need urgent opinion about doing an online MBA

I am interested in doing an Online MBA ASAP. I have been trying to shortlist but am having problems trying to finalize where to do my MBA from. Not really familiar with the US education ssystem.

My Background : I completed my Bachelors in Science in 1981. I completed my Masters in Science (major Chemistry) in 1983. I did a one year computer software and applications diploma in 1985. All of this was done in India. Now, I have been living in the US for last 9 years and am a US citizen. I have been working in the IT field for last 17 years.

I am planning to do an online MBA but I have the following restrictions :

1) I don't have GMAT scores nor any TOEFL scores.
2) I want to enroll ASAP and finish my MBA ASAP without leaving my job (cannot afford to do that).
3) I am paying out of my own pocket for the entire MBA so I want the cheapest MBA from RA US MBA schools.

Questions : A) which would be the best place to do my MBA from (Touro, Capella, North Centra, amercian Intercontinental, Belleavu, CSUDH etc).

Any other schools in US that you people can recommend.

B) pros and cons if I should even consider doing an MBA at this stage as my primary education was done about 20 years ago. ( I know it is my decision alone in the end but just want to hear some thoughts from who are actually doing MBA or have done it).

C) I do have copies of all my transcripts and degrees here with me. The problem is getting final transcripts from India for US school. Is there any work around to submitting your final transcripts from my University in India. I am not sure how to request the Inidian university to send transcripts to US schools (my degree was obtained a long time ago). I can write to them all I want to send the official transcripts but I am not sure they will respond or send the transcripts to US schools. Any suggestions ?.

I would appreciate a quick response so that I can begin my MBA as early as possible or even if I should be considering an MBA at this stage.

I have done searches on this discussion forums for different schools and have gone through some of the responses but would like a direct insight from persons who are doing DL MBA with a similar case like mine. Please help me decide.

Thanks
Jarin

 

You have several options. There is a ranking guide on US NEws and World Report (Online), that will help. Gives the tuition, requriements, and structure.

If you are now in the US, I would suggest going to an AACSB accredited school. Especially if you want to teach in the Unviersity system. There are several out there.

I am attending University of Tulsa. The tuition is $2500 per semester, and has a 6 semester lock step program. You have to travel once a semester to Tulsa, but exceptions can be made.

There are several others, and many that are RA.

GMAT is required though, but can be done at any time in the first year, since it is not a requirement prior to acceptance.

 

Jarin, welcome to the board, since your new, please take a look at the link attached for starters.

http://www.mba-programs-online.com/

J.R(ic)

 

Jarin,

From your list of universities, only the CSUDH require a GMAT. AACSB schools will require GMAT.

Some schools are also flexible on TOEFL, some would give you interviews to determine if you need TOEFL or not. But you will need to check with the university you have in mind, as it varies.

Regarding your transcripts, since you are considered. an international student, you might need to send your official transcript to a third party evaluator to determine if your degree is equivalent to a US degree or not. They will in turn send their evaluation to your school of choice. Some schools list the 3rd party evaluators they work with on their website, just go to the international students page. Others will also accept the original transcript you have. So you may not have to request your transcripts to be sent to the US school.

Another good resource is Jonnie's Distance Learning website - http://www.geocities.com/liu_jonathan/distance.html

 

thanks for the reply. need feedback on the shortlisted schools.

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your input. I checked the sites you guys have recommended but that is not really helping me because of the following factors :

1) I need to start ASAP (if posible in Dec 2002).
2) I am paying out of my pocket so I need the cheapest RA MBA.

Kristie7, University of Tulsa is very good (would love to go there) but it is definately outside my budget (because of pre-req it comes to $33,000+). I was aware of the US news and world report site.

John, the site you mentioned lists only 4-5 schools keller, UOP etc and they are pretty expensive and have a larger time horizon for completion.

ID, almost every site I have been mentions about official transcripts to be sent from the school in addition to credential evaluation.

3) I need to finish my MBA in the shortest time available. I might have to end up taking pre-requisites because of my background (so that is going to add to my cost factor too)..
4) Not really keen at this time to take GMAT or GRE etc. Would rather just start on my MBA without worrying to take those exams.
5) On the US news and report I did see Touro University International as a RA MBA. It seems to be reasonably priced ($15000 inclusive of materials, pre-req courses, etc) . The name sounds a little fishy. I understand it is a branch campus of Touro College, NY. Anybody knows how good that MBA is and how easy or difficult it is to do that.

I think my current list is as follows (not so much by choice but more so by restrictions) :

1) Touro University International ($15,000 inclusive of books, time frame 12 to 18 months based on 2 pre-req courses being taken or not)

2) Regis University ($16,000 + books, no need of pre-req, time frame 16 months)

3) American Interncontinental University (pretty expensive but they boast of MBA in 8 months).

4) CSUDH (only problem is they need GMAT) Not sure of time frame and cost

5) I want to expand the above list to narrow down my choices. Need help on that.

It is a tough choice. There are so many schools and each says it has the one of the best MBA's.

Any suggestions will be welcome as to which school should be chosen.

thx,
Jarin

 

Re: thanks for the reply. need feedback on the shortlisted schools.

Jarin,

You will find many threads in this forum answering your question with regard to Touro.

Touro University International is a not-for-profit regionally accredited by the Middle States (including their Ph.D. degrees). I work for a MNC in the IT industry and my employer paid 50% of my MBA tuition (well accepted in the business world). Each course (3 months duration) consist of 6 Modules including the following:

- 6 Cases
- 6 Session Long Projects
- 6 Enhanced Cases or Threaded Discussions

Lectures, presentations, and resource materials are found on the course's CD. Moreover, included in your tuition, full access to virtual libraries (ProQuest and Netlibrary).

Eli
ABD, Touro University International

 

I'm not sure you can start your MBA in December. Most schools will probably have a 2 week christmas break so the earliest possible entry is on January 2003.

There are a lot of people on this board who are enrolled at Touro and have positive things to say about the program. Search the archives for more info, if you have not done so.

The best advice I can give you is to call/email the university. Many of the DL schools are more flexible than traditional schools. I am also an international student so I understand the frustration with TOEFL and transcripts. Ask them if you can get a provisional admission based on the transcript you have until your university (Indian) can send them the official transcript, or if you can start on your prerequisites without getting officially admitted.

I'm not sure if you are open on going to a UK or Australian university. Some are cheaper than most US schools. I just started my MBA program at university of liverpool (www.kitcampus.com). I think the next intake is on February.

HTH..

IT-DL

 

Take a look at Amberton www.amberton.edu They do no require GMAT and the price is $5940 ($165 per credit) excluding books. I am not sure what their requirments are for TOEFL. I do believe they have a semester starting in December.

 

More information needed

______________________________________________
Jarin,

You will find many threads in this forum answering your question with regard to Touro.

Touro University International is a not-for-profit regionally accredited by the Middle States (including their Ph.D. degrees). I work for a MNC in the IT industry and my employer paid 50% of my MBA tuition (well accepted in the business world). Each course (3 months duration) consist of 6 Modules including the following:

- 6 Cases
- 6 Session Long Projects
- 6 Enhanced Cases or Threaded Discussions

Lectures, presentations, and resource materials are found on the course's CD. Moreover, included in your tuition, full access to virtual libraries (ProQuest and Netlibrary).

Eli
ABD, Touro University International
________________________________________________

Eli,

Thanks for the details about Touro. I have been to their website etc and have gone thru the various posts about Touro in this forum. I think I am getting a little inclined to do the MBA from Touro. Not sure though. However, need some more information.

How difficult was it to do the cases, session projects etc. Is the material available readily to do that in the library etc. If not where did you get the material when you were doing your MBA ?.

Now, since you have obtained your degree from Touro, my question to you is that If I take 2 courses per session at Touro and also have to take pre-req (not sure about pre-req) then how long do you think it is going to take to complete the MBA ?

Also, does that mean that for two courses per session you have to do 12 cases, 12 session long projects and 12 Enhanced cases or threaded discussions (in three months). Is that feasible or is it too much work to pile upon oneself ?.

Did you have any problems during your MBA ?. Did you do one or two courses per session ?

Is this degree from Touro recognized outside the USA (in other countries) ?


Any further details would be appreciated.

thx
Jarin

 

I tried that

Chris, I did try amberton. It was a perfect choice costwise. Unfortunately they want you to have you bachelors from US. It is there policy. I did not have that so that ruled me out. Kinda dissapointed on that account.

IT-DL, thanks for your input. I will also explore the site you mentioned. Touro can register me in December with a $30 late registratoin fee. There last date of registration was Nov 27th 2002. Their winter session starts on Dec 9th 2002. That is why I am inclined towards that. As for getting transcripts from the Indian University I am not sure how to achieve that. My degrees were obtained a long time ago and I am not sure they will mail it to a school in the US.

I will continue looking. I have been on the web for last few days trying to figure this thing out and it has been a very exhaustive experience.

Jarin

 

Welcome to the board, Jarin. I think Eli is quite right when he says, "You will find many threads in this forum answering your question with regard to Touro." If you haven't already, be sure to conduct a search for Touro on this site. It seems to be a frequent topic here.

All of the material you need for class is either (1) on a CD that is sent to you before class begins or (2) on Touro's online library. The library includes thousands of professional and academic journals as well as books and magazines. The journals, however, seemed to provide the best research information for the assigned projects. The work was not easy but it was always doable. It just took some time to learn the new material, research the homework question, and write a paper to answer it.

It seemed to me that most students took two classes a session. Doing so would allow you to complete eight courses in 12 months. I did two classes a session most sessions and also took a couple of sessions off from school. I was not in a hurry to finish. I didn't run into any problems with the faculty, technical support or administration. I did have a tough class, but my professor always answered my questions (usually that same evening) and provided additional reading materials for me.

The good thing about RA degree programs in the US is that they are all recognized at every other US school. (Although some credits might not transfer; that's a different issue.) I have never heard of an RA degree from the US not being accepted in a another country.

Oveall, I thought Touro's MBA program was very good. I learned a lot, my employer helped pay my tuition, and when I graduated, I got a raise for it!

 

Thanks Steve

Steve,

Thanks for your detailed reply. That definately helps a lot and removes some of the doubts. Actually I did see your name in lot of posts when I did a search for Touro. You reply is a confidence booster.

One thing I forgot to ask which Eli had mentioned. What is this threaded discussions (I know what it means, but want to know its relevence pertaining to touro) and how frequqently is that done ?.

Once again thanks for your help.

Jarin

 

Re: Thanks Steve

The professor raises a good debatable question pertaining to each topic. Students are invited to participate in answering the question raised and debate it among themselves. It is customary for the professor to interfere at different intervals of the discussion in order to give remarks, align the thoughts etc.
I found the Threaded Discussion to be informative and a chance for students to communicate with each other within the context of a certain topic relevant to a given module. The discussion is held off-line.

PS: Thanks Steve for taking the time to answer Jarin

Eli
ABD, Touro University International

 

Re: thanks for the reply. need feedback on the shortlisted schools.

I'm a CSUDH graduate, although in humanities and not in business. I do kind of follow the school, though.

Cost is very reasonable for an MBA. They charge $900/3-unit-course x 10 courses = $9000.

However if your undergraduate degree isn't in business, they may prescribe up to four "bridge" courses in addition. These cost $600/each. $600 x 4 = $2400.

So if you have to take all the additional courses, you are looking at $11,400.

They say that most students can complete the program in 15 months. (CSU operates year-round, no summers off.) If you need the additional courses, factor in another five months. Add in the time to complete your paperwork, and you are probably approaching two years.

They require the GMAT. I really wouldn't worry about it. If you can complete an MBA program, you can certainly pass the GMAT. If your undergraduate work wasn't conducted in English they will want the TOEFL too. Judging from your posts, your English is fine, so I wouldn't worry about this exam either (if it's even necessary).

They do want transcripts. But one good thing about CSUDH is that their students are very international, from all around the world. That means that they have already seen most of the common problems that international students present and can work with you.

I don't know if this stuff meets your specifications and I definitely can't tell you what school to choose, but I can honestly say that I liked CSUDH.

Here's their FAQ:

http://mbaonline.csudh.edu/online.faq.asp

School of management main page:

http://som.csudh.edu/

Program main page:

http://mbaonline.csudh.edu/

 

thanks again

Eli - Thanks for giving the details about threaded discussions. Is it mandatory to have the threaded discussions or can it be skipped for any reason.

BillDayson - Thanks for the insight on CSUDH. Actually, CSUDH is a part of my final shortlist and I am very much interested in the MBA program for all of the reasons you mentioned. However, the only reason I am leaning towards Touro is because of the following :

1) If you factor in the books etc for CSUDH the price almost comes to that of Touro.

2) Touro's price is about $12,000 (if you have to take pre-requisite courses then it comes about $14,480). This price is inclusive of books (actually they have their material on CD's. That is a big plus, I guess).

3) Time frame of Touro is about 15 months. With pre-req courses it should come to 18 months. I am not sure if those time frames are accurate or if it can be done sooner.

4) Don't have to spend extra time for GMAT prep. (a big plus)

5) I can start taking courses in Dec 2002 at Touro.

I still have not ruled out CSUDH. so let us see. It is a tough decision.

Once again, thank you all for taking time out and helping me out to get a clearer vision on this.


Please continue your suggestions.

thx
Jarin

 

Re: thanks again

No, it is not mandatory.. students are given the option to do an Enhanced Case (10% of the total grade).

Winter 2003 session starts Dec. 9th.

Good luck..

Eli
ABD, Touro University International

 

Jarin, I would like to go back to your first post and questions as follows.

1) Cheap, fast and accredited.

The board members have given you the options and schools in the USA that offer DL MBA and their cost.

From the responses to you I see you 'whinning about the cost and the fact that you want to start in December'.

Well, to start in December..NO WAY, maybe for the January or February intake.

2) The Transcript thing, on one hand you say you have transcripts with you , but dont have final transcripts?
What kind of nonesense is this, since the graduate school that you will be appying to will want confirmed transcripts and in all likekly hood a US translation service to confirm equivelency of your degrees & transcripts from India.

Either you have transcripts and confirmed foreign equivelency verification or not..this is the first step before you even apply to the schools.

3) Yes, as everyone has pointed out to you, there are graduate schools that will take you in without a GMAT, but you must take care of item #2 above first.

4) Now for the RA school of your choice, you have the feedback from the board, what more do you want?

5) My guess is that you want this board to satisfy and make a confirmation for you that you will gain entry to school 'ABC', that the fee will be less than $5000 and that you can start in December..is this correct?

Well it doesn't work that way, only you will make that decision and only you must prove the competency of your foreign degrees and transcripts to the school of choice. The money thing is something that you have to deal with.

From the boards responses to your question, its now decision time for you.

Get your academic, experience documents and references together and make your applications that you seemed to have narrowed down to; Amberton, Touro, Intercontinental, Pheonix and which others; UK, Australia? Why not look at Fort Hays as another possibility http://www.fhsu.edu/gradschl/.

We can keep sending you off into academia land in suggesting schools, when are you going to do some reseach of your own?

So off you go and let the board know how you made out, I think its time to get at it..dont you think?

J.R(ic)

 

thanks john roberts

John Roberts, here are some clarifications for you.

_________________________________________________
Jarin, I would like to go back to your first post and questions as follows.

1) Cheap, fast and accredited.
_________________________________________________


I have my own personal reasons for the need of a cheap, fast and accredited MBA. I don't want to bring that on the board.


_________________________________________________
The board members have given you the options and schools in the USA that offer DL MBA and their cost.
________________________________________________


I agree with you on that one.


_______________________________________________
From the responses to you I see you 'whinning about the cost and the fact that you want to start in December'.

Well, to start in December..NO WAY, maybe for the January or February intake.
________________________________________________


I have an option to start on Dec 9th, 2002 in Touro University. I did not realize that my constant repetition of December sounded like "whinning". I am sorry if it offended you.


__________________________________________________
2) The Transcript thing, on one hand you say you have transcripts with you , but dont have final transcripts?
What kind of nonesense is this, since the graduate school that you will be appying to will want confirmed transcripts and in all likekly hood a US translation service to confirm equivelency of your degrees & transcripts from India.

Either you have transcripts and confirmed foreign equivelency verification or not..this is the first step before you even apply to the schools.
_________________________________________________


All the transcripts I have were issued to ME by the university when I completed my Bachelors and Masters degree. They were issued about twenty years ago when I obtained those degrees. They are final transcripts. The schools I have been talking to accept the photocopies/fax of those for enrollment purposes. However, to mark my admission as completed, they want the University to send the same to them directly. Not for enrollemnt or registration purposes, but before I graduate with an MBA degree. That is where I am having a problem. I cannot co-ordinate something which was issued to me twenty years ago in India to be sent directly to the schools. Not that I don't have the valid transcripts. I am aware of the credential evaluation process of foreign degrees which the schools request. In fact, some of the schools do it on your behalf. Atleast, all my transcripts are in english. I don't have to get them translated from one language to another.

_________________________________________________
5) My guess is that you want this board to satisfy and make a confirmation for you that you will gain entry to school 'ABC', that the fee will be less than $5000 and that you can start in December..is this correct?
_________________________________________________

That is a good one. I like the way you put it. Not quite true though. Well, on second thoughts, maybe some of it is true especially when one has so many options.

_________________________________________________
Well it doesn't work that way, only you will make that decision and only you must prove the competency of your foreign degrees and transcripts to the school of choice. The money thing is something that you have to deal with.

From the boards responses to your question, its now decision time for you.

Get your academic, experience documents and references together and make your applications that you seemed to have narrowed down to; Amberton, Touro, Intercontinental, Pheonix and which others; UK, Australia? Why not look at Fort Hays as another possibility http://www.fhsu.edu/gradschl/.

We can keep sending you off into academia land in suggesting schools, when are you going to do some reseach of your own?

So off you go and let the board know how you made out, I think its time to get at it..dont you think?

J.R(ic)
_________________________________________________


I know, in the end the final decision is mine. If you notice the title of my original post, I needed some opinions from people who had actually gone through the process. The board has been very helpful in regards to that. It is not that I have not done or am doing my own research. And, I agree with you that it is time to get at it. Will keep you all posted of how things are going and what if any is the final outcome.

But, hey, in the meantime, if somebody else has anything to add, please don't hesitate.

thx
jarin

 

You may want to look at Columbia Southern/University of North Alabama's joint venture MBA. Use a search engine to locate Columbia Southern University and click on the University of North Alabama MBA link. The MBA is R/A and also AASCP accredited. The cost, I believe is around $225. per credit. Getting in in December is a drawback, the next module starts in January. It is totally on line. Good Luck.

 

Thanks Howard


_________________________________________________
You may want to look at Columbia Southern/University of North Alabama's joint venture MBA. Use a search engine to locate Columbia Southern University and click on the University of North Alabama MBA link. The MBA is R/A and also AASCP accredited. The cost, I believe is around $225. per credit. Getting in in December is a drawback, the next module starts in January. It is totally on line. Good Luck.
_______________________________________________


Howard,

Thanks for the info above. I did visit the site you mentioned. It is interesting. However, it seems the partnership online DVD MBA costs $300 per credit hour. You have to do pre-req courses if your under grad is non-business. Currently they don't offer pre-req online. They intend to start the pre-req in summer 2003. GMAT required for admissions. I will continue exploring it.

jarin