opinion on Heriot-Watt MBA

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by caryca, May 26, 2010.

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  1. caryca

    caryca New Member

    Hello,

    I am interested in MBA from Heriot-Watt and I found quite some posts on the forum but there are rather old. I would like to know if there is any one on this forum that currently is a student there and could shere his/her opinion on the MBA.

    Thanks,
     
  2. jackrussell

    jackrussell Member

    I took two courses from HW now known as Edinburgh Business School. The course is more like you purchase the course, they will send you a thick book of notes and once you are ready, register for their exams. Quite a lot of reading to do and the exams aren't actually simple.
     
  3. Fortunato

    Fortunato Member

    I am pretty sure there are no current HW/EBS students on the board currently, you might have better luck at the EBS Watercooler, a student-run site dedicated to the program.

    Good luck!
     
  4. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    I was the US/Canada agent for this program from its start in 1991 through 1999. During this time, it went from zero to become the largest MBA of any kind in the US and in Canada, even bigger than University of Phoenix (at that time). At that time, the thousands of US/Canada students came from 7 of the 10 largest US corporations. The general feeling about exams was "tough but fair." Pass rate then was around 70% in the US, much higher in Canada. Many sample exams (with answers) were readily available. As far as I know, it remains the only MBA in the world that does not require a Bachelor's degree (or even a high school diploma), and whose courses and exams are available in Chinese, Spanish Hebrew, Arabic, and, I think, a few others. The only reason I'm not still involved is that we sold our marketing business to Pearson, the British conglomerate that owns Penguin Books, Prentice Hall, Financial Times, dozens of other publishers, half The Economist, as well as stuff like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
     
  5. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    :eek:I would love to know why.
    Now THAT's impressive!
    After taking an exam at a Pearson center, I feel as if they now own my soul as well :(
     
  6. caryca

    caryca New Member

    thanks for the replies, I looked into the EBS website with forum, but there are not that many posts there and what I found was a bit more towards negative than positive
     
  7. Fortunato

    Fortunato Member

    Caryca,

    The problem, such as it is, with seeking opinions on open-admission academic programs like EBS is that because anyone can start the program, there is going to be some percentage of people who enter the program and find out it's way more than they bargained for, then end up going online and trashing the program to others. Over the years, I've seen a lot of people on this board who have completed the EBS MBA and overall, they feel like it has been a net positive for them. But you have to go into things with your eyes open, and I think it is good that you are doing your research up front.

    The EBS MBA is a fairly unique offering in a very crowded marketplace. Other than the University of London's distance programs, which have a similar format, I can't think of another MBA that completely bases your success or failure in each course on a single exam. You have to be extremely self-disciplined to succeed in this type of program, and for the most part, you are entirely on your own for this long, hard slog. On the upside, you are not accountable to teammates or partners for group work, and you can go as fast or as slow as you wish in your preparations. Some folks thrive with the lack of structure, while others flounder.

    Bottom line, it's your MBA experience, and there are a lot of choices out there. If the delivery mode of the EBS MBA appeals to you, you will likely do well. If not, then look at one of the other hundreds of programs out there. But don't get so wrapped up in others' opinions that you fail to do what's right for you.

    Personally, when I was searching for an MBA, EBS was never seriously on my list. I knew from experience that I needed more structure, and I was pretty much dead set on a cohort-based program. I took all of my classes with the same set of 120 folks, and getting to know them and growing together was a big part of my MBA education. But that was what was important to me, you have to decide what's important to you.

    Good luck! You're about to start a journey that can be frustrating and annoying at times, but in the end is ultimately very rewarding. Let us know what you decide to do.
     
  8. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    I am a graduate of the Heriot-Watt MBA. I was both a DL and on-campus student. The quality of the program is second to none, and you can't beat the flexibility. I found the rigor of the program to be great preperation for my PhD program.

    As others said however, the failure rate on the exams is quite high (the highest of any MBA program.) The way the program is structured, doesn't give much of a chance for networking as a cohort program would.
     
  9. caryca

    caryca New Member

    Thank you both for your comments! there are very valuable. Acctually I found this program as the one the suit me the most with its flexibility and possibility to finishing it at different stages or deside to have a specialization.
    I was just suprised that although there are nearly 7k students at this moment and 5k that graduated i could not find any proper networking site or resent information about this MBA.

    I have kind of made decision that this is the one but before final comittment I will go thru the notes for exams of students posted on one of the website. It will give me a good overview on the amount of study one needed to do.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 13, 2018
  10. Dave C.

    Dave C. New Member

    caryca,

    I echo all the comments of Fortunato. I briefly considered HW when looking at possible schools for my MBA, but soon realised the 'study in isolation' mode would not work for me personally.

    Really get an understanding of what you want from an MBA, build some criteria based on that, and let that guide your search.

    Best of luck and happy to discuss further.

    DC
     
  11. jackrussell

    jackrussell Member

    Same for me here, I took two papers and decide on a B & M business school. Just feeling that for MBA, a certain amount of networking is essential.
     
  12. caryca

    caryca New Member

    Thanks for the replies, it helps a lot. I think this is a programme that will suite me the most...so I will try to take some courses this year from them:)
     
  13. Absolom

    Absolom New Member

    Guys

    My reply may be a bit late...but hey, better late than never isn't it? I took the EBS MBA and MSc in 2 years. Like what the other guys are saying...it requires a lot of self discipline. This suited my requirements since I am in Africa in a French speaking country, but unfortunately being an English speaker. The program is very challenging as it does not have course work.

    This therefor forces u to prepare for the exams rather than where one can hire someone to write the assignments. Please bear in mind that I am not saying there is anything with assignment based courses, but my experience has taught me otherwise.

    The modules are good and require a lot of concentration because they can be voluminous sometimes. But if you enjoy working in a flexible way, then I would recommend it. Hey, you take the exams when you want....but then, that is the downside if you always require some prodding to do something serious...I mean working with someone breathing down your neck.

    take care and all the best
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 14, 2018

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