Tsinghua or Pekiing MBA? What should I know?

[kane0]

Hi. I am currently looking into applying for an MBA in China not necessarily for a great salary, but to get a feel for the market and practices of the mainland.

1) Would anyone know which of these two programs are considered more prestigious in china? In Canada, the USA and Europe, some people know Peking, but not Tsinghua. However, all the rankings that I've found show Tsinghua as superior. Which is better?

2) What kind of students are they looking for? I've checked out several publications as well as both universities websites; nevertheless, both seem to have different standards for international students than that of Chinese nationals. Given that I am not a domestic prospective student, could anyone give me examples of students that have actually been accepted?

3) Is there anything curricular and/or extracurricular that I should be highlighting in my application?

Your input is much appreciated.

[timd3359]

You may want to look into an online degree from the United States. The University of Colorado has an excellent program. Their web site is http://www.cuonline.edu. I attend CU, Denver and can attest to the quality of the education you can get there.

[imron]

Regarding your first question, the MBA program at Tsinghua is considered better than the one at Peking Uni. It is also the only MBA program in China accredited by the AACSB. They are also partnered with MIT Sloan.

[gougou]

but to get a feel for the market and practices of the mainland.

For that, I would recommend you to work. I have not attended an MBA class, but I had the feeling that they were discussing a lot of international theory. It might be less localized than you're hoping for.

The main reason to attend an MBA program in China is building a guanxi network, I believe, and for that I would recommend you to attend the CEIBS in Shanghai. Their Chinese stream gives discounts to government officials (the higher their rank, the cheaper their tuition), so there's plenty of them. The drawback is that if you don't happen to be a government official, you'll have to shell out quite a lot.

Edit: Did you see this thread? Also this one and this one.

[timd3359]

I'm not sure what experience you have so far, but any university education (at least, in the United States) is much, much more than guanxi. You will learn finance, statistics, marketing, international business, and production management as a core curriculum. If you choose a track, you will focus on one of those areas with various electives. If you go to: http://www.cudenver.com you will have access to their catalog and MBA program requirements. It's a difficult course of study, but very well worth it.

In order to get into the program you will need to take the GMAT exam. It's relatively simple if you are already well educated. It consists mostly of common sense math problems, reading comprehension, etc.

I wish you luck with your endeavors. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[kane0]

Thank you everybody for the help thus far. I'll think on this more and get back to you with more questions soon.

[Tsinghua_SAP1]

Hi,

We are student ambassadors of the Tsinghua IMBA program, class of 2009. In response to an earlier post on some of the profiles of our student body, please check out http://mba.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/mba/tabid/674/Default.aspx. In terms of the application requirements, Tsinghua very much adopts the US system such as GMAT, essays, interview, undergraduate GPA, work experience etc. A reminder for the application deadline of the IMBA class of 2010 is March 15th. If you are interested in applying, please check out http://mba.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/mba/tabid/184/Default.aspx

Tsinghua SAP

Edited March 6, 2010 at 11:20 PM by imron