In line with a growing trend in Europe and Asia, potential Turkish students looking to attend business school are also showing greater interest in attending European institutions than they did five years ago, correlating with a relative decline in applicants to US schools. Programs in the US received 78 percent of all GMAT score reports sent in 2010, down from 83 percent in 2006. Growing interest in business schools in Europe, India and Singapore is largely responsible for this underlying shift, though the uncertainty of the US job market with associated concerns about the return on investment of the traditional US two-year MBA program are also factors.
“There are clear signs that more and more Turkish professionals consider Europe as their top choice to study business,” said Paul Healy, head of international recruitment at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Belgium. “European schools are increasingly recognized for the quality of their MBA programs, and students here are responding accordingly.”
In response to this demand, Vlerick is one of three leading European business schools -- European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Germany and Copenhagen Business School in Denmark -- to host an information session in İstanbul on March 19 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel. The afternoon event includes a panel discussion with MBA admissions experts where potential students can discuss career opportunities, admissions, visas and financing.
The surge in demand for European MBAs can be attributed in part to a successful pipeline of Turkish graduates from these business schools. Three years ago, Sibel Peştemalcıgil graduated from Germany’s ESMT and received four job offers from global firms, eventually opting for a position as marketing manager at Bayer TürkKimya San. Ltd., a leading botanical products company. The one-year experience in Western Europe clearly paid off. “My career gained a different momentum. The year at business school was a gift for me, full of new experiences, great memories and ultimately more career opportunities than I could have hoped for.”
For Nick Barniville, Program Director at the ESMT, the one-year format of many European MBA programs is a big draw, when compared to the typical two-year courses in the US. “Students can gain essential managerial skills in an accelerated learning environment. They also take less time out from their career, pay just one year of tuition fees and reduce the opportunity cost of loss of salary,” he explained.
As well as this, European business schools have long been recognized for the diversity of their MBA classrooms. The Copenhagen Business School is a good example, with over 90 percent of participants coming from outside Denmark. “You are getting first-hand experience of international perspectives on doing business,” explains Lee Milligan, admissions manager at the school. “You can also build a formidable network from all over the world that you can benefit from for many years to come,” he added.
