IESE Business School

FAQ

What is the tuition for IESE's MBA program?

The tuition for IESE's MBA program is €93,500 for two years.

What is the average GMAT score for admission to IESE's MBA program?

The average GMAT score for the incoming class at IESE is 681.

Does the IESE MBA program accept the GRE?

Yes. The IESE MBA program has accepted the GRE for a few years now.

What is the minimum number of years of work experience required for admission to IESE's MBA program?

IESE does not state a minimum requirement for years of work experience. However, it is important for candidates to be aware that they are being considered against other candidates with an average of 5 years of experience.

What is the average number of years of work experience for admission to IESE's MBA program? (or, What is the average age of an IESE MBA student?)

The average number of years of work experience among students in IESE's MBA program is 5. On average, IESE students are 29 years old.

What is the average starting salary for graduates of the IESE MBA program?

The average starting salary for IESE MBA graduates is €86,282. The salary will vary by industry, with consulting and finance jobs generally commanding the higher salaries.

How long is IESE's full-time MBA program?

IESE offers 15- or 19-month MBA programs.

What are the application deadlines for IESE's MBA program?

The Early Decision MBA application deadline is September 1, 2020. The Round 1 application deadline is October 6, 2020. The Round 2 deadline is January 5, 2021. The Round 3 deadline is March 10, 2021. The Round 4 deadline is May 5, 2021.

VIDEOS

Admissions

The Class Profile

IESE’s class is comprised of about 350 students. The students’ average age is 29 at the time of matriculation, and their average GMAT score is 681. Fifty-five countries are represented by the class, and international students make up 85%, while women comprise 30% of the student body. The average student came to IESE with 5 years of full-time work experience.

Application Procedures

IESE offers four application deadlines that run from October to April, though the school encourages non-EU citizens to apply before April to allow ample time for visa processing.

To apply, applicants must submit a completed application form, essays, a résumé, transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended, a letter of recommendation, and a $200 application fee. Applicants must also submit notification of fulfillment of military or civil service obligations, GMAT scores, scores from a test of English language proficiency, and a passport-sized digital photograph.

Interviews are conducted on an invitation-only basis and are required for admission.  Select candidates are invited to participate in an Assessment Day, a day-long event during which applicants spend time interacting with each other and members of the IESE admissions team. Participating in an Assessment Day does not serve as a substitute for a personal interview and can take place before or after one is invited to interview; it is not a mandatory step in the admissions process. Application materials must be completed in English; interviews are conducted solely in English.

Application Checklist

• Data Forms
• Résumé
• Application Fee
• One Recommendation
• Academic Transcripts
• GMAT and Test of English Score(s)
• Essays
• Military or Civil Service Obligation
• Passport-sized Digital Photograph

Interview Reports

IESE Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Alumni Director / Online

The following IESE interview questions and report were submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! The interviewer was very friendly, and it seemed like she wanted me to feel at ease. Tell about experience to date? Why MBA? Why now? Why IESE? At work, most interesting project? How do I compare NYC, LA, […]

IESE Interview Report: Round 4 / Adcom / Skype

The following IESE interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 3 applicant. Good luck to them! Very informal interview, probably the most comfortable of all the interviews I have done. Started off with some small talk and background on my interviewer and then switched over to my experiences and extra-curriculars. • Asked the standard why mba? […]

IESE MBA Interview Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus

The following IESE MBA interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant. Good luck to them! The interview itself is very conversational. Adcom is friendly and attentive. Focused on firstly extracurricular activities during college, and then career goals. Expressed some concerns for CG (I aim for a career switch) and then switched to professional experiences. […]

Iese Q&As

Admissions Director Q&A: Paula Amorim of IESE

Along with IESE’s four campuses in Barcelona, Madrid, New York, and Munich, the school has facilities in São Paulo as well. IESE’s full-time MBA program is headquartered at the University of Navarra’s campus in Pedralbes, a residential neighborhood of Barcelona that sits just 20 minutes from the city’s downtown area. In this edition of our […]

Admissions Director Q&A: IESE’s Pascal Michels

This installment of our ongoing series, Admissions Director Q&A, takes us to the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain, and the business school, IESE.  An IESE full-time MBA graduate of 2010, Pascal Michels joined IESE as an associate director on the career services team in 2013 and took over the role of full-time MBA admissions director […]

Admissions Director Q&A: Pascal Michels of IESE Business School

We got to know Pascal Michels, who started in his new role as head of admissions at IESE Business School this summer, as part of our Real Humans of MBA Admissions series earlier this month. Now we’re excited to feature a more in-depth interview that delves into the admissions process and team he oversees. Michels […]

IESE LiveWire and DecisionWire

Academics

Faculty

With more than 160 full-time and 70 visiting professors, IESE boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of 4:1. In addition to teaching courses across 11 academic departments, IESE’s faculty also help staff the school’s 11 research centers, which explore topics ranging from logistics to work and family.

Curriculum

Most professors at IESE teach using the case method, in which class discussions are based upon assigned readings about real-world business problems.  The school reports that by the time students graduate from the MBA program, they will have examined more than 400 business cases.  Upon entering the program, first-year students are divided into five sections of approximately 70 students each with whom they take all of their core courses.

While applicants do not need to know Spanish to gain admission to IESE, all students The program begins in August and continues throughout the two years of the MBA, though the duration for individual students depends upon their particular level of fluency.

The first year of IESE’s MBA program is divided into three terms. Following a weeklong orientation period, Term 1 classes begin in September and last until December, while Term 2 runs from January to March and Term 3 from March to early June.  Students take between eight and nine core courses each term, not including the Business Spanish Program.  IESE’s core curriculum is designed to give students a foundational knowledge of key business concepts, and features a variety of topics such as entrepreneurial management, global economics, and values and ethics.

The second year of the MBA takes place over two terms that run from September to December and from January to March.  Aside from the Business Spanish Program, the second-year curriculum is comprised entirely of elective courses; students have free rein to choose from any of the more than 130 electives offered by IESE.  Elective courses may be taught in English or Spanish.  Students who pass a Spanish language exam and earn at least a grade of B in two or more courses taught in Spanish are eligible to be awarded a Bilingual MBA Degree upon graduation rather than simply an MBA.

To provide students with additional international exposure, IESE has established exchange programs with 30 business schools around the world. Each year, around 90 spaces or more are offered to second-year students wishing to spend their first semester studying abroad.  IESE also offers a one- to two-week International Module at the beginning of the second year during which students can study at the school’s New York City Campus, the São Paulo ISE Campus, the Shanghai CEIBS campus, or the Nairobi Strathmore Business School.

Other MBA Degree Options

In addition to the full-time MBA program, IESE offers Executive MBA programs in Barcelona, Munich, Madrid and São Paulo. EMBA programs in Barcelona and Madrid are taught in English and Spanish, and students can choose either a weekly or biweekly format for the EMBA, though these formats are not offered in each location. IESE has also established a Global Executive MBA program that includes modules in Barcelona, São Paulo, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and New York City. This program is taught exclusively in English and is offered partly at home and partly via residential sessions.

College students who aim to attend IESE in the near future can gain pre-admission to the MBA program by applying to the school’s Young Talent Path (YTP) during their junior or senior year.  After gaining three to four years of work experience YTP students matriculate into the full-time MBA program.

Core Courses at IESE

Term 1

• Analysis of Business Problems
• Decision Analysis
• Financial Accounting
• Capital Markets
• Marketing Management
• Leadership
• Business Spanish

Term 2

• Managerial Accounting
• Business Ethics
• Marketing Planning and Implementation
• Operational Finance
• Operations Management
• Business Spanish

Term 3

• Leading Organizations: Systems, Values and Ethics
• Global Economics
• Competitive Strategy
• International Management
• Transforming Organizations and Markets with ICTs
• Operations Strategy
• Quantitative Methods for Management
• Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Management
• Corporate Finance
• Capstone In-Company Project
• Business Spanish

Degree Offerings at IESE

Full-time MBA Program
http://www.iese.edu/en/mba/

Executive MBA Programs
Executive MBA offered in Barcelona, Madrid and São Paulo
http://www.iese.edu/en/executive-mba/

Global Executive MBA, with modules in Barcelona, Madrid, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and New York City
https://globalexecutivemba.iese.edu/

Campus Life

Clubs, Conferences & Competitions

Students at IESE have ample opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. The school has over 70 student-run clubs that focus on a range of professional, regional, athletic and social interests. On the professional side, the Consulting Club hosts workshops, mock interview sessions and presentations by consulting firms to help its members prepare for post-MBA careers in consulting. Meanwhile, the Asia Business Club provides support to students who aim to find work in Asia after business school and hosts cultural celebrations for holidays such as Diwali and Chinese New Year. As for athletics, IESE has a large range of sports clubs, including beach volleyball, badminton, rugby, tennis and skiing, among many others.

Students at IESE also enjoy a number of large annual events. For instance, each year the Responsible Business Club hosts the Doing Good & Doing Well Conference, a two-day event that examines key issues and responsible business practices. Another highly anticipated event is the Roland Berger International Case Competition, which attracts teams of students from Europe, North America and Asia and awards the winners with an internship at Roland Berger.

Campus Space

Along with its four campuses in Barcelona, Madrid, New York, and Munich, IESE has facilities in São Paulo as well. The school’s full-time MBA program is headquartered at the University of Navarra’s campus in Pedralbes, a residential neighborhood of Barcelona that sits just 20 minutes from the city’s downtown area. The IESE campus is divided into North and South sections and MBA classes are held in the South Campus. In addition to plentiful classrooms and meeting rooms, the school features a 597-seat auditorium, a large business library, dining and cafeteria areas and a library housing over 49,000 volumes.

MBA Careers

Career Services

IESE’s MBA Career Services department provides students with a variety of career development resources throughout the course of the MBA program. These include individual career planning sessions with Career Services staff, IESE faculty and alumni, as well as workshops on topics such as résumés and cover letters, salary negotiations and presentation skills. Career Services also organizes mock interviews throughout the first term of the MBA program in which representatives from invited companies come to campus to conduct mock interviews tailored to students’ requests.

To help students network with potential employers, Career Services coordinates a Career Forum each fall to which it invites leading companies to present their firms and conduct first-round interviews with second-year students. IESE reports that about 70 percent of second-year students secure post-MBA jobs through the Career Forum and that first-year students find the Career Forum to be useful for sourcing potential summer internships. Students can also gain exposure to recruiting firms at company presentations that are held on campus throughout the academic year and career treks held by clubs with a focus on a certain region or industry.

Career Statistics

Eighty-seven percent of IESE’s MBA Class of 2020 found employment within three months of graduation. The average base salary for the Class of 2020 was €86,282 with additional bonuses landing at €54,350. Consulting topped the function of choice for the class, as 41% found such roles.  Another 16% accepted sales and marketing positions while 15% went into management. Fourteen percent took on finance positions.

Upon graduating, 20% of members of the Class of 2020 remained in Spain while 26% relocated to other European countries.  Latin America drew 22% of graduates and 20% headed to the Asia Pacific region.

Financing

Tuition for the program beginning in September 2022 is €93,500.  The school expects that expenses such as housing and transportation will cost students living alone an additional €1,850 per month. Those who choose to share housing can expect expenses at €1,500 per month  and married couple can expect expenses at €2520 a month. To help defray the cost of education, IESE offers several, largely merit-based scholarships that up to 50% of tuition.

Applicants hoping to receive scholarships must submit completed scholarship application essays to the Admissions Department as part of their MBA application form. Applicants may also pursue scholarships from non-IESE organizations and companies. To further aid students in financing their education, IESE offers a Global Loan Program in partnership with Banco Sabadell through which students may apply for loans without a co-signer.

Cost of Attendance

• Commitment Fee €3,000
• Tuition Installment €7,000
• Payment Year 1 €36,750
• Payment Year 2 €46,750
• Total €93,050

Recent IESE News

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Real Humans of the IESE MBA Class of 2023

In this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students, we head to the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra in Barcelona. IESE’s class is comprised of about 350 students and 30 percent are women.