Need to Decide on MBA Program

If you don't mind me being nosy, what sort of GMAT did you get? This may help make your decision. If you did extremely well, such as in the 700 range, so long as you otherwise have good business credentials that would turn into solid recommendations from colleagues, you may be a candidate for a really good school. If that's the case, it'd be hard for me to recommend anything less than a top 30 program, even if you had to do it by taking out a loan.

I'll bet you'd see a reasonable ROI for even very expensive DL with residency programs, such as Duke or Purdue, so long as you have the credentials to get in. This is a decision you must make much like a corporation makes a decision to either leverage themselves for longterm growth or to retrench. And there's no all-encompassing right answer. Your first and perhaps most important business class in business school is where you decide to go, how you play this decision against finances. You will be "graded" by future employers on this decision for the next 10 years--if not the entire balance--of your career.

If you got a good to very good GMAT score of 550 - 650, I'd say do the ASU, Portland State, UMass, Nebraska, Auburn thing. I would definitely tilt towards AACSB, though, which would rule out some of the schools that have been mentioned. But if you got a great to awe-inspiring GMAT score of 650 - 750, I'd really take a hard look at those super-prestigious programs I mentioned above.

 

Ack, more food for thought.

I got 710.

Maybe I should focus my obsession on student loan and funding issues?

$90k for Duke is a big pill to swallow, though. But then again, I only get one shot at the MBA...

Oh the decisions!

Darn you Little Fauss! (kidding )

 

Well, Purdue is a mere $60,000.

It depends partly on what you REALLY hope to achieve with the degree. That should be part of your soul searching. If you want to open big doors, get a big MBA. If that isn't what you want to do, or a big MBA isn't valued in your field, then don't spend money you don't have to spend.

In my job I'd probably never get hired with a Harvard MBA. A strong local MBA would be favourably viewed.

On the other hand, once it's done you aren't likely to upgrade it. Like anything, be sure it meets all your present and future needs.

And in the end you can't go wrong with Duke if money is no object.

 

While you're at it you might as well look at Emory. For the paltry sum of $93,000 you too can earn an MBA!

http://goizueta.emory.edu/degree/emba/modular.html

 

Here are some things to consider for your choice of MBA program:

1. Cost: the price can range from $25K to $100K (assuming that you are paying out of state tutition). Your ROI should be pretty clear if you are going to fork out $100K.

2. Residency requirement: some programs require that you spend time on-campus. You need to decide whether you need a completely online program or whether traveling to the school occasionally is practical. Also, you will need to factor in the travel expenses and days off if you do decide to go this route.

3. Tests: every school handles tests in a different manner. Some schools, such CSU-Dominguez Hills, do not have tests at all--instead students have to write lots of term papers. Other schools require a proctor for the final exam. If you are really busy in your job then it might not be too convenient to take off time during a busy period to go a approved test center. SUNYIT requires students to go to the campus right before graduation to do a presentation and take tests. It seems that the majority of school handle tests by allowing you to take them online with a time-limit. What is important is that there is a lot of variation and you will need to call each school to find out their testing policy.

4. Duration: some schools offer the majority of their courses twice a year. In that case, you will need to take a least two courses at a time in order to graduate in a reasonable amount of time. You should notice that ASU's program is designed so that you take 12 courses one at a time (which is nice). Kelley's program requires two one-week residencies and students take courses year-round. It is designed to finish in two years (I also think it is cohort-based). Make sure to look at the plan of study at each school to see if you like the plan and find the courses interesting. Most AACSB accredited programs have nearly the same courses and these programs require about 18 courses to graduate.

5. Name recognition: If you are planning to work in the high-tech industry, an MBA from a good school (that is not great but also not poor) should be sufficient. If you are planning to be in financial services, such as a CFO, an investment banker, you would want to go to a high profile business school like Duke (or Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, etc). All of the schools you listed seem to be good universities and it would probably make much difference which one of them you attended.

With a 700 on the GMAT you might also want to find students with a similar GMAT score. You can find the average GMAT scores for some online MBA programs on either the businessweek.com or usnews.com website. Also, SUNYIT has a technical management program which require a lot of courses that you might find more interesting if you have a technical background. Texas A&M is another good school--it is reasonable priced, AACSB certified, and they even offer a course in China (if you can afford the time off and travel expenses).

 

IMHO, you have top-ranked MBA program written all over you. With a high GPA from a nationally-known university like Washington and a 95th percentile GMAT, you're one of those rare birds who could shoot out apps to schools like Harvard, Stanford and Wharton and not look foolish or completely out of your league. When will your wife finish grad school? Can you wait another year and then be flexible to go elsewhere to perhaps take classes on ground in some PT program or even FT?

I'd really look into my options if I were you. Think about what you want to do with that MBA, and realize that you could probably get into the type of program that would open up six-figure doors for you, which could be a nice complement to that wife, assuming she's going to grad school to get into academia, or some place else with not quite so lucrative financial options as a top-flight MBA makes possible.

One last thing, what was your quant/verbal split on the GMAT? That might limit options somewhat, if it was heavily verbal-weighted. But you'd still likely be a legit candidate for top 20 programs even with a less than awesome quant. If you have a solid quant, then you might be in the running for top 10. With a high quant and great recs from colleagues, top 5 even, but once in that stratosphere, there are a lot of people with apps just like yours, so it's not a fait accompli to gain admission there.

But to summarize, with all due respect to decent programs like CSU-DH, good programs like Portland State, very good programs like UMass, or great programs like ASU and Indiana, you're probably more a candidate for awesome programs, and I would at least consider applying for them just to see what happens. I had numbers similar to yours back when I was applying for law school a decade and a half ago. My wife was in grad school at the University of Arizona at the time. I never considered another school, and they gave me a full ride for the first year, so that was nice. But when I look back, while I know Arizona's a respectable program that's perineally in the top 40 or 45, I know I probably could've gotten into a top 10 program, maybe an Ivy, and it would've made a huge difference in my career. And I'd have long since paid the loans off by now. Just something to think about.

By the way, check them out over at Business Week. They have a forum over there that's primarily populated by hotshots with high GMAT/GPA, who are "top-20 or bust" types. They could give you some great advice, even though they can be insufferably snobby sometimes. But they're not likely to look down on you.

 

Somehow TAMUC also lowered its admission standard. Now GMAT score can be waived if undergraduate GPA was above 2.75. Try to attract more students? Anybody know the reason?

 

Check out http://mbapodcaster.com.

Their latest podcast is about MBA ratings and rankings. In this podcast, they interview the people who create the ranking from BusinessWeek, U.S. News and World Report, Financial Times, and Princeton Review.

 

Well considering the recent price increases(almost $100 per credit hour a year) that may be some motivation. They use to be priced much closer to Morehead and Mississippi state.

BTW good to see you are still around.

 

I am currently taking courses at TAMUC. There is a new non-DL MBA program at University of Amsterdam which is pretty cheap (20 Euro) but it requires taking courses all day on Tuesday. I also like SUNYITs program because of all the tech-oriented courses. Any opinions about the quality of TAMUC (AACSB-accredited) versus SUNYIT (working on AACSB accredidation) versus a brand new program at University of Amsterdam?

 

Given the original poster's qualifications, there is no doubt that he may well be accepted to any one of a number of fine business schools, with tuition to match. However, given his age and years of experience, I suspect that the payback period for both the tuition costs and the opportunity costs to drop out of the workforce for two years would be quite long.

Unless he wishes to look for a consulting job on Wall Street or its' equivalent, will Stanford, Wharton, Duke or Darden really pay off? And most recruiters would say that the Wall Street firms are looking for people in their 20's from those schools.

Clearly, if this is a lifelong dream for the original poster to attend one of these schools, he should go for it. But the ROI for someone of his age and experience may not be there. This is why I am such a fan of part-time or distance learning for most working professionals: no opportunity costs from giving up your job and usually much lower tuition costs.

 

I agree with Michael Lloyd. I am in my mid thirties with 10yrs in commercial banking. I scored 690 on the GMAT and had a 3.8 GPA. However, there is no reason for me to attend an Ivy or similar school. I am looking at part-time distance programs to fit the bill nicely for me. Just because I can go to a fancy school does not mean I should or need to. Then again, maybe in Saucy's industry name brand is king. It just isn't in mine. Take a strong look at ROI Saucy. Best of luck in your decision. I am strougling with choosing the right program as well.

 

All great information.

I'm really torn - I definitely can't do the $90k Duke program, and flexibility is really issue #1 with my plans. With this primary issue, I'm going to reexamine the programs mentioned on this thread to see if other programs can fit the bill. I am especially intrigued by overseas programs, as I already have a BA in International Studies, although the relevance of that in the computer game industry is pretty much, well, non-existant.

I really haven't looked into financial options, but with my situation I probably am not a candidate for need-based assistance, and I'm clueless on scholarship options for this level of study. At my age (38) and career level, the upside potential is really not as great as if I looked into this 10 years ago. I climbed the ladder well without the educational credentials, and I see this next step as a validation of my experience thus far, and a confidence booster to continue the climb.

I think my latest plan is to contact programs that are outside my budget to see what the financial options are as well as flexibility, transfer credit options, etc., and go from there.

Again, I am really grateful for all the valuable input from the members of this forum, and I hope to be able to return the favor as I move forward with my plans and gain more insight into DL MBA programs.

 

Sounds like. When I took MBA classes there in 2000, it was about $400 per credit hour. Now it goes up to about $600. Thanks.

 

It is a buyers market for DL MBA programs. There is no need to spend more than is necessary and if you can graduate with no debt from a good AACSB-certified program then you are making a smart business decision. That should carry more weight to potential employers than the fact that you spent $15K to $75K more on a program just to say that you went to school with a high ranking.

 

sorry for the wrong number. For a 3-credit class, it was less than $1200 in 2000. Now it is about $1500 + $120 DL fee = $1620.

 

A quality local program might be your best bet.

But I don't know anything about those, so I'll comment on DL MBAs, in which case UMass sounds like it might be a good fit. Quality program, nationally ranked, good reputation, name recognition, completely online, cost not unmanageable. You won't be getting a top 10 program but it doesn't sound like you want to be an investment banker anyway.

Having said that can I borrow your GMAT so I can apply to Harvard?

 

When I considered them in early 2005 they had just raised it in the fall(2004) to $485(no DL fee) and then it went up from there.

 

I was in a similar situation to macattack above. I was a National Merit scholar in high school, scored high on the SATs, and earned a BSc and MSc in chemistry from the U of Washington. I took the LSAT and MCAT just for grins and also earned very high scores. So I was used to being able to get into any academic program I wanted.

I began to ponder a MBA when I was 31 years old back in 1991. I was already well-established and had a professional reputation in my career of healthcare risk management. I had a well-paying job, spouse, children and a mortgage. I was interested in a MBA primarily for my own personal knowledge since having a MBA in my profession would not lead to major advancement, and I had no intention of changing careers since I like my profession.

I started looking first at the local programs. To my chagrin, at that time, the UW Evening MBA program required an undergrad in business, economics or a related field. My physical science degrees did not qualify. SU had an evening program designed for Boeing engineers, and they would have accepted me gladly. But my job at the time required a lot of evening hours, primarily public speaking at medical conferences, and I could not guarantee I would have the hours to attend class. In addition, the SU program at the time cost around $ 25,000 to attend a fourth-tier school. I simply could not afford to leave the workforce for two years to attend school full-time, and the ROI would not have been there.

That was when I bought a copy of Dr. Bear's distance learning book and began to explore my options. I had no interest in a diploma mill, and at that time, there were very few distance learning MBA programs in the USA. After doing my research, I signed up with the Edinburgh Business School program at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. I worked entirely at my own pace, took some time off to earn more professional designations, and completed the MBA in 1999. The program is assessed solely by a grueling three-hour exam given every six months, and if you fail, you have to wait six months to take it again. If you fail a core course twice, you generally were dismissed from the program. So every six months, I made the trek to 440 Schmitz at the UW, the local testing center for EBS, where they administered the proctored exams. I always had the same proctor, and we got to know each other well over the years. I was thrilled to fly to Edinburgh in July 2000 to attend graduation.

I also had to pay for my MBA entirely out of pocket, so flexibility, cost and reputation were all important factors in my choice. I completed the degree at a cost of about $ 8000 USD. I continued to work full time throughout. I gave up much of my free time for those seven years.

And a few years ago, I changed employers, and the MBA was a major factor in substantially increasing my salary package.

I thought that my story may be of some value to the original poster, since it sounds as if he has a similar situation to mine. I think that a part-time or distance-learning approach would offer him the most bang for the buck.

 

If you're 38 (and maybe you said this before and I missed it), then that's a somewhat different story. That will tend to alter my perception here of what you should do. I looked at your background and figured you might be in your early 30s, in which case it's on the old side, but not beyond reason for most Ivy or Ivy-equivalent programs. But 38, even with your stellar credentials, is really pushing you out into decidedly non-traditional range.

The previous poster's on the right track regarding the truly elite jobs tending to close their doors to older applicants. However, there are a whole range of elite and very solid jobs that require management experience--such as you have--but in those cases, it's not my perception at all that they are looking for top 15 MBA grads-only, they're instead looking for people with a great track record running things. An elite MBA would be icing on the cake, but not dispositive for those jobs.

So considering your age, you probably aren't selling yourself short if you went the online/DL MBA route and forgot the truly elite and truly expensive programs such as Duke and Purdue, because they're probably not going to give you that much of a significant boost.

So I'd consider the following: ASU, Indiana, UMass, Florida, UW PT night program, not necessqrily in thast order. So, you're back to the drawing board. But given your credentials, I really think you're selling yourself short, even at the "venerable" age of 38, if you don't attend a solidly-ranked AACSB-accredited program. Fortunately, all of the above fit that bill.

If I were you, it'd be between UW and ASU.