American Intercontinental University

I am in the process of talking to an admission advisor about the MBA program. I have read the threads regarding this school, but is there anyone who has completed the program? What were your thoughts, was it difficult? would you do it again? And what about the cost?

Any information would be helpful, I have a phone conversation schedule for 3/13/02 at 9:00PM EST.

 

I started at AIU in November 2002. I am currently about 1/2 way done with the MBA (6 out of 12 classes completed). Below are some pros and cons of the program:

Cons - Expensive (22K), not AACSB accredited, a lot of information is crammed in a small amount of time. You are literally taking 40 credits in 8 months. There is a lot to read and the homework does take some time. Plan on spending up to 20 hours a week. Some weeks more and others less. One week I got my books late.

Pros - Quick (can be completed in 8 months), Regionally Accredited. It's well organized. Books are current. All of my instructors had doctorates.

mbastudent

 

I too am currently in the AIU program. I have been very pleased thus far. MBAStudent is right, there is a lot of work to be done in a short period of time, but believe me, you learn it. My professors thus far have been fantastic. Encouraging, knowledgeable and great to interact with. Courses are fairly challenging, have not had a "cake" class yet, you have to earn your grades with AIU. Overall right now I am very happy with my decision.

 

I'm also strongly considering the AIU MBA program and I have some questions to ask about the program if someone could be so kind to help me.

What form of evaluations for students are used in the AIU MBA program, are there exams, papers/case studies, discussion boards? If there are exams do you take them online?

I'd like to know the specific structure of an AIU MBA course if anyone would be so kind enough to explain. Thank you so much!!

I'll post back once I get response.

 

Krazymack,

There aren't any exams. The courses last 5 weeks. The assignments are broken something like this for each class:

Week 1
Individual Assmt (2-3 pages)
Discussion Board Question (3-4 paragraphs)

Week 2
Individual Assmt (2-3 pages)
Discussion Board Question (3-4 paragraphs)

Week 3
Individual Assmt (2-3 pages)
Discussion Board Question (3-4 paragraphs)

Week 4
Individual Assmt (2-3 pages)
Discussion Board Question (3-4 paragraphs)

Week 5
Group Assigment (6-8 pages)
Discussion Board Question (3-4 paragraphs)

Expect to read about 3 chapters a week for each class.

To get the MBA in 8 months you would have to take 2 classes every 5 weeks. That means reading about 6 chapters and doing the above assignments twice. It is a lot of work, but it's worth it to be done quickly for me.

You take a grand total of 12 classes and every 10 weeks you get a week break. You can see the name of the classes at AIU's website. Below is a listing of the courses:

The required courses to complete the MBA degree are:

Dynamics of Enterprise
Contemporary Project Management
Accounting for the Multinational Enterprise
Legal Issues in the Global Environment
e-Business and Marketing Strategies
Enterprise Technology Management
Human Resources Management for the Multinational Firm
Sales in the Global Marketplace
Operations Management and Total Quality
Leadership and Managerial Development
Global Finance
Strategic Management of the Global Enterprise



mbastudent

 

mbastudent,

Thanks for taking the time to explain how courses are setup at AIU. It is cool, that there is no tests, but like you said it seems like a demanding workload, but you're right it's definitely doable! It will have to be, considering the price tag that comes along with it.

I really like how the AIU program sounds and I definitely will be strongly considering it over all of the other MBA programs. I have three other questions if you don't mind addressing them for me, mbastudent.

1.) How would group assignments work, is that accomplished via realtime chat? 2.) Did you receive a free laptop? 3.) Is the financial aid process at AIU straight forward, or do you get tuition reimbursement from your employer?

I personally don't have a set full time job, I'm working part time, and still bunking at home with mom because I got out of college a few months ago and haven't had any luck finding a set full time job yet. Plus the country is in a recession and has left me in a bind, the CS job market (what I received my undergrad degree) isn't really thriving anymore. I also got a little uninterested with the programming aspect of computers -- I'm not really good at it and would like to focus more on the business end.

So I would have some time to dedicate to the MBA program while working part time. It seems like AIU would be the right fit for me. It is just the financing of it which concerns me the most. I have spoke to a rep of the school and I said the same thing. I filled out the application, but I didn't pay the fee quite as yet. Because I'm still deciding. Twenty two thousand dollars, isn't something that I could play with lightly.

I appreciate your feedback mbastudent it definitely plays a role in my decision making. Thanks in advance for all of your help. [] I truly appreciate your time in answering my questions.

P.S. What's your education/business background like if you don't mind me asking? You can e-mail me if you don't want to disclose it here. Again, thank you for your help.

 

mbastudent,

Thanks for taking the time to explain how courses are setup at AIU. It is cool, that there is no tests, but like you said it seems like a demanding workload, but you're right it's definitely doable! It will have to be, considering the price tag that comes along with it.

I really like how the AIU program sounds and I definitely will be strongly considering it over all of the other MBA programs. I have three other questions if you don't mind addressing them for me, mbastudent.

1.) How would group assignments work, is that accomplished via realtime chat? 2.) Did you receive a free laptop? 3.) Is the financial aid process at AIU straight forward, or do you get tuition reimbursement from your employer?
***********
1. The group assignments can be tricky because you have a week to get to know your group members and complete the assignment. Sometimes people wait till the last day of the week and end up not getting any points. It's up to the group to decide whether they want to do the real time chat or just post to a special discussion board. I have found that posting to the discussion board works well because the group members have varying schedules.

2. No, I didn't receive a laptop. However, in the student login site there are special discounts from Dell for AIU students.

3. I got tuition reimbursement from my employer.
*******************

I personally don't have a set full time job, I'm working part time, and still bunking at home with mom because I got out of college a few months ago and haven't had any luck finding a set full time job yet. Plus the country is in a recession and has left me in a bind, the CS job market (what I received my undergrad degree) isn't really thriving anymore. I also got a little uninterested with the programming aspect of computers -- I'm not really good at it and would like to focus more on the business end.

So I would have some time to dedicate to the MBA program while working part time. It seems like AIU would be the right fit for me. It is just the financing of it which concerns me the most. I have spoke to a rep of the school and I said the same thing. I filled out the application, but I didn't pay the fee quite as yet. Because I'm still deciding. Twenty two thousand dollars, isn't something that I could play with lightly.

I appreciate your feedback mbastudent it definitely plays a role in my decision making. Thanks in advance for all of your help. [] I truly appreciate your time in answering my questions.

P.S. What's your education/business background like if you don't mind me asking? You can e-mail me if you don't want to disclose it here. Again, thank you for your help.

******************
I am the manager of information technology for a large organization. My education backround is:
AAS - Computer Programming (Community College)
BSIT - University of Phoenix
MBA - AIU-Online (Scheduled completion 7/03)

My future goal is to get my PHD from Northcentral by 6/06
********************************
mbastudent


__________________
K. Abrams
B.S. Computer Science, Nyack College

 

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who was so helpful in my decision to attend A.I.U.'s M.B.A. program. Especially mbastudent in this topic. I've decided that I will attend the program and am scheduled to start in the first week of June. I look forward to beginning the program.