Hello everyone.

I'm a foreign student interested in studying at Mannheim for the Management master English track (I'm Canadian)

Now i want to know, after reading so many posts, if Mannheim has a good reputation at all?

On the FT ranking Mannheim places pretty well and also the university seems to have a good reputation.

I read so many posts on this forum where Mannheim is the butt of all jokes, that it's not prestigious, cannot compar to foreign universities, it has poor students etc.

I wanna know if those posts are serious or if there's a degree of truth in all of that?

Mannheim used to be more prestigious and hasn't done much in the past few years to improve its reputation compared to other German universities like FSMS or TUM. Nethertheless it's still a Top 3 Business school (together with St. Gallen & WHU) in German-speaking regions. Internationally Mannheim can't compete with the top european targets but if you plan to work in Germany, then Mannheim would give you the most bang for the buck. Also remember that German companies don't care as much about your university as the UK or the US does unless you want to go into conulting or banking.

WiWi Gast schrieb am 15.10.2019:

Hello everyone.

I'm a foreign student interested in studying at Mannheim for the Management master English track (I'm Canadian)

Now i want to know, after reading so many posts, if Mannheim has a good reputation at all?

On the FT ranking Mannheim places pretty well and also the university seems to have a good reputation.

I read so many posts on this forum where Mannheim is the butt of all jokes, that it's not prestigious, cannot compar to foreign universities, it has poor students etc.

I wanna know if those posts are serious or if there's a degree of truth in all of that?

In Germany, both Mannheim and the WHU are considered as the most prestigious universities when it comes to business administration. So if you plan to work in Germany in that area, it’s one of your best choices. However, in Europe there are a few other universities which have a stronger reputation, e.g. HSG, LSE etc.

The majority of Mannheim hate in this forum is due to jealousy. Mannheim remains the clear No.1 in Germany and No.2 in DACH

Top tier in DACH region:

Mannheim/FS/WHU/Goethe/HSG

Please bear in mind that the pedagogy in Mannheim is focused on theory and less on practice compared to other leading B-Schools in US/UK. This combined with rote learning may be a culture shock for some international students. It is a good German B-School and provides a solid education with recognition in Germany. Like many underfunded German B-Schools, facilities are stretched and students sit in large classes. Germans call this uni for masses. Having said that, many Mannheim Bachelor graduates leave Mannheim for their Masters. New rules: 1,500 euros tuition per semester required for non EU students.

The butt joke is rival banter caused by the big headed attitude of some Mannheim students.

Why do you want to study and work in germany?

I'm doing my Bachelor in Mannheim (one of the two best and most prestigous Universities for Business in Germany with WHU) but want to do my Master in Toronto because I dont like germany and want to start my life in canada.

If you can read the threads that are in German, why the hell do you have to write in English? U would fit well in Mannheim.

Mannheim is prestigious, but there is no guarantee for a prosperous career. Personally, I know people from other less known universities, who made it to McKinsey and JPM.
And then some students from Mannheim tell others, that this might not possible, since Mannheim is the top target business school, attended only by the best people etc.

Imho it's a clash between few loud as well as arrogant and (more or less slighlty) jealous people.

Nevertheless, good luck and enjoy your studies!

main reason for that is the "brain drain" Mannheim and WHU experiences.

Both attract a strong student body in their bachelor courses but the so called High Performers with good grades usually start a masters abroad. The University fills these spots with mediocre students who got their bachelors from a university of applied science. Yuck.

And second, because master programs in Germany rarely offer a general management track - and as a university you just can't be the best at every specialization.

In Germany you have to differentiate between Marketing (Münster, Mannheim), Finance (Frankfurt, Mannheim) and Accounting (Münster). There is no target management master in Germany.

Mostly students from Mannheim see Mannheim as prestigious. That's about it.

HSG is mostly overhyped to be honest and is not on par with LSE, HEC and G5 schools.

WiWi Gast schrieb am 16.10.2019:

Hello everyone.

I'm a foreign student interested in studying at Mannheim for the Management master English track (I'm Canadian)

Now i want to know, after reading so many posts, if Mannheim has a good reputation at all?

On the FT ranking Mannheim places pretty well and also the university seems to have a good reputation.

I read so many posts on this forum where Mannheim is the butt of all jokes, that it's not prestigious, cannot compar to foreign universities, it has poor students etc.

I wanna know if those posts are serious or if there's a degree of truth in all of that?

In Germany, both Mannheim and the WHU are considered as the most prestigious universities when it comes to business administration. So if you plan to work in Germany in that area, it’s one of your best choices. However, in Europe there are a few other universities which have a stronger reputation, e.g. HSG, LSE etc.

WiWi Gast schrieb am 16.10.2019:

main reason for that is the "brain drain" Mannheim and WHU experiences.

Both attract a strong student body in their bachelor courses but the so called High Performers with good grades usually start a masters abroad. The University fills these spots with mediocre students who got their bachelors from a university of applied science. Yuck.

And second, because master programs in Germany rarely offer a general management track - and as a university you just can't be the best at every specialization.

In Germany you have to differentiate between Marketing (Münster, Mannheim), Finance (Frankfurt, Mannheim) and Accounting (Münster). There is no target management master in Germany.

I wouldn‘t say that bachelor students in Mannheim are „mediocre“. You will most likely need a high school diploma with a grade average of 1,5 (GPA 3.5) to get accepted. That said, even though I would consider Mannheim one of the greatest German „target“ universities, this is not as meaningful as in the UK or the US - due to the German education system, university brands don‘t matter much here. If you‘re planning to work in Germany, Mannheim will probably the best choice for you. If you want to work in the UK or other European countries, I would reconsider my choice if I was you. Good luck :)

Bachelor in Mannheim can place you anywhere in Europe

Mannheim is definitely one of the top Business Schools in Germany. However, on international level it is rather unknown. Especially when compared to the Ivy League or Oxford/Cambridge/LSE etc. That mainly because in Germany most employers don't care about the reputation of your university too much. And they will most certainly pay you more money just because you graduated from Mannheim or even Harvard.

Mannheim is a very decent university though. Just not very well known. And there are many comparable alternatives in Europe especially in the Netherlands. Mainly Rotterdam, but also Maastricht to some degree. If you are looking for business school with top reputation in the German-speaking area, then I would go for St. Gallen. If you are just looking for top university and do have the money to pay the fees, then I would rather focus on British and American top business schools.

A lot of the posters just try to push their own university and that‘s also happening with Mannheim. It has a good reputation but cannot keep up with new developments and incumbents. Especially abroad nobody knows Mannheim. Therefore, I‘d suggest you to look at great German universities as a whole with good management programs (e.g. TUM, RWTH).

Most importantly to understand for foreign students is that in Germany it is not very important which university you study at. Employers mainly look at the final grade of your exam not at the university. This is very different from what you will be used to from Canadia, let alone the US.

Many Mannheim students would of course like it to be different and therefore claim this.

Nah it's 'prestigious' all right, but they're just a little bit outdated. They haven't overhauled their curriculum since forever and unfortunately think they're the best at everything. This attitude spills over to the students, who are often insufferable and arrogant.

In reality, it's a great university. If you are a half decent student, you'll have access to good jobs in Germany. Don't base your opinions purely on the views expressed on this forum - there's a weird sort of rivalry that Mannheim, WHU, HHL, Münster and Köln students have with each other. They put each other down at every opportunity and think they're the best at everything. It's hilarious and really exposes their insecurity.

WiWi Gast schrieb am 15.10.2019:

it has poor students etc.

I was laughing quite hard on that one. It´s not completely wrong. If you have good grades but no strong financial background aka rich parents, Mannheim is an option while WHU and HSG are probably not.

Is it a bad thing? Definitely not! Schools that are exclusively accessible for students with wealthy backgrounds can only select from a limited number of applicants and thus tend to have a lower quality of students. Another point is that going to a school with a lot of Top 1-2% offspring as your classmates can be challenging if you´re a lower/middle class kid.

Leaving that aside, "target" Business schools are always attract a high number of rich kids and thus most of the students in Mannheim are still far from poor. That statement was probably made by someone from the other two schools mentioned and if you think about it you might be happy not to study at a place where people get judged by there parents income.

WiWi Gast schrieb am 17.10.2019:

WiWi Gast schrieb am 15.10.2019:

it has poor students etc.

I was laughing quite hard on that one. It´s not completely wrong. If you have good grades but no strong financial background aka rich parents, Mannheim is an option while WHU and HSG are probably not.

Is it a bad thing? Definitely not! Schools that are exclusively accessible for students with wealthy backgrounds can only select from a limited number of applicants and thus tend to have a lower quality of students. Another point is that going to a school with a lot of Top 1-2% offspring as your classmates can be challenging if you´re a lower/middle class kid.

Leaving that aside, "target" Business schools are always attract a high number of rich kids and thus most of the students in Mannheim are still far from poor. That statement was probably made by someone from the other two schools mentioned and if you think about it you might be happy not to study at a place where people get judged by there parents income.

Incredulous. imagine some students may receive BaföG/student loan for low income students. They shop at Aldi/Lidl. Economic diversity is a good thing and Mannheim provides more social mobility than WHU.

Look at the most recent FT MiM ranking (2019) to see Mannheim's downward development. While some other universities in Germany improved their ranking, Mannheim dropped significantly from 14th to 24th in the ranking. Kind of confirms the trend that other universities are catching up and that Mannheim is not at all that 'special' anymore (if it ever was) ... not in Germany and especially not internationally.

Mannheim Students consider MMM in the same league as HSG Masters. The uncomfortable truth: It is not even close. A 10 spots decline is remarkable. At least some good news. Mannheim (24) is still higher ranked than FS (36). For now.

WiWi Gast schrieb am 16.10.2019:

Why do you want to study and work in germany?

I'm doing my Bachelor in Mannheim (one of the two best and most prestigous Universities for Business in Germany with WHU) but want to do my Master in Toronto because I dont like germany and want to start my life in canada.

The reason is simple, i don't like the North American lifestyle and i fell in love with Germany when i visited there.

Besides i think Germany would be a better place to raise a family than Toronto if i'm being honest.