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MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
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Abeer 
Joined: 06 Mar 2009 Posts: 1 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Greetings to all,Sat Mar 07, 2009 08:24 AM I wonder if any of you has had an MBA from either Vlerick or Solvay. I am a new student and I have not made up my mind yet on joining either of them. I would appreciate it if you let me know about your impressions, experiences or recommendations. Regards, Abeer |
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Oshrat.H   Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 66 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
"I am a new student and I have not made up my mind yet on joining either of them."Mon Mar 09, 2009 02:10 PM what do you mean by that - are you an undergrad student? |
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| mbasolvay2008
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
MBA Solvay without a doubt: www.solvay.edu/mba. I graduated in 2008 and it was the most challenging and intense year of my life.Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:02 AM MBA Solvay also has a blog where you can find more about the alumni, teachers, staff, etc: www.blogs-solvay.be/mba/ |
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| JamieO Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 73 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Not biased at all then ;-) at least proactive alumni are a good sign for any school...Fri Jul 17, 2009 08:50 AM Solvay to be fair is not well known (yet?) and is rarely considered 1st or 2nd tier in Europe. The EMBA has a little more recognition. Vlerick though has a better package and are firmly 2nd tier and outside of the top three (IMD, INSEAD, LBS) they have a fair chance of competing with the best of the rest in Europe. Personally I would recommend Vlerick. |
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| JohnnyL Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 86 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
I agree with Jamie: Vlerick.
Fri Jul 17, 2009 09:43 AM |
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| donho199 Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 65 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Hi there,Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:13 AM Solvay and the French community of Beligum has very close links with Vietnam. Our Prime Minister went to the school a while back and now they have MBA/EMBA running in Vietnam. From my experience, the whole program is very decent, senior managers/executives with years of experience, the teaching is very decent. However, there were translators in the class and assignments could be completed in VIetnamese. That does not sound like a proper international MBA. I know a couple of people attending the program in Belgium and their experience was very positive. Vlerick, on the other hand, is still the upper-hand. If you read the website closely you can tell they are more organised in admission, teaching, facility etc. The better support from the government, the ranking etc. The deans have been all from INSEAD top executives so they bring with them the expertise from the best EU business school |
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| mbasolvay2008
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
The MBA in Vietnam is not the same as the one in Belgium. Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:38 PM MBA Solvay in Belgium is taught 100% in English. Full time class is 80% international and the part time is 54% (you need to be working to do the part time). Most of the professors are international too and come from other schools. MBA Solvay ranks 72 , 9th in career progression and 7th in international students (FT EMBA ranking 2008), plus the business school ranks very good in general and the masters. It is without a doubt a top school, and so is the only other real option in Belgium. The focus of MBA Solvay is on quality, and you get an extremely good value for money. They prefer to have less students with higher quality (intake is about 60 people per year for full and part time) The courses are small, ranging from 7 to 40 students and it is very personalised. 80% of my class had a real job in the next 3 months after graduation (no internships) and some got their contracts before graduation. My first job offer came while I was still in the MBA. One of the great things is the coaching you get to develop your soft skills and those related to your career with the Career Advancement Program (everything related to job finding and moving up in your career, from knowing better what you want to do, to plan and execute your next moves). As far as I know Vlerick is younger, much less international and has a dual Dutch/English MBA, but I am sure some of their alumni can explain this better. I am indeed byased by the great experience I had in MBA Solvay :-) And so are all my colleagues. I know Vlerick is also a great school, but my research lead me to take up the challenge at Solvay really quick (based on the points I have explained here). The more important thing for me is to speak with alumni. When you have schools that are accredited and ranked, the more important information you are going to get from the alumni. Contact the administration of both MBA and ask them to get you in touch with an alumnus. You will get a much better picture. |
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| muzzi
Joined: 17 May 2009 Posts: 26 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
I definitely agree that to contact alumni is very important and it proved to be tremendously useful for me.
Fri Jul 17, 2009 01:46 PM |
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| donho199 Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 65 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
How old is Solvay anyways?Fri Jul 17, 2009 02:48 PM I said i knew people from both the mba in Vietnam/Belgium. Of course they are different, but at the end they do get the same accereditted MBA certificate. The ranking from FT of Solvay is good. But Vlerick fair better in the same ranking and appears in Master management/ full-time MBA/ European Business school. Solvay does not feature in any of these In economist ranking Vlerick is ranked in the top 25 for few years. Solvay never climbed any nearby. Ranking is only ranking. Can you point out any singe factor that Solvay is a BETTER |
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| mbasolvay2008
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Solvay was founded in 1903, and the MBA in 1991. It is the first business school in Belgium. Fri Jul 17, 2009 04:14 PM The Brussels business network is another advantage to add to my previous post. More than 100 years educating the elite of the country help build a very good network and reputation. I was amazed to see how well people reacted and how they opened up for business discussions as soon as they heard that I was doing my MBA at Solvay. There are 18000 alumni spread all over the world: www.sbsalumni.be. These are alumni from both the MBA and from the business school. Some more ranking related information: For Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (Solvay Business School until last year): * 22nd Business School in Europe, European Business Schools, FT 2008 * 1st in Belgium, 13th in Europe, Master in Management, FT 2008 For the University (Free University of Brussels ULB) * 15th in Europe, Times Higher Education * 3 Nobel prices. |
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| JamieO Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 73 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Hi MBASolvay, Fri Jul 17, 2009 04:36 PM This is good, and no one questioned that Solvay is a good institution in Belgium. the question from the previous post and in the thread in general was whether Vlerick or Solvay was better. The info you have provided point to Solvay being a reputable university and probably an excellent place to get a BA or an MA, but is maybe not on the same level as Vlerick for a full-time MBA. And as I said before, and you pointed out again, Solvay is better recognised for the EMBA, but incidentally still ranking slightly below Vlerick in the FT (since you mentioned the ranking). |
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| mbasolvay2008
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
But if you go beyond the rankings you will see that it is much better, both for the full and the part time, which are exactly the same MBA :-) Fri Jul 17, 2009 06:36 PM MBA Solvay does not appear many years in the rankings because the small size of its classes: you need 30 people graduating to participate in the survey of the Financial Times. The courses with less people is another key asset that helped me decide for Solvay, and discard others like Insead. But as I said, the best is to get information directly from other candidates and alumni. If you do not want to go through the administration, you can find both in their candidates page in facebook www.facebook.com/pages/MBA-Solvay-Candidates/13494… But the best is to meet them face to face :-) Cheers and good weekend everyone |
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| donho199 Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 65 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Hi there,Sun Jul 19, 2009 05:47 PM Vlerick Leuven Ghent Business school is much older. Its father university: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven was founded on 9 December 1425. Ghen University was opened on 9 October 1817. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven offered MBA in 1968. You said Solvay offered first MBA in Belgium, are you sure this correct? Except from the old- factor which you can debate with me because history of Vlerick is complicated. In the ranking, Vlerick is always better. Economists MBA ranking: Vlerick top 25 in the world for a few years, Solvay not ranked. Financial Times ranking: MBA: Vlerick 75th in the world, Solvay not ranked EMBA: Vlerick 61 in the world better than Solvay 72 Executive education-customised: Vlerick 41 in the world. Solvay not ranked. Executive education-open: Vlerick 37 in the world. Solvay not ranked. European business school: Velrick 10 in Europe, Solvay 22 Also in the University ranking of Times Higher Education, Leuven University ranking in 2006 : 96 in the world 2007: 61 in the world 2008: 72 in the world Ghent University ranking in 2006 : 141 in the world 2007: 124 in the world 2008: 136 in the world ULB is behind both Ghent/Leuven in the last 3 years 2006 : 165 in the world 2007: 154 in the world 2008: 183 in the world There are of course ranking that Solvay can fair better for example Maters in Management: Solvay 13 Vlerick 27 in Europe. But Vlerick is better ranked in general About Alumni, Vlerick can boast the alumni of Ghent and KLU thus they will have a lot more alumni, KLU was founded in 15th century anyways. KLU/Ghent also have few people become Prime Minister of Belgium and among them also won Nobel Prizes. Statistically, Vlerick wins Solvay [Edited by donho199 on 19 Jul 2009] |
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| mbasolvay2008
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Impressive list donho199, thanks for compiling it. Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:13 AM Do you work for Vlerick or are you an alumnus? It would be great to know more about your insider experience in the MBA :-) You missunderstood my message: Solvay is the pioneer BUSINESS SCHOOL that was created in Belgium, not university (it is part of the ULB). It was founded in 1903 by Ernest Solvay, the Belgian Business man that created the chemical farmaceutical multinational Solvay. More than a hundred years teaching business! ... and creating a network of alumni. The reason why MBA Solvay is not in the rankings every year is because of the number of students (need to have 30 graduating to be in the survey). If you want smaller classes and a more personal relationship with professors it is great. You have to go beyond the statistics and see which program fits you best. A career is a multidimensional problem. If you only care about the rankings you are missing most of the bigger picture. There are some alumni testimonials being published in the blog of the mba. Check them out to learn why some people have decided to do an MBA and why they have decided to do it at Solvay: www.blogs-solvay.be/mba/ Cheers |
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| mbasolvay2008
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
By the way, I guess most of the 15 century alumni must be dead by now ;-)
Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:15 AM |
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| JamieO Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 73 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:13 PM By the way, I guess most of the 15 century alumni must be dead by now ;-) at least we hope so.... sounds like an eager alumn/student rather than staff. You would hope if it was a member of staff then the english would be better ;-) |
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| donho199 Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 65 |
MBA @ Vlerick or Solvay?
In fact, everytime people loose by statistics, they switch to non-quantifiable elements, making false statement based on nothing and claiming themselves better or best. This is simply wrong or stupid or arrogant or childlish.Tue Jul 28, 2009 04:30 PM Solvay, you get it wrong even on the smaller picture, what do you know about bigger picture? You dont even have enough people applying to make a class size of 30. Who want to go to French speaking country? Who want to go to Solvay? The "business school" title is nothing pioneer, you can call the business faculty what ever you want. it is the name, what is important is what does it carry with it? Solvay is a great man but so is Vlerick.I can name my business school after whoever I can, Obama or Bill Gates would be happy for me to do so. Normally you need to pay to get the school after your name, now you have somebody come to you asking for a favour if they can use your name. Oh Solvay i hope you are worthy more than that. And yes,even when you count dead alumni we have more than you. What is the point you want to make? Certainly Solvay MBA does not teach people to think rationally, they was however able to make them feel very very confident. [Edited by donho199 on 28 Jul 2009] |
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