Need to Decide on MBA Program

MBA Thoughts

Although you should certainly consider the previously mentioned schools, the Penn State iMBA is also worth a look.

Like Indiana and ASU, it is AACSB accredited. The program itself is taught by the best full-time faculty of five major Penn State campuses, including several professors from the renowned Smeal College of Business. The exact admissions statistics can be referenced from www.businessweek.com.

As a student, I have enjoyed the variety of my classmates. Even though I am younger than many, having Big 5 accountants, airline executives and Georgetown lawyers in my classes has made them thrilling. There is also something to be said about simultaneous interaction in a distance learning MBA program - PSU uses a program called Elive that enables virtual conferencing with instant messaging on the side. It's a great tool, and I can only see this method of synchronous and asynchronous communication expanding in the future.

There is the drawback of cost, but I feel that I am getting what I paid for in terms of professor feedback, IT support, administrative oversight and, of course, school reputation.

Here's the site:
http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/iMBA.shtml

Best of luck to you!

 

If money's not much of an issue, then Penn State is a fine program. The only issue for me if I were considering PSU is putting it up alongside Indiana, ASU and Florida, which are ranked higher (being that, to my knowledge, PSU's not part of the Smeal program per se, even though some of the profs also teach at Smeal, whereas all of the above are officially part of the ranked flagship programs) and are about the same price or less.

That said, there probably aren't many employers out there who pay as much attention to rankings as students, particularly once you exit the category of truly elite top 15 or top 20 programs. Are there that many employers who'll actually know the ranking difference between Indiana and ASU, Florida and Penn State? No, most employers will probably consider them all good but not elite programs and then judge a job-seeker by other criteria. But they'll know that you have an MBA from a national university and have their minds assured on that point. Also, I doubt that many employers have any notion that the DL PSU program's not Smeal, or that the DL Indiana program is taught part by Bloomington profs, part by Indianapolis profs. Most will just look at the name on the resume.

This is just a long way of saying that PSU, given the price, would not be my choice, but that doesn't mean you made a bad one and won't get a solid ROI, particularly if you want to work in the rust belt.

 

You're in a similar situation as I am, and I started the Kelley Direct program in Fall '05 taking a 50% courseload as I'm funding this myself with a nominal employer contribution.

So far, I am enjoying the program and plan to finish in '08. My profs are a mix from IU Bloomington or IUPUI and have been great so far; the Angel course management system works well and I enjoyed the first in-residence. Being mid-career you will find that you can apply a lot more business knowledge but you will still need to take the essentials (accounting, economics, finance, etc). Any DL-based course will make it harder to learn stats or accounting but the materials are pretty good and the profs generally accessible.

Before I took the GMAT I was looking at either Cal State Univ. DH or Marist but ended up with a good score so I applied to IU, ultimately because I wanted not only a degree from a ranked school (in my case my BS is from Excelsior) but also a solid education.

There is absolutely NO grade inflation at Kelley unlike many of the for-profits where "if you show up you get an 'A'". In a couple of cases I was a fraction of a percentage short of the grade needed for an A and therefore received an A-. It's a challenging, competitive program with a good name.

The only downside is that the per-credit fee is up to $875 which is up $25 from last year but it's still manageable, albeit not cheap. It's also a 48-credit hour program unlike CSUDH which is a 30-credit hour program, so there are 6 more courses to take.

If you are looking at the MBA as a terminal degree I'd pursue the best you can afford. You never know where your career will take you and a nationally-recognized, ranked program is always a plus.

PM me if you want any other info. Good luck!

Cheers,
Mark

 

Hello from a fellow Husky who also spent a lot of time at the Jackson School (Korea studies).

I have been down your path regarding selecting an MBA program. What am I intending to do?

Suck it up, shell out the $53k, and go back to U Dub at night. If you can't hack that, perhaps Seattle U may work.

Reasoning: You're from around here, so I don't need to tell you how indifferent the environment can be to those perceived to be outsiders. The network of contacts that we make in school is the most important factor in whether we'll have a chance to really put the degree to use. The U Dub MBA Alumni Association is a powerful entity with long arms. Seattle U is less well regarded but still very respectable.

You'll need around a 700 on the GMAT to get in to U Dub.

 

Ay caramba! The evening UW MBA program is $ 53K? I suppose it dates me horribly to report that I paid $ 231 per quarter for undergrad and $ 550 per quarter for grad school in the College of Arts and Sciences at the UW. Of course, this is also back when I was earning $ 5 per hour working part time to pay my way through school.

That is a lot of money for the MBA program, and one would have to be certain of the payback period before undertaking the program.

 

For a guy with his technical background that intends to stay in the Puget Sound area I'm pretty confident he'd see more than adequate ROI (my presumption: salary above $100k, probably around $150k - almost enough to think about buying a new house ).

If he were to relocate away from the ample bosom of the U Dub business school family it would be a different equation.

 

Perhaps if he were staying in King County (or specifically Seattle/Eastside). If he were headed to Bellingham or Everett or Tacoma or Olympia (all in the Puget Sound region) I don't the ROI would be there. The Puget Sound region has lost a lot of it's advantages in the last several years. In part this is because of, as you allude to, incredible housing costs in a very small area. The alternatives to living and working in that area are to have ridiculous commutes to Seattle/Eastside or live and work in other ares that have a lower wage/rate structure. But at least it's overcast most of the year...

 

Sean, you are moving from south of Tacoma to Richmond, Virginia? The Lesser Seattleite in me asks: why?

 

Those costs associated with housing and commutes have prompted change. As you may have noted, Microsoft and Google are building large data centers outside of King County. Microsoft's is in Yakima(!), and Google's is down around the Dalles in OR.
These, I believe, are the beginnings of a more general economic expansion outside of King County.

In short, a watershed psychological barrier has passed - the Silicon Forest is no longer exclusively synonymous with King County. I have to believe that Tacoma, Everett, Bellingham, (with its proximity to Canada), Olympia/Tumwater, and even Cle Ellum/Roslyn (with its HUGE new resort development) will be among the first beneficiaries of this trend.

I joked about Yakima, but it, too, has real quality of life advantages in terms of climate, open land, proximity to Interstates, and its downtown has "good bones", meaning real potential for a vibrant shopping and arts district.

 

I've just had enough of the Puget Sound area. I've been here for over 20 years (waiting for my kids to reach the age of majority). I live in the Tacoma area now to be close to my kids and stepkids, but I've lived in Issaquah, Alki Beach, Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island (my favorite!) all within the last seven years since my divorce.

I've worked as a software developer for about 15 years, and my last job in Seattle required at 4.5 hour daily commute. Yikes! So I took a job on Fort Lewis that is close to home, but pays what I made in 1995. I have just had enough of:

The cold and wet weather nine months of the year
The crummy traffic all year
The crummy public transportation (if it can be called that)
The growing crime rate
The methamphetamine problems (I know that is not limited to the P.S. area)
The University of Washington (another story altogether)
The low wages outside of King County
The incredible cost of housing inside King County
Any more and I'd just be whining, but you did ask...

I'm going to Henrico County, VA where there are

Four seasons
A reasonable cost of living
Ample jobs that pay six figures (I got mine)
An average 24 minute commute time (mine will be six minutes)
A low crime rate (3 on a scale of 10, as opposed to 7 for here)
Close proximity to something like 7 colleges.
Close proximity to so much history (which for me is the best reason)
Close proximity to mountains, warm ocean beaches, wreck diving, Washington DC, all in (mostly) sunny weather.
A big screen porch on my house that intend to use nine months out of the year

 

One of my step-daughters went to Western. She got a very good education there. I like Bellingham as well, but it's even cloudier and wetter there than Tacoma. I think I am affected by the cloudiness. At least I sure feel happier with blue sky and sunshine.

If I could figure out a way to live in the Caribbean (besides teaching SCUBA for peanuts) I am certain I would. I hope you figure it out someday too

 

That's a thought. I was asked yesterday if I want to continue adjunct teaching for the CC I've been teaching at, but just do online classes. I've never taught online, so I might give it a try. I'm sure it will be different than anything I am used to.

That you can teach adjunct from the Caribbean is great for you. Maybe I'll have Professor Foerster in one of my classes before too long