RSM Erasmus University - Rotterdam School of Management

Future international business moguls choose Rotterdam School of Mangement, Erasmus University (RSM) for two simple reasons: The school provides “the most international MBA” experience in the world, and Rotterdam is in the heart of the EEC, with “easy access” to Germany and the “EU labor market.” RSM provides a “very challenging, positive learning environment,” but its intensive twelve-month MBA program is not for the faint of heart. The “workload is heavy,” and the curriculum is front-loaded (students take eleven general management courses in the first two semesters). During this period, the day “starts at 9:00 A.m . with classes and ends at 7:00 P .m . with some group work or . .. [an] assignment.” Overworked students take comfort in the fact that their professors are “excellent! They clearly enjoy teaching their subject matters, and because they are from all over the world, we get different perspectives in class.” Students also point out that “the small class size means we have more opportunities to form close relationships with the program staff.” During the third semester, students choose an advanced course from one of four areas of specialization (finance, marketing, or strategy). The final semester is an elective curriculum. All academic work in residency at RSM is conducted in English.

With one eye trained on the executive job market and the other on skill development and business knowledge, Rotterdam is what “b-school should be”; that is, “practical and academic at the same time.” The Personal Leadership Development program, a mandatory twelve-month experiential course, adds additional value. One student sums it up: “In hindsight I would not have gone to any other business school. RSM offers the right balance of soft and hard skills.” “The school [also] has a strong sense of social responsibility.” “I am now equipped to be a stronger and more sensitive businessperson,” writes one satisfied student.

RSM MBAs can look forward to bright and lucrative careers. While the school is respon- sible for connecting students with optional internships and half of post-MBA jobs, stu- dents also find significant career opportunities within an ever growing alumni network and elsewhere. Companies recruiting at RSM include ING Bank, ABN Amro, Johnson & Johnson, Deloitte, Amazon, AT Kearney. Top recruiters of 2014 are FMO, Microsoft, Cargill, Heineken, D.E. Master Blenders , Shell, Emerson, IBM, Tata Consultancy Services, and Philips. The main goal of career services is to facilitate progress towards the best suitable job after graduation.

RSM “students form a strong and very connected group,” students say. “Everyone is automatically a member of every club. It’s your responsibility to contribute as much or as little to the events. For example, though you may not be in any entrepreneurial courses, you are automatically invited to [hear] every entrepreneurial speaker on campus. And once you arrive, you are welcome in the room.” The collegial atmosphere is “perfect and wonderful,” says one MBA candidate. “I’d like to go back to the first semester and to start again.” Even so, students are “extremely driven.” “Almost half want to be entre- preneurs or have owned businesses.” RSM’s “inspiring and challenging” students don’t shrink from competition or from giving “positive and constructive criticism.”

Diversity is no afterthought here—it’s the reason MBA candidates choose RSM. Students say that the “international perspective was a big draw. Several other [schools] claimed to be international, but mostly had over 50 percent from one or two backgrounds.” RSM, on the other hand, “has fifty nationalities and only small clusters from the same back- grounds.” This means that students learn “a lot from classmates,” and “there is no ruling racial group in our class.” “It is just great!” enthuses one student. “A mix of cultures brings so many good things out of each student that it is almost like magic. The amount of kindness that I’ve experienced is just overwhelming.” Demographically speaking, a preponderance of the students are European and Asian, with large Indian and Taiwanese communities; the average student is in his or her late twenties, with an undergraduate background in business or economics and more than five years of pre-MBA work expe- rience. A quarter of MBA candidates are women. Partners and spouses “have banded together” to form “a supportive network,” “and routinely have nights out on the town.”