Real Numbers of MBA Admissions: MBA Class Size at Top Programs in Europe

MBA class size in Europe varies as much as it does in the U.S. London Business School and INSEAD lead the pack with around 500 students each. At the other end of the spectrum, some European schools have fewer than 60 candidates. ESMT Berlin and Imperial College of Business fall at the smaller end with class sizes of 40 and 53, respectively. Cambridge Judge, Esade and Rotterdam Business School all hover around 150-220 in class size. HEC Paris approaches 300 members of their class, while Oxford Saïd exceeds 300. IESE Business School lands around 350 members while IE Business School hosts closer to 400.
Applicants may want to consider MBA class size when considering fit. While MBA programs thrive on relationship-building, a smaller class size can lend itself to a more intimate, close knit culture.
Review the chart below to see the class sizes of European MBA programs.
European School | Class Size |
---|---|
Cambridge Judge | 221 |
Esade | 186 |
ESMT Berlin | 40 |
HEC Paris | 281 |
IE Business School | ~395 |
IESE Business School | ~350 |
IMD Business School | 98 |
Imperial College Business School | 53 |
INSEAD | ~500 |
London Business School | 511 |
Manchester AMBS | 113 |
Oxford Saïd Business School | 311 |
Rotterdam Business School | 115 |
The figures for this Real Numbers of MBA Admissions: MBA Class Size at Top Programs in Europe were drawn from the Class of 2023.
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MBA Applywire
Female leader from developing country.
Bachelor degree: Took accounting major / economics degree, graduated as top 5% class from top uni in my country, cum laude. Active in uni with leadership position
Career: Spent almost a decade in top FMCG company in the world - 3 years spent in international assignment, promoted ahead of my peers into senior manager position.
Had an experience to build a new venture as the cofounder.
Now works in the leading ecommerce company.
- social activities: volunteer to advise SMEs in my country
- Goal: to be a founder who can empower SMEs in my country
Weakness: understand my GMAT is considerably low for my target schools, took twice so far, kinda difficult to prep for gmat effectively while work + somehow i just always had nervous breakdown during the exam
Hispanic/LGBTQ
Studied data science and business at Ivy+ undergrad
Worked for 2 years doing strategy at a high growth fintech unicorn. Promoted twice. Led multiple large initiatives over the course of my time and sat on a few high up leadership boards.
Worked for last year at a fintech startup as head of strategy.
Activities: Lots of leadership and high impact roles in charities, sports teams, and college clubs. Have a few successful side hustles and advise multiple startups.
Why MBA: I have a personal/family and professional (ECs and side hustles) background and interest in media that I want to combine with my passion for tech and innovation by working in AI (strategy) and Media and Entertainment. I hope this isn't seen as too much of a leap, but I feel confident in my ability to demonstrate my continued passion for the media space in my applications, essays, and through my ECs.
Essays: Wrote about how my lifelong passion for media and the arts has shaped the person I am – through my personality, what I do, and relationships.
Interested to hear people's thoughts.
I've recently transitioned from working in K-12 education to working in talent at a consulting firm. I'd love to get an MBA to flip from internal to client-facing. In particular, I want to work in human capital consulting/strategic HR.
In addition to being a former teacher, I'm also a mom to an 18-month-old. While I know that being a student and mom may be difficult, I'm ready to take on this challenge to pursue my career goals while being a role model to my daughter.
I'm a black and Middle Eastern, female Ivy League grad with a BA in Government. 30 years old. Planning to apply R2.
I worked in HR for a large multi-national food and ingredient corp for 5.5 years in the US, Switzerland, and South Korea.
- Started in a 3.5-year rotational development program for high-potential recent grads.
- Operationalized an industry-wide consortium in partnership with a US federal agency to diversify the sector. The consortium won an innovation award and is now a standalone not-for-profit research center.
- Increased diversity in global senior leadership by 24% YoY.
- Captured 40M+ in synergies during a post-acquisition reorg.
- Following the program, promoted to lead a multi-million dollar system implementation in EMEA & APAC as part of a business transformation.
- Member of the Executive Diversity Council
- Mentee to the CHRO
In the community:
- VP for Recent Grads for the local alumni club
- Won alumni fellowship for public service for a project teaching cultural awareness to inner city kids through art
- K-pop fan club (followed a group on tour in Europe and in Asia)
Recently earned my MFA in London. No transcripts yet.
- Selected as the Departmental Student Coordinator (DSC) for my Uni's post-grad art department.
- As DSC, restructured and introduced new systems resulting a 300% increase in resolved student complaints YoY.
- My art research and practice became increasingly hybrid, combining the freedom and radicality of art thinking with my HR background.
Post-MBA / Life Goal: My art research and practice have taught me that the world would be a much better place if we all cared about profit a little less and did our best to live by a love ethic (bell hooks). I believe that world can exist, and I wish to build a business that incorporates my HRt ("H-Art") practice with business to transform ways of working and prove that prioritizing love as much as profit leads to better outcomes for all.
I'm taking a break right now, but I have two strong recommendations from previous direct supervisors who have supported me throughout my journey.
My concern is my GRE score and my GPA.
- I struggled when I started college, so my grades were poor at first but gradually improved, ending with an annual GPA of 3.8.
- My calc scores from freshman year aren't great. My stats score from junior year is strong.
- After doing social science, HR, and art for 10+ years, my GRE quant score was only a 158 (V: 166, AWA: 5.5) even with a couple months of test prep.
- I'm taking calc courses online with LSE and HarvardX to show that I'm able to do quant in a normal setting, but I don't know if it's going to be enough.
I can't change my GPA, but should I try to retake the GRE?
Any guidance would be super appreciated! I know I've written a book, so thank you so much for making it this far!
- White Female in the Forte MBA Launch Program
- Finance and Economics major at average Mid-Atlantic university
- 3 leadership roles during undergrad, including 3+ years at a non-profit
- 2 leadership roles within my organization and 2 with outside professional organizations
- Post MBA Goal: infrastructure portfolio manager at pension or sovereign wealth fund
- Wondering what GRE/GMAT test scores to target ahead of R2 deadlines at the schools I am interested in
I love listening to the podcast - it has been really helpful!
MBA LiveWire
Submitted tradition R1 app, got the email this morning! Non traditional background.
Submitted traditional R1 application. Got the email at 2am EST.
Excited to be invited to interview.