Does anyone have experience with where the exams are given? Are they only administered in major cities? And does anyone see any potential problems with future employers looking at a resume and seeing a degree from a foreign university? I'm sure degrees from the UK are more respected than say, degrees from Mexico, on a general basis. But does anyone think an employer that doesn't know better may raise an eyebrow at a university they don't know anything about, especially a distance learning degree from another country?
For those who know about it, H-W is a well-respected university, and the MBA program is as well. But Americans run a small risk in the "What's this?" category. Because companies tend to look for accredited schools when screening applicants, you could get screened out without getting a chance to explain that your degree comes from a venerable Scottish school. We do not know how significant this issue is, however. But it is safe to say there are a great number of H-W MBA graduates working in the U.S. without any difficulty regarding the acceptability of their degrees. Rich Douglas
HW doesn't guarantee that you will not need to travel a modest distance but my perception is that they will arrange for exams to be proctored in almost any town where there is a local University. According to an article from Temple, HW is the largest MBA program in the US so there may very well already be students taking the exam in your area. The last stats I saw showed over 100,000 American students studying overseas, the majority of them in the UK. The majority of these individuals will return to the US and find suitable employment in the US. Each year hundreds of thousands work visas are granted to "foreign" professionals who have both foreign credentials and a job offer in the US at competitive salaries. I recently spoke with a HR director at a fortune 50 company and posed this exact question.... Her reponse was "a good degree is a good degree, I would not be concerned with having a foreign degree from a good school" In today's global business environment it is exceedingly easy to verify schools. In approximately 3 minutes I can tell you what employees have graduated / attended what schools and where they reside. Things may be cooling-off a bit now with the economy but when things were hot a number of US companies actively recruited outside the United States (I was involved in a strategy to focus on certain foreign school, often you can get excellent, well-trained people with a desire to work in the US). Don't be sure that a foreign degree won't be an asset, a point of differentiation amongst the string of candidiates from local U. Don't be sure that the person will not be aware of your school. I have run into people in the strangest of circumstances who know of Heriot-Watt. One example, I am out for dinner with with some new friends. He is a petroleum engineer... worked in London for a while... went on recruiting trips to Heriot-Watt. In using HW in the trenches of interviews with some of the largest private companies and public companies in the US it has always served as an asset. Offers have been commensurate with those from the US biz schools ranked in the 20-30 range. British degrees are highly respected generally. The educational system is more highly regulated and homogenous than the US system resulting in fewer schools and more even quality control. Regarding equivalences.... Here is an excellent piece from the British council on US equivalency "Higher * Associate degree - may be considered to satisfy the general entrance requirements of British higher education institutions. Courses of a more vocational nature (Associate of Applied Arts or Science) may be considered comparable to the BTEC National Diploma/N/SVQ level three/Advanced GNVQ/GSVQ standard. * Bachelor degree - diversity is the key to American higher education with more than 3,000 institutions offering post-secondary education. This means a uniform standard of Bachelor degree is impossible. Students who have attended a regionally accredited institution, have gained good grade-point averages (GPA - normally at least 3.0), both overall and in individual courses, have taken advanced-level courses in appropriate subjects, have accumulated sufficient credits in major courses (typically between thirty and fifty-four), and have good academic references, may be considered for admission to postgraduate study. For further information enquirers should contact the National Academic Recognition Information Centre (NARIC). NARIC does not comment on institutions which are not regionally accredited. * Master's degree - in terms of specialisation, the American Master's degree from prestigious colleges and universities is considered comparable to the British Bachelor (Honours) degree. Candidates who have followed academically rigorous programmes have reached a standard comparable to that of a British taught Master's degree. As far as the university they don't know about. There is a somewhat valid argument that if you want to work in Podunk, get a degree from Podunk U but realisticlly if you have a degree from any other of the 3000+ universities in the US the person who interviews you won't be familier with most of them either. So the question is "what do you have to sell"? Heriot-Watt isn't Harvard but it is an easy sell. As far as distance learning... that is an issue regardless of country of origin (unless you get a DL degree from your local university... i.e. hide the degree). I like the advice the Economist provides regarding DL MBAs... ensure the program is from a reputable school and that the DL program is the same as the on-campus program. There is still bias against DL but again this is irrespective of the country of origin. IMO get the highest quality program that fits your needs regardless of the flag it is wrapped in... if there is a tie between two programs from different countries, pick the the "closest" (i.e. domestic) one. Top-tier DL MBA programs are fairly rare in the US and they generally require residency and are expensive... hence the success of HW in the United States.
I was recently congratulated on my choice of Heriot-Watt's MBA in Human resources Managaement by a local HRM consultant with an MBA from the U. of Alberta and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Cornell U. I live in Vancouver, Canada Earon
JKY asks: And does anyone see any potential problems with future employers looking at a resume and seeing a degree from a foreign university? During the seven years I was involved in marketing the Heriot Watt MBA in the US and Canada, we went through more than 1,000 "acceptance" processes with companies in the US. More than 98% were succeessful, including more than 70 of the Fortune 100 in the US (not 500). The great majority automatically accepted it because it appears in the appropriate reference books and has an FICE number; others did their own due diligence before approving it. John Bear (who has had nothing whatever to do with this program since 1998)
My concern is not with the companies that attempt to determine the school's and program's legitimacy. Those who do should find it valid. Rather, my concern with foreign credentials revolves around "blind" situations like promotions and job selections. If you're responding to job listings by submitting applications and/or resumes, you're subject to whatever screening methods are in place, without an opportunity to present your case about your school. It is conceivable that people are screened out without getting anyone checking on the nature of the degree. Of course, with all of the resumes posted on the internet listing degrees from fake and/or bad schools, I guess too little screening is going on. Rich Douglas
--------------------------------------------- I'm currently enrolled with the H-W DL MBA & it took me over 3 years to make a decision- I'm a 27 years old belgian citizen & started my career in Los Angeles with no previous work experience at all in the US , not so good english (being french speaking)& solely with a belgian degree.My degree from an "unknow " but accredited university has never been a drawback for me. On the contrary, what i have noticed is that many employers don't care where you've got your degree as long as it is legit. Furthermore, having worked for only 2 companies that usually hire from Ivy League Universities, they do appreciate people that have the gut to: 1- apply where Ivy League degree are required without having one ( shows ambition ) 2- choose an unconventional route in pursuing a degree or an activity. Shows lateral thinking which is an increasingly sought after trait in management. I have realised after consulting with Columbia & Harvard MBA students that I would know at least as much as they do in management but have much more money in my bank account when I graduate. So no complex to have there if u've got an H-W EBS degree & you need to carry on a conversation with a Stanford-Harvard Alumnae: you know as much as they do !!! The perceived weakness of H-W is mainly due to the clever marketing tactics used by prestigious Universities that lead (ignorant) people to think that anyone with a very good GMAT score ( that has nothing to do with your business skills & your attitude ) & money to burn should be the one to pick. Thanks God, in the real world, HR people know better it seems & it comes down (as usual) on how well you'll be able to sell yourself & your degree. Most companies know that, at the end of the day, it's what you've learned & most importantly what you'll be able to learn during your career that counts. Companies hire people, not degrees. See you soon at H-W
Thanks for the input. The responses, along with some further investigation, helped put any fears to rest. I have decided to go with Heriot Watt. My next question is this: what course should I start with? My background is liberal arts (bachelors in english) and I work in a marketing department. I thought about starting off with some of the courses I will probably like the least (accounting, finance or economics) to get those out of the way. Any advice? Is there a sensible way to build from the ground up so to speak, since I don't have a business degree and some of the concepts will be new to me?
Many MBA programs include a handful of "managerial" courses in finance, accounting, marketing, etc. that are designed for either non-business undergrads or those with different specialties, allowing these individuals to at least get an overview of these areas. I am not familiar with the H-W program, but I suspect, after all the talk about being able to complete this program without a Bachelor's degree, such courses are available. Some MBA programs that are ~30 units do not have "room" for such courses, which means that the student has to carefully design his/her curriculum from "hard core" courses. One thing you said raises one question for me. If accounting, finance and economics are areas you do not like, you ought to reconsider whether the MBA is for you. This is like saying that you want a science degree but don't like the math. Most business areas rely heavily on these disciplines, at least beyond a merely superficial level (yes, even marketing). If you are thinking about something like organizational behavior or human resources, or something with more of a "management" versus a "business" bent, consider an MSM (master of science in management).
Personally, I would start with a core course which you think might be easier (i.e. get your feet wet).... Org Behavior perhaps? Don't start with Marketing... a truck load of work which will depress you.
------------------------------------------ A good link for you to get some info on the H-W program is the unofficial H-W forum used by most enrolled students: http://www.delphi.com/hwmba/start/ The official forum is only open to registered students An another interesting link is www.mbainfo.com where Prof. Gavin Kennedy from H-W EBS is very often busy answering many questions on the MBA program. As far as your question on which course to start first, I would choose the one you'd be most comfortable with . You background should not matter much as long as you follow the general guidelines provided with each textbook and you make sure you fully understand every single concepts before moving to the next one.
I started with Org Behavior and Human Resources Management, two areas I am interested in. But both are still a lot of hard work (in my opinion). Org Behavior has a lot of stuff to memorize. HRM isn't as big but is an elective. Earon
