new to forum - researching Ellis MBA

Hello everybody! I'm new to this forum. For the past month and a half, I have visited here almost everyday doing searches for RA online MBA schools and reading posts.

I need to advance me career by getting a masters. I have not been in school since early 90's. I want to keep my current job and distance learning is my best option.

I have chosen to pursue the online MBA at Ellis College of NYIT. Ellis is accredited under the umbrella of NYIT's regional accreditation. They offer the specializations that I want so it was appealing to me. They also advertise that their courses are developed with the help of 5 top schools (Columbia, Stanford, U of Chicago, Carnegie Mellons, and London School of Econ Poly Sci). This was a key selling point I think.

My search for info about this program is minimal. I am looking to find out some opinions or stories about this school.

The program is $30K! That's not a problem. My main concern is that the material I will learn is relevant, up-to-date, and will help me at my current job. I am not business-minded but want to be. I hope that this is the right choice for me and that it will be equivalent to getting an MBA from a traditional school.

Does anyone have any experience or know anybody who has completed or attending this institution? Your input is greatly appreciated!


Q_c

 

If you're willing to spend $30K, you may find that an Executive MBA program like the one the Indiana University's Kelley School of Business fits your needs better than a strictly online program. The program is delivered mostly via distance education, but also has a one-week per term residency that lets you get to know your instructors and fellow students.

My wife is enrolled in a similar program (Duke's Cross-Continent EMBA), and the residencies have really been important to her - it makes her feel more integrated into the program, and the relationships she has built with other students have already begun to pay off in terms of networking opportunities. When I was beginning to look at full-time MBA programs, she asked her classmates if they knew people who were in or had graduated from the schools I was interested in, and her classmates put me in touch with people at every single school I wanted to learn more about. She has also been referred to several potential job opportunities by classmates. A big part of the MBA experience is building your personal network - don't automatically count out a program because it is not completely online.

There are a ton of short-residence EMBA programs out there, but Kelley's is one of the best recognized and affordable. Here's the link, in case you're interested:

http://kd.iu.edu/default.htm

Best of luck in your quest for an MBA! I'm in the process of applying to full-time programs (hoping to change careers out of IT into IB or MC) myself. Let me know how your search turns out!

 

A friend of mine who's now in one of the online programs at Golden Gate University's Ageno School of Business transferred from the Ellis Program. He says he loved his Ellis experience (and that networking was excellent because they had extensive interaction through emails and chats -- more contact than what he would have had if he had been in an on-campus program), but that the fees were just too out-of-reach for him (his company didn't fund his studies). He says the amount of work is overwhelming, so if you decide to enroll, try one course first (if you have a full-time job) before going into a two- or three-courses/term load.

 

thanks

thanks to both of you for your views. believe me, if I could go to a traditional program I would. I don't see any problem with interacting with other students via e-mail and discussion forums and learning over electronic mediums. I work in an I.T. environment and know that many projects are managed over the phone and via e-mail. Working on projects at an online school should fundamentally be similar. Alot of my technical training is virtual also. I'm glad to hear at least from one person who knows somebody that had a positive experience. I will only be taking one course at a time at first.


Kind regards,

Q_c

 

What's your time availability

Are you located in an urban area with an AACSB part time program?

The "best" you can do for the money is get an AACSB degree from a B & M school. If not, then one like Ellis' program, where it can be associated with a B & M school. There are plenty of AACSB MBA programs that can be had by distance I think.

Look at the US News and Business Week rankings.

 

actually yes, but no...

There are two good schools that I know of but unfortunately I donot qualify for them yet. 1) I haven't taken the GMAT 2) My past academic record is barely average in Pre-health Professions (GPA 2.4) 3) I only have 5 years of career-oriented work experience. I have to take the best I can right now and I want to get started ASAP.

Right now, at I'm at a confortable point in my career-mid level Techno management. When I get confortable, I get nervous and do not feel secure so I want to advance my skillset - both technical and business aspects. The reason I am attracted to Ellis is because there is no GMAT required. I have a B.S. and a decent resume. Plus I need a program that is completely online due to the need to work full-time and having family commitments as well. I've tested out a demo of one of their classes and I was very impressed by their teaching platform. Many interactive features, diagrams, resource tools, discussion boards, e-mail. The courses consists of multiple mini-projects that one must complete and are evaluated on. By completing these projects, studying the accompanying textbooks, and interacting in discussions, I sense I will be saturated with work. It sounds like fun to me!

Of course going to an AACSB school is better but for what I need, an RA school that will teach me the basics of business management with a focus on tech management, I feel this is my best bet. I'm just looking for some opinions about the program to get a sense of what I'll be getting myself into. Hopefully it will be a rich learning experience will help my current job and future business ventures.

Thanks a bunch for you input!

Sincerely,
Q_c

 

Ellis

I see, that's helpful.

There are three componenst: personal satisfaction, promotion and job transition, that drive the degree purpose it seems. Ignoring the first one, will your company pay for or reimburse yor for the degree expense if you agree to work for them (employment contract or whatever)? To the extent you will seek another job at another firm, you'd be best to pay for it. But if you stay, you'd be in better shape to have negotiated a deal.

 

some assistance

my company will reimburse a small percentage of the tuition per year. Student loans will pick up the tab. I plan to stay with my current employer until I am not needed anymore. They are encouraging me to venture off and start my own business with them possibly being a partner. In this scenario, getting an MBA will be extremely helpful.


Q_c

 

off the tangent...

I recently e-mailed the Middle States Commission on Higher Education inquirying about the validy of Ellis College's regional accreditation. Here is the response I received:

"Ellis College is a part of New York Institute of Technology, and as part of NYIT, it is included in the accreditation of NYIT. It is not
separately accredited, but is included in NYIT's accreditation. That is standard policy with institutions. Their units are not separately accredited, but are included in the accreditation of the entire institution."

Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director
Middle States Commission on Higher Education


I just had to have it confirmed for myself and am happy with the result!

Sincerely,
Q_c

 

Ellis

I can't remember, but I think Ellis was the Michael Milken venture capital funding about five years ago. I think it was out of Chicago, but eventually because the accredidation was a marketing problem, then strategically aligned with NYIT. I'm not sure, but this may be the story.

Ask them what your degree will look like. For my money, having one from NYIT - a traditiona university in Manhattan, speaks volumns for its credibility. Also, my guess is that the faculty is of a higher quality if they are bridging the compentency out of NYIT.

Ellis has a good program.

 

diploma type

In speaking with a representative, I found that the MBA diploma will say from NYIT on it, just like the traditional students. That is extremely good. I'm trying to find out what the transcripts will look like.

The courses have a faculty consisting of PhDs and MAs with experience in online education and in their respective fields. I'm not sure if they are NYIT faculty or adjunct faculty trained in their methods of instruction. I'm hoping that if it is adjunct faculty, they are from one of those top institutions that helped them develop the program. However, the Ellis College web site no longer advertises their affiliation with these colleges nor do they any longer show those school's logos. I hope they still have this affiliation!

Take care & thanks,
Q_c

 

affiliation

I think the original school before the alighment with NYIT (may have been Cardean or something or other) simply paid to have those schools develop some of the instructional materials.

I wouldn't make the decision because of this because I think it was mostly show anyway. Ask Ellis to be hooked up with recent grads who have placed and ask them how the degree was perceived in the job market.

Who recruits the typical MBA's out of NYIT's B & M program? Call those folks and ask them if they differentiate between NYIT and Ellis from an employer perspective.

 

great idea...

I've sent an e-mail to an NYIT professor involved in the program. I asked what companies hire NYIT a/o Ellis MBA grads, How many MBA grads are there, how many enrolled currently, etc. I sent it out yesterday so I hope to hear from them soon. I also asked to be connected with some grads to ask about their experience. On their web site, they have testimonies. I hope those are real people! I have a feeling they are legit though.

 

quest,

Have you found out those information about the MBA?

Thanks,
Keith

 

yes and no

Hello Keith,

An admissions rep contacted me last week and helped answered some of my questions. She told me that there were currently about 1400 students enrolled in the MBA program alone (does that sound real?). However, I have not received official documentation.

My online school account provides me with information on students and faculty. Each time I log on, I can learn about a different student by clicking their picture and reading their bios. Every time I refresh the page, a new student is displayed. I must say, one day while bored, I clicked that refresh page at least a thousand times. While a few names came up twice or maybe 3 times, there were a lot! I was happy to read about people with many various backgrounds. Some military, healthcare, education, business, and many other types of people!

I have finally found the Ellis College Graduate School Catalog. This catalog is very detailed and reading it helped psyche me up for starting classes next week!

One thing that kind of startled me was that you need to maintain a CGPA of 3.0! If you fall below that, you go on academic probation! And you must have at least a 3.0 in order to graduate!! I read 1 post on this forum that a course he/she was taking was not that difficult. However, that person was a business major and was working directly in that field in which he was taking the course in. So, I hope this will challenge me to be a prudent student. I was a Biology major in undergrad so an MBA should prove challenging for me as I am not business -savvy, yet.

The Graduate catalog also has a list of Adjunct Faculty. The faculty predominantly consists of Masters Degree holders. In the list, there are only 15 PhD holders from various institutions. There is no list of any NYIT professors at all on the faculty. However, I think the catalog is still being developed because I have downloaded 2 copies from within 1 week and one of them is newer with the updated faculty list. I willl inquire further about this.

The Ellis College of NYIT Graduate catalog is not found on their website for some reason. I only found it after logging in to my own account and following some links. There is also an undergraduate catalog there as well. If any one is interested in receiving a copy, please e-mail me at:

[email protected]


OMG, I start class in 1 week!!!!

 

Re: yes and no

Maintaining a 3.0 GPA is a requirement for most graduate programs. Heck, maybe all - I've never seen one that didn't require students to maintain a 3.0. You'll find that keeping your GPA up in a business program is not that hard. Many of your assignments will be team-based, and most teams usually contain someone with experience in the particular field you are working on (such as accounting). I'm NOT saying that you should sponge off your classmates, rather, that you should learn from the people who have real-world experience in the problems you are working on. Hopefully there will be opportunities for you to be the "subject matter expert" in some of your classes. Good luck with your MBA!

 

Re: yes and no

You will do fine. A 3.0 minimum is the norm, but you will find as long as you keep up with the work and don't fall behind, you should have no problems getting at least a B in all your classes. IMHO, a biology undergrad degree is much harder than a business undergrad degree, so you might even find this a cake walk. Most MBA programs start out light because they know a lot of students didn't have undergrad degrees in business, or if they did it was so long ago that they forgot.

 

One of our faculty was recently approached by Ellis to teach. NYIT has been doing distance learning for many years and offered many courses when most other programs were offering just a few courses. Although there may be other viable candidates for your degree, you certainly won't go wrong with a degree from NYIT.

Tony Pina
Administrator, Northeastern Illinois University

 

merci beaucoup!

Thanks guys for the words of encouragemnt and information! I appreciately you taking the time! I will make you all proud!


kind regards,
Q_c

 

forgot to mention....

Also stated in the Graduate Catalog is this section about Transcripts and Diplomas:

"TRANSCRIPTS OF RECORD
Transcripts are issued by and bear the seal of New York Institute of Technology. “Official” transcripts are only issued directly to other educational institutions, employers, or other third parties as requested by the student. Students may order “unofficial” copies for their own records."

-----------------

"Ellis College students enjoy the advantages and privileges of all NYIT students æ including eligibility for federal financial aid. Additionally, when they graduate, Ellis students earn a degree from NYIT..."

I'm mainly taking the MBA path for helping me advance at my current place of employement. I'm nost sure about the future but perhaps DL degrees will be more widely accepted 2 - 3 years from now. That would be excellent timing for when I graduate!

Sincerely,
Q_c