it worth spending INR 16 lacs for a year MBA. Well, I am not discouraging any one but simply discussing. Like, in India, we have to spent around 10-12 lacs for two years, if we pursue our MBA from any reputed institute. Exception always exists, like Indian School of Business, where the fees of one year PGDM programme is 16 lacs. But we all Indians know that the stuff of ISB is excellent (this doesn’t mean that we all are not excellent) and big companies keeps eye to catch an ISBIAN. They get windfall premium, passing from ISB. Okay, I shall don’t digress from discussion topic. So, my question is, as individual, can we get an average start after pursuing MBA from Aston? Should we be able to repay our bank loans?

Those who are not borrowing any loan, can also post the reply, if they have any worthy information/suggestion?

Hope you won’t find the topic bore, because we all are striving for good career and money as well. So please spend some time and reply.

Looking forward to hear from you soon.

Cheers
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deepbawa

Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Posts: 10
Aston or Bradford?
Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:18 AM
Salil,
first of all get one thing very clear that aston falls under tier 2. You cannot compete with manchester in uk or isb in india.
Yes we all our concerned about the loans we are taking.
Trust me you can easily pay back within 2 years.
The average package you start will be 30 to 35k pounds.
So dont bother about that we are all in the same boat.
Take care.
Deep
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