What is more reputed MS general management at harvard extension or parttime MBA @BU?

What is more reputed? Masters general management at harvard extension or part time MBA at Boston university? I wanted to know in regard of its prestige, alumni network, job prospective and the quality of education? thanks

 

MBA from Boston University. Your major is more important than where you went to school, that said Boston U is a Top 50 B-School and the MBA is hands down the more recognizable major. Besides, my understanding is that Extension School grads from Harvard are not considered "alumni" by the traditional HU alumns...so I'm not seeing a huge upside from a networking perspective there.

 

I have and would again. I've sat on hiring comittees where the MS in Management, etc. raised more questions than answers, usually around the ability to do quantiative work and analysis. The MBA applicants were never that type of concern as most managers and recruiters seem comfortable with what "MBA" usually means (skill wise). "Management" could be all kinds of things. For example even the names of some of the degrees I've seen vary... "Managerial Studies", "Management", "Business Management", "General Management", "Technical Management", "IT Management", etc. That's just my $.02 though.

 

In most schools (especially AACSB accredited), MS Management and MBA have little difference. Finally it is just a choice. I started off with a MBA but later changed to MS Management. No body at work has questioned my degree yet.

 

Since you bring up AACSB, it's worth noting that the BU degree should be AACSB accredited, while the Harvard degree will not be. AACSB is the most prestigious form of professional accreditation for business programs.

The Boston University School of Management is accredited by AACSB. Their part-time MBA should be an AACSB degree.

At Harvard, the Harvard Business School is accredited by AACSB -- but the Harvard Extension School is not. AACSB's accreditation is for the Harvard Business School specifically, not for Harvard University as a whole. So a Harvard Extension degree will not have AACSB.

 

Clearly the right answer is whatever a bunch of strangers say.

 

Perhaps but I have yet to have a "is this an AACSB accredited school?" conversation in a hiring meeting. Like I said, the MBA is pretty standardized regardless of where it is earned...the Management degrees can and do vary. Not that I'm knocking the Management degrees mind you but they are different...

 

I'm curious as to whether the BU degree is conferred through Metropolitan College (the BU night school) or through the regular business school. If it's through Metropolitan then it's not really any different than a HES degree. If it's not through Metropolitan then it might avoid the "extension stigma" (if such a thing really exists) but it will probably come with a very big price tag. I would hope that a business person would be looking at costs/ROI.

 

I assumed the OP meant the BU "Professional Evening MBA". This is offered by the School of Management, not Metropolitan College. The evening MBA seems to have the same AACSB accreditation as the traditional MBA degrees offered by the School Management.

Metropolitan College does not appear to offer an MBA. Metropolitan College does offer a "Master of Science in Administrative Studies", but BU is careful to distinguish the MSAS from the MBA:

BU does not bar transfers between the day and evening MBA programs at the Management School, which suggests that they are regarded as equivalent. In contrast, they do bar transfers between the MBA programs at the School of Management and the MSAS program at Metropolitan College, which suggests that these are not regarded as equivalent.

The estimated cost for the BU "Professional Evening MBA", including tuition, books, and fees, is about $22,000. This does not include room & board or incidentals.

 

Stigma may not be a problem for the BU program; it appears to be highly ranked among part-time MBA programs. For example, the current US News and World Report rankings put BU at #25 nationally in this category.

 

The best answer is one that sticks to facts and avoids opinion.

1. No one here knows absolutely which is more reputable.
2. The question you ask has no answer save within specific circumstances. (to whom, a specific company, etc.)

On Harvard

1. You will be a Harvard Alum with full privileges when you graduate as far as Harvard is concerned (of the Extension School, not the Business School).

2. You will not have access to HBS career resources or the HBS Alumni network.

3. Your degree will not be AACSB accredited (which really only matters if you're going to want to be an academic).

On Boston University

1. You will be a Boston University Alum with full privileges when you graduate as far as BU is concerned.

2. Boston University's career resources absolutely suck. This is confusing because this statement sounds like an opinion, but it isn't. If you want to get job postings handed you from the morning paper, you go to BU Career Services.

3. Your degree will be AACSB accredited. This can count if you want to move on to academia.

On both:

1. You will find detractors from both camps about the alumni status of both. The school can recognize you but the students who went full-time day need to feel special about themselves too; otherwise why waste four years of making money to spend it?

2. Neither school will help you much in the way of career help but I give the nod to the Extension school here from personal experience at both places.

Personal recommendation is Thunderbird if you're going to go part time anyway. The alumni network isn't fractured and you get a hell of an education.

 

I just looked at USF's MSM program and it is only 30 credits and has 12 credits of 2 and 3 credit mgt core courses as part of the curriculum. The rest of the 18 credits are business electives that can come from marketing, strategy or even sustainability. So it sounds like its easier on the quantitative side than an MBA and does not require any business prerequisites. It is probably good for someone who has no undergraduate in business and finds themselves in a middle or HR management position. In other words, good for a lot of people who won't be a CEO.

 

I would not agree about the CEO. There are a lot of people with MSM have been CEO's and are founders of many companies.

 

Is it an online program? I looked at their site and could not find it.

 

Yeah you are right, I should have pointed out that the MBA provides students with the basics of each functional area of business. Students learn economics, finance, accounting, information systems, HR mgmt, management, strategic management etc. Because of the breadth, the curriculum is designed to help a top executive understand all the functional areas of the business. If one is a middle manager, or a project manager, knowledge of information systems and accounting may not be necessary and time may be better spent studying management topics like project management in depth.