Bachelor's (Brand Name School) vs. Master's (Non Brand)

I agree with the consensus that the Master's degree trumps where you earned your undergrad, and that earning a second undergrad degree rarely makes sense.

My undergrad alma mater is a very generic liberal arts college that doesn't set the USN&WR ratings on fire, but I didn't care. It satisfied the requirements for an education incentive at work, and I knew I was going on to graduate school, so I'd worry about prestige later.

When I was applying to graduate school, it came down to Boston University (about $30,000 at the time) which is very prestigious, or UMass-Lowell (totally free, except for books, thanks to a veteran's waiver) which is not so prestigious nationally, but has one of the top-rated Master's programs in criminal justice in the country, while BU is unranked in that regard.

Needless to say, I went with UMass-Lowell, saved a ton of money, and haven't regretted it for a second.

 

Here is the question: What are you goals to receiving the MBA? Do you want it for your own personal satisfaction? Do you want it for promotion? Do you want to teach business at a college or university? What is your goal?

If it's for your own personal satisfaction, finish it at AMU.

If it's for a promotion, finish it at AMU or like other have said, find another program that you feel will shine on your resume more than AMU. A double BA is not that important. A Masters will always outweigh a BA (or double BA at that). Even if you get the MBA at AMU your are still above those without one. (Like others said, get a certificate from a top notch school online, I believe eCornell has a program but I'm not sure).

If it's to teach college, I would recommend going elsewhere, if you can... or fall the same plan with the certificate later.

You don't want to waste money and time... both are very valuable.

Lastly here is my personal opinion, (I don't believe all will agree with me on this). I firmly believe that God will promote you to wherever he leads you. Whether you get your MBA from AMU or from a higher known school.

Also, if you want to save some money and are interested in pushing yourself, you can try to get a MBA from WGU. If you push yoruself, you can finish in a year with tuition around $8000 or less for the whole course. I heard great things about the program from my friends... It's just something to consider.

 

Not true. ASU offers online students the exact same tuition that in state residents pay. Been that way since I started back in May 2012.

 

But I think this thread is from 2010

 

Yeah, but I just wanted to put it out there in case anyone wasn't sure.

 

Blast from the past, lol! I feel 3 years younger now. Rereading some of this, I didn't even recognize my own posts. Man, have things changed =)

 

I believe that an exception to this are RA engineering degrees (and possibly some other technical and science degrees) except for academic and a few other employment positions.

Plus the knowledge earned in an engineering degree is sufficient to pass Professional Engineer exams.

 

I do that...usually I'm like "man this guy really knows his stuff", occasionally I wish I could edit out my own old nonsense.

 

Why not just go with what you like?

Getting a degree from a "brand name" school is nice but, should you not want more utility out of the degree then just the name? I mean Harvard, MIT and so on are just that, THOSE schools. Basically, they are brand name schools that will open some nice doors for you. Other than that they other schools IMHO are a toss up. A maybe they will, maybe they wont kind of thing.

Again, I say go with what you like, what interests you, and what will help you find the job YOU LIKE... Life is too short to not be happy.

Just my two cents