ESADE Business School (reviews)

During the coronavirus pandemic, the university has managed to make online testing, something which every other university somehow manages to do, a huge logistical challenge. The nicest way to put it is that their servers are clearly lacking the size needed for a mere 300 students to take an exam at the same time. Unbelievable and most shocking for the high tuition fee ~16000€/year you would expect them to have a working IT department.

Alongside the ancient education system, this makes ESADE unfit to create the leaders of tomorrow. Perhaps they should look at their own slogan for once “do good do better” because they clearly do not apply it to themselves. Would not recommend.

I loved the class cohesion with plenty of international students from all over the world. Great to have that mix during a practical business project to do with the local economy of the Costa Brava.
Studying in Barcelona is simply amazing, and even though the university is not directly in the center, it is in a really nice part of the city with great views over the old town and the sea. I always enjoyed my walk from the metro station to the school.
The professors were nice and motivated, and as classes were small, it allowed a very good learning atmosphere.

The professors are qualified, passionate, and dive deeply into the topics while always making class engaging. Hands-on experience with companies to solve real issues – offering a great opportunity to apply the learnings and gain more relevant experience. The study tours and minor class trips are also adding value to the course, along with many career and social events, which help create a good environment. Would highly recommend!

The unfortunate truth is that there are a lot of negative points that, as prospective students, you simply do not hear about from ESADE. The short review is as follows: ESADE is a good school on paper if you want to fast track into spanish consultancy or investment banking. However if you want to do anything else please consider going somewhere else and save your time and money.

the negatives:

– No emphasis what so ever put on critical thinking or intellectual development. In all fairness business is a dry subject to study but often it can be made more interesting by looking at what the cultural/societal impacts are and how we can use the tools we are learning to actually do something for society. ESADE expects you to memorize everything, this is reflected in the way that students are assessed in the courses. The vast majority of time 50%+ of the end grade comes from a final exam in which often students are asked to either calculate something or fill in multiple choice questions. You will never be asked to write a long answer question (longer than one page) or develop an idea passed the surface level.

– Unempathetical rules. It is unfortunately common for students who experience some sort of medical emergency or other life crisis to simply receive no support from the university. I don’t mean any form of emotional/psychological help but help towards the end grade. In a lot of classes the end grade is partially determined by the attendance, therefore, making it mandatory. If you do have a medical emergency/crisis you should hope that it doesn’t happen during exams because ESADE will simply let you fail the exams even if you are in the hospital. This behavior extends into other, non-emergency situations as well. Regularly students fail to graduate, not because they don’t pass all the mandatory classes, but because ESADE’s elective system (which is mandatory as well by the way) is so unusable and difficult to get right, that students simply don’t have the necessary credits. In this case you have to pay tuition FOR A WHOLE YEAR just to retake elective courses.

– No student life. Essentially there is no reason to remain on campus after class because, although there are associations, these are all serious ones like junior investment bankers, or consultancy associations. If you are coming from the UK be ready to be disappointed.

– Location is NOT in Barcelona. This is another point where ESADE likes to trick students. You are not going to be studying in Barcelona but in a small town ~45mins from Barcelona called Sant Cugat. It is a very boring town and you should absolutely not live there.

– Languages. I remember one of the reasons why ESADE was interesting for me was the prospect of learning foreign languages. They advertised Russian, Mandarin, Arabic, and a plethora of European languages. This was not the case in the BBA. We have the option between french and german. This was a major disappointment for me. The master’s program, however, offers a larger selection of languages.

– Conservative school system. Most other business universities have to some degree modernized, usually offering a PDF textbook to accompany the course, some even filming the lectures for students to watch if they could not attend. None of this is the case for ESADE. Although it looks very modern, this is nothing but a facade. The reality is that most teachers will not allow you to use your laptops to take notes, there is also no textbooks PDF or physical so your entire knowledge of the class comes from the notes you make and, if the professors are tech savvy enough, the slides they may upload.

– 19,000 euros a year tuition

The pros:

– Great name recognition within Spain, mediocre recognition internationally. People in Spain have heard nonstop about how great ESADE is so there is a heavy bias towards ESADE students in spain.

– Strong focus on consultancy or investment banking: If this is the field you want to get into, perfect ESADE may be for you. They offer a lot of interview preparation, career fairs, and classes often revolve around these careers (typical exam question might be: you are a consultant for XYZ and your client wants to know if they are operating under the optimal capital structure.). There is pretty much no focus on other career paths.

– Small class sizes means its possible to develop closer relationships with your peers and with your professors.

ESADE Business School has successfully created an environment where engaged, open-minded, passionate and problem-solving individuals can proliferate both academically and professionally as they establish friendships with students/professionals from all over the world.

According to my experience, this university is a great place to study as it offers an excellent learning with very interesting subjects and really good and experienced teachers.

Likewise, it allows its students to find a job with ease due to its excellent reputation.

So definitely I would recommend going to ESADE as I think it brings you great opportunities.

I have really good memories from my University degree in ESADE.
I think it really prepares you to perform in several different roles in company. It allows you to have strategic thinking and think on your own. Besides, it promotes making a positive impact in the society.
Furthermore, companies do value the degree in ESADE and you get opportunities to demonstrate your value in interviews.
I got my first job in one of the worst moments in Spanish Economy in the last decades, I guess the degree help for it.

I was at esade for one semester and the expirience was great. The class with a few students permit you to have a direct approach with the professors and a lot of practical activities such as reading sentences and moot court. I absolutely recommend it

ESADE is a business school characterized by the diversity of its students (professionally and culturally) and faculty. In addition, the collaborative spirit announced by the admissions team is present in every school activity. In addition, the focus on innovation and creativity has led the school to be recognized as one of the best at it (the organization of renowned case competitions in these fields is an appropriate example). Furthermore, although the case study method is widely used, the school also uses some other methodologies which could be more effective in certain classes which deal with more technical knowledge.

The career team organization could improve. I have the feeling that they tend to improvise a lot and given the ranking of the university and the price of the programs, this is not expected.

ESADE is competing to be the best business school in Spain. Their rival is IE located in Madrid. Both schools are ranked in top 10 among all business schools. Even prices are quite expensive, it is worth to pay this amount for priceless education and experience. Students should both be wealthy and hardworking. Another option is to gain a scholarship from school or associations. After graduation, the employment rate is around 95% in 6 months with high salary start in the most reputational companies of worlds. School provides perfect network and education for lucky students who have a chance to be a part of ESADE.