IESE Business School – University of Navarra

Representative name: Tomofumi Nishida
Position: Deputy Director (MBA Admissions, Asia + Middle East)
Email: [email protected]
Open chat hours: 19:00-20:00
School brochure: click to open
Q&A with admissions: click to open

IESE Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra. The school offers MBA, Executive MBA, Master in Management and Global Executive programs, as well as Master of Research in Management and a Ph.D. program. IESE has often ranked among the top 10 in the world. The school has campuses in Barcelona, Madrid, and New York City and teaching facilities in Munich and Sao Paulo.

IESE MBA is a program that combines the teaching methodology of the best US MBA program (Harvard) with the very international cohort of European schools. A third powerful aspect of the school is the humanistic approach it has to business. The combination of these three elements yields for a very special program which is able to transform you into a well-rounded, versatile and responsible leader.

http://mba.iese.edu

  • Ranking: 10th in the world, 3rd in Europe, and 1st in CSR (Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2022)
  • Class size: 350 + students from 55+ countries per year
  • Year 1: Core Courses, Year 2: 130 + Electives & Concentration, Global Exchange Program, and Overseas Program (New York, Sao Paulo, Dubai, and Nairobi)
  • Teaching method: Case method
  • Top international faculty: 100% PhDs, 4:1 professor-student ratio, 30 nationalities in faculty, and 100% open-door policy
  • Language: English

19 or 15 months

€93,500

€23,000 (Average Scholarship Amount)

40% (Participants with scholarships)

Five Concentrations in the second year: 1. International Business, 2. Finance, 3. Data Analytics & Digital Business, 4. Entrepreneurship & Innovation, 5. Sustainability & Responsible Business

Av. Pearson 21, 08034, Barcelona (Spain)

Why we’re different:

Developing leaders since 1958 At the IESE MBA, you’ll be stretched, pushed and challenged to master the essentials. You’ll hone your entrepreneurial skills. And you’ll be exposed to business in different sectors, markets and regions – across five continents. 15 or 19 months. We will give you a lifetime of impact.

#
IESE Business School Chat
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 09:32PM
Hello, I am Tomofumi Nishida (a.k.a. Tomo), Deputy Director of IESE MBA Admissions as well as one of the alumni from IESE MBA Class of 2016. Please find my LinkedIn profile below and feel free to connect with me. Happy to answer any of your questions here.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomofumi-nishida-b3748342/
P
Guest- Peleg
6/09 09:38PM
Hi, I saw the program is 1.5Y . does it have an internership
Also can my wife work while I study?
O
Guest- ori
6/09 09:39PM
Hi tomo, What is the difference between the full time and the part time MBA – apart from the time of course!
E
Guest- Elad
6/09 09:43PM
Can you share about the school’s culture and how it comes to reality in the school’s programs and curriculum?
N
Guest- Noam
6/09 09:43PM
Tomofumi nice to meet you. I love the fact you are an alumnus... can I study at IESE and do an exchange? and if so, where to?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 09:46PM
@Peleg, the duration could be 19 months or 15 months. In case of the longer one, yes, while in case of the shorter one, no. Your wife could work remotely as long as some conditions are met, while a visa for your wife to work in Spain would not be offered.
I
Guest- Itamar
6/09 09:47PM
thanks so much for doing this
how do students find jobs post MBA and where do they work?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 09:48PM
@Ori, Please be aware that we don't have any part-time MBA. Executive MBA is a sort of a part-time MBA but this is available for some people living in some specific cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, etc. Our MBA (not Executive MBA) is a full-time MBA in Barcelona.
@Elad, Students have their spirit of service with maturity even under some pressure of academics and career. The academic intensity is a bit more tangible at IESE due to the case method as a core teaching method which requires a lot of reading and analyses before going to classes, but even with this, everyone is trying to support each other. This is a beautiful part of this MBA.
S
Guest- Sima
6/09 09:50PM
I come from a law background and want to shift to consulting. do the MBB companies recruit from IESE? I would love to live in Barcelona. also will I need to know Spanish ? (very basic)
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 09:51PM
@Noam, An exchange is possible for three months in the second year. More or less 30 options are available. Around half of them are in the U.S. Please find a full list here, https://mba.iese.edu/program/curriculum-content/year-2/exchange-program/
I
Guest- Ido
6/09 09:54PM
Hi, can you tell us about possible scholarships at your school? Thank you.
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 09:56PM
@Itamar, It depends on each student, but two-thirds of them count on any support from Career Development Center where all core members (also myself) are graduates from IESE so that they could put you in your shoes to give you any support. They do a lot including Career Forum (100 companies coming to campus for recruitment), Career Trek (Consulting for Dubai, Finance for London, Fintech for Berlin, etc.), in many cases collaborating with professional clubs such as Consulting Club, Tech Club, Healthcare Club, etc. 20% in Spain, 26% rest of Europe, 20% Asia, 7% Middle East, 5% North America, 22% Latin America. One-third of a class could be triple jumpers, changing sector, function, and geography at the same time as of graduation.
M
Guest- Mika
6/09 09:58PM
Are there scholarships for women?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:00PM
@Sima, They do, especially McKinsey is quite open to this kind of background. Of course, you need to study a bit more than someone from a traditional sector, but it is something possible. With regards to the necessity of Spanish, it is a little controversial but I would say this is something you don't have to worry about. For instance, right before starting your MBA journey, in the second half of August, you will have a two-week intensive Business Spanish Program (BSP). BSP can be continued even during the program in a less intensive format. In summary, some basic Spanish would be a great help but it does not require a lot of effort to have it. Once you start your MBA life, you will spend so much time on campus where English is sufficient and your day-to-day off-campus life will be routine so that you don't feel the necessity to learn it newly.
M
Guest- Maya
6/09 10:01PM
Are there any test waivers?
I
Guest- Ido
6/09 10:01PM
How would you advise candidates to get to know your MBA program and student community if they aren’t able to visit your campus?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:02PM
@Ido, please find here, https://mba.iese.edu/admissions-fees/scholarships/ Our total tuition fee (for MBA Class of 2024) has been 93,500 euros. The scholarship may cover up to 50% of the tuition fee. The average amount of scholarship is 23,000 euros and participants with some scholarships account for 40%. You need to submit a scholarship essay as of application and its decision will be made often at the same time as of an admissions decision.
@Mika, Yes, we do. Since you don't have to specify a type of scholarship, you can just apply to it with the above scholarship essay. We are happy to have more talented female students!
@Maya, GMAT or GRE is required to anyone.
@Ido, Attend our future events. For instance, the best one could be a Virtual Open Day on Jul 2nd. You will know so many things within 2.5 hours. See here, https://mba.iese.edu/events/ You can reach out to me on LinkedIn or email ([email protected]) with any specific requests, too.
M
Guest- Mםדיק
6/09 10:09PM
Hi, my GPA is not that high, will a high GMAT overcome that?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:10PM
@Mםדיק, yes, as long as you could showcase your most updated academic excellence with your GMAT/GRE score, it is not a big issue.
M
Guest- Moti
6/09 10:12PM
Do you consider military experience as work experience?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:14PM
@Moti, In case of Israeli applicants, yes in many cases as long as we (but also more importantly you) could regard this as your full-time work experience resulting in your potential contribution at IESE based on this experience. You need at least three years of full-time work experience to start your MBA at IESE (five years on average).
M
Guest- Moti
6/09 10:14PM
got it, thank you!
S
Guest- Sinai
6/09 10:18PM
can my wife work in Spain while I study? we both have Israeli passports...
S
Guest- Shir
6/09 10:19PM
Can I work part time during the MBA?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:19PM
@Sinai, Your wife could work remotely as long as some conditions are met, while a visa for your wife to work in Spain would not be offered.
S
Guest- Sinai
6/09 10:20PM
got you!
bummer
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:22PM
@Shir, You can do your internship for up to three months during the summer break between the first year and the second year. The official message from the school is that you may want to avoid doing any part-time work during the MBA except for this internship. That said, in the second year with more free time, some students do some part-time jobs. Also due to COVID-19, a bit more flexible type of work can be easily found in many places. In the first year, you should not expect it a lot more because of a bit intensive day-to-day schedule.
S
Guest- Shir
6/09 10:24PM
thanks
J
Guest- Jon
6/09 10:25PM
I have a 2 year gap in my CV. Is there a provision to explain that somewhere in the application?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:26PM
@Jon, yes, any explanation about that in your application would be appreciated. You can make the most of the optional essay where you could write down anything that is not captured in other parts of your application.
MBAFair Admin
6/09 10:26PM
Hi everyone, chat session will be closing in a few minutes.... Tomofumi, any last words of wisdom?
Tomofumi Nishida
6/09 10:28PM
Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomofumi-nishida-b3748342/), reach out to me by email ([email protected]), join our future events (https://mba.iese.edu/events/). Let's stay in touch. Enjoy the rest of this fair!