Graduate School and MBA - Advice?
 

I've reached a point in my life and career where I'm strongly considering working on my MBA. I'm looking for advice on a number of things.

Is the MBA worth the expense, time and effort over a BS - in monetary reward?
Full time vs Part time
On line vs On campus
In general thoughts, what does an MBA "really" provide?
Any additional thoughts or ideas?

I'm considering DePaul, Univ of Chicago, Loyola, Kellogg and possibly Notre Dame (satelite campus in Chicago??) as "on campus" schools and I'm not too sure about on line schools.

Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I graduated with my MBA in 2003 from the UofA. I chose full time over part time and on campus vs off. I was an engineering undergrad, with entrepreneurship "minor".

Going to Business school was exactly the right thing for me. Just about everything was new for me and I was like a sponge. It allowed me to jump careers from technical into management. I worked for a tech company after graduation and in January I bought a company.

None of this would have happened without not only going to get my MBA, but doing it full time on campus. The part time students don't end up with nearly the same networking opportunities, and really don't get that much flexibility in selecting classes (which for me allowed me to map out my future).

Without knowing your background, I can't say what's right for you, but this is what was right for me, and why.

Hope it helps, and feel free to PM with any questions you might have.

Didn't go with the full MBA (would have had to take a lot of extra low level accounting), but went after a MS in Marketing at Webster.
It was well worth the time, money and effort.
90% of my prof's were from the buisnes world and new first hand of what they taught.
Use bits and pc's of what I learned damn near every day.

Personally I don't think the on line stuff is near as good compared to the in class stuff. Simply due to the ease of getting feedback and input from other students and the prof.

Also don't discount the networking opportunity, never know who might be in the class with you.

Is your UG in business as well? - MBAs are pretty common these days. What other skills or training do you have to set yourself apart from the pack.

Are you planning to change companies? - If definitely not, the MBA will only be as valuable as your current employer thinks it is. If you anticipate changing companies, it opens up a bigger market to consider the value of your degree.

Will your employer pay the cost of your education? -There are a number of executive MBA programs that accomodate working people. Some of these may include an online component. However I would not consider a purely on-line MBA. I don't think most employers would consider it equivalent to an MBA from a legitimate on site program. If your employer would cover the cost of that, it could be a good way of getting the degree without disrupting your life and financial status too much.

An MBA is one of those degrees that it really pays off to go to the best name program you can get into. The folks that graduate from the top programs commonly pull six figures upon graduation.

If the employer would support it, I would strongly consider the executive MBA. If not, I would only consider an MBA if I could get into one of the to 10 or so programs in the nation. In that case the disruption of your life is likely to pay off with a sweet gig after graduation.

BTW, many of the other students in my class were business undergrads, and for them the experience was far more about just getting the paperwork for career advancement. They seemed less excited by their experience (as you might expect).

Just to add to this if you can find a program which caters to the professional working stiff as opposed to the professional student I think you have an opportunity to get more out of it.

BS in Psychology and a second BS in Marketing.


Always an option, but I'm "happy" here now.

Our company does offer an Excutive MBA, but... it's very very difficult to get accepted by the Excutive Committee. It is something I'm exploring.

Funny you mention that. I tend to think that the experience, networking and learning are way above the paperwork in terms of what I'm looking for.

This is just my personal opinion, but MBA's are really only good if certain jobs require you to have them.

My employer, at that time, paid for my MBA. I had a dual major of Marketing and Finance. I was living in Chicago and had the opportunity to go to Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. They had a Program that emphasized International Business Study as an Executive MBA. We met for class on Fridays or Saturdays for about 2 yrs. It was somewhat helpful, but really helped my pocketbook more than my business knowledge. I jumped my salary about $20K in the early 90's. Not bad.

Like I said, if you are looking at certain opportunities that require an MBA, or that your main competition will have an MBA, then you might consider it. However, it's costly, time consuming, and may not deliver all that you are expecting. Good luck with your choice!

BTW, I can't write you a recommendation into Northwestern. I wrote a pretty nasty letter to the Dean of the Business School (after I got the MBA) about their lack of flexibility due to my travel. I think I've been blacklisted from ever stepping onto the premises of the Evanston Campus ROFL

My boss is currently in the program at Kellogg thus my "interest" there. He has about 3 months left and he'll be done - 2 years of VERY hard work. He too is doing the International Business program (we're a world wide company).

And as far as you writing a nasty letter - why am I not surprised about that? Sounds like you needed a good ass kick'n then too. :p

Whhhhhy I oughta............

I'm actually very glad I did it. Shortly thereafter, they stopped sending me letters to donate money. *****em. :)

Agreed with most of what has been said here thus far. While my job didn't require an MBA, I spent 2 years of extremely hard work and made some fantastic friends and business connections. Though I did not change companies as is the usual course of action for post-MBA'ers within 6 months of degree completion, I did get promoted and my salary jumped 56%. They were afraid that I would leave which I almost did. I work my tail off and travel frequently but so far it has been worth it. Learning more everyday.

I graduated in December '03 with an engineering degree. I had long considered doing a full time MBA program, and I had a good enough GMAT score that I think I could have gotten into a pretty good program, even without the work experience. The problem was money. I just couldn't justify going deeply into debt for a degree that wouldn't absoultely guarantee me a salary large enough to make up for it. Luckily enough, I got a job with a company that I had interned for. It is really small, and I get all the opportunity that I want. After about a year, I decided that I would give up my full-time MBA plans. I enrolled in KU's program at the Edwards campus in Overland Park. It is a royal pain in my ass working and going to class in the evenings, but my company is paying for it, and I am exteremely happy with my job, so I don't want to leave. Will it be worth it? Well, likely since all I'm really investing is my time....

An MBA is a great way to boost your earning power. However, I'm not sure that you get that boost if you do one of the "life experience" programs. Go to the absolute best-ranked school you can get. This isn't the time to be cheap.

I got an MBA and it qualified me to manage this shitty website on the internet.