MBA with No Entrance Exam & No Thesis

EBS does require a comprehensive final exam.

 

Please excuse the grammatical errors above. I promise that I know the difference between hears and here's.

 

Pilot re Heriot-Watt: "...I am currently an executive for a large company; My company is paying for the program and that is why the institution has to be in the US. I will have to convince HR as of the quality of the institutiom, Hence the Brick & Mortar presence ETC..."

John: As I've mentioned, during the 8 years that I was doing US/Canada marketing for this program, we kept careful track of the first 1,000 students, in terms of their company or employer approval. More than 80% approved it without question (since it has a federal FICA number, etc.). Another 19% had questions, ranging from one simple one to the need to go to (for instance) Gillette headquarters and make a presentation (not only were the 12 students approved, but the head HR guy signed up as well), or to supply copies of the exams (which are pretty impressive). Of the half dozen or so who turned it down, a few had US defense contracts and said they could not pay for "foreign" students. Only one turned it down because the HR guy didn't like it. Well, what he actually said, after closing his door conspiratorially, was, in effect, "I had to bust my ass for two years getting my MBA from Rice. If you think I'll approve this distance thing for my people, you've got another think coming. And if you quote me, I'll deny it."

During those 8 years (1991-1999) Heriot-Watt became the largest MBA of any kind in the US and Canada, bigger than Phoenix.

--John Bear, who has had no involvement whatsoever
since 1999.

 

EBS requires final exams for each course. They do not require a comprehensive exam (one exam that covers all courses.)

 

Dallas Baptist University is available....

 

This thread troubles me a little. Here I am killing myself juggling demanding job, toddler and MBA dissertation anxiously awaiting my final part 3 exam result...and the OP wants what seems to be a easy-ride with no real meaningful assessment, but will exit with the same qualification - an MBA.

One would hope that an employer would dig a little deeper to see how robust a particular program was, but I doubt that most would.

I am glad I went for a really challenging program with 13 separate assessments (3 exams and 10 assignments including a large integrated strategy project and a dissertation). When I get to the other end I believe I will feel more satisfaction that if I had taken a course assessed by 'homework, discussion postings, papers and a few group projects' to quote someone below...

I think I might get a few 'if it suits your needs' type responses...I remain unconvinced that this argument is truly valid - its seems a convenient way to avoid real, demanding, meaningful assessment which validates the end-qualification and is true evidence you have gained the knowledge you should have if you want to class yourself as an 'MBA'.

Comments?

I would certainly like to hear Rich Douglas's/John Bear's views if they read this.

Peace,

Dave C.

 

1. Most MBA degrees are non-thesis, so that should be easy to find. (Note: Bears' Guide to the Best MBA Degrees by Distance Learning does say that there are some thesis MBAs, so apparently, such are findable if that's what one wants.)

2. There are many MBA programs that do not require the GMAT or other entrance exam.

3. There are many online MBA degrees that hold business accreditation. Those that are AACSB probably will require the GMAT, unless your undergrad GPA is high enough to warrant waiving the GMAT. There is also ACBSP accreditation, which often doesn't require the GMAT.

4. Having some name recognition will probably correlate highly with having AACSB, which again will likely require the GMAT (unless you can get it waived).

Happy hunting!

 

Where are you going to school that your MBA requires a dissertation?

 

Durham has a distance learning MBA, which requires a 15,000 word dissertation.

 

Oh, okay.

Beware of asking people who've done it already. Some of them will lament that you're not doing the degree that, ironically, they didn't do either. We want to make it more rigorous AFTER we've finished.

That said, I did an MBA that meets the OP's criteria (National U.). It was fine, but it was a long time ago. (I finished it in '84.)

The degree program's academic content was fine, but the real value was the tacit learning drawn from interactions with peers and instructors. Both groups were made up of working professionals who brought splendid experiences to the learning environment, which you simply cannot program into the curriculum.

You lose that dynamic in a program like EBS. In return, however, you gain a program rich with information, demanding students to learn and to demonstrate their learning. Also, you gain a credential from a very good school with a worldwide reputation.

These things boil down to individual choice. How you like to learn, what you want to gain, the credential you want to earn, the money you're willing to spend, etc.

 

Hey, I'm perfectly fine with having a master's degree from a school nobody's ever heard of.

 

I doubt that anyone would take the time to do that. HR people are busy just like everyone else.

As a Regis University MBA alum, I can say with confidence that if Pilot chooses this program it will not be a cakewalk. The Regis MBA is plenty rigorous for anyone.

 

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Seriously, Dave, I read your remarks and thought that you couldn't possibly be referring to my Regis program and or comments - but you were. Since you weren't referring to other programs in general, but specifically to mine, I'll respond.

Your inference that Regis isn't demanding or intense based on my 'homework, discussion postings, papers and a few group projects' comment is completely erroneous. I too killed myself with kids, a demanding high-level job (50+ hours), volunteer work and no sleep. I put at least 30 hours a week of work into Regis and I even read extra during breaks from Regis. Furthermore, it wasn't just a "few" papers. I was summarizing the curriculum for the OP and addressing his questions, and you should not infer that the program is an "easy-ride" based on that one comment.

While we had the large integrated strategy project, we did not have a dissertation, but then again many MBA programs do not have a thesis requirement. That in itself is no indicator of a lack of rigor in the program. In no way was it a walk in the park.

What Regis does have is excellent interaction between and among instructors,
students and deans; strong curriculum and challenging coursework. As Rich says, you can't get that in just any ol' program.

And along the lines of Rich's comments, I am still in personal contact with two professors, two deans and an admissions director from my program. Two of my instructors propelled me into instructing online and wrote glowing references for me based on my discussion board performance and stellar papers.

My only caveat is that it's not AACSB accredited, which in hindsight would have been a reason to pick another program, as I am teaching at the college level. But, again, that is not an indictment of the program, just a fact.

So Dave, some people may be searching for an "easy-ride" MBA but they won't get one at Regis.

 

Dave C, what program are you in?

My understanding is that a dissertation is required for many UK MBA programs. It is also my understanding that often a UK masters dissertation = US thesis.

With that said, it is very rare for a US professional degree (ie MBA) to require a thesis or a comprehensive exam. Many have some sort of final course with a comprehensive project, case analysis, and/or simulation.

Further, many UK degree's (ie UoL, EBS, etc.) are assessed mainly on tough final exams, whereas, many US degrees are assessed on papers, class contribution, group projects, mid-terms, quizzes and final exams.

An MBA can lack a comprehensive exam and thesis, or even an entrance exam requirement, while still retain significant rigor.

 

Ted, Macattck,

I'm studying at Henley Management College in the UK.

This sounds like it could be a case of pavement vs. sidewalk. My perception has always been that a rigorous MBA includes a dissertation/thesis, this is obviously not the case across the pond.

mbaonline,

I know nothing about Regis except what you have told me, my comments were in no way a slight of the Regis program, apologies if that appeared to be the case. I simply quoted them as an example of what I felt was a less rigorous assessment methodology, your last comments make it clear that the Regis course is certainly demanding, if different from the structure of the Henley MBA.

Incidentally Henley has recently revamped its program and I will be one of the last intakes to take a formal dissertation. Newer intakes will take an 'Industry Challenge' (or something like that) which is essentially the same thing though a bit less academic from what I understand.

Henley is also merging with the University of Reading and will soon be known as 'Henley Business School'.

Either way an interesting discussion. I'm always happy to be proved wrong/misinformed.

Peace,

Dave C.

 

This is interesting. Will Henley still be awarding their own degrees or will they all be awarded through Reading?

 

I was advised that Henley turned down merger opportunities with two really 'big name' Universities (one in the US, one in the UK) because they would have lost their name in the transaction, and their priority was maintaining the Henley brand. Reading was a well-ranked, well-established University that wanted a strong MBA, so the synergy was obvious. The fact that they are literally just down the road from each other is a logistic bonus.

The new business school will be The University of Reading 'Henley Business School' - the fourth largest in the UK. The MBA will be awarded by Henley Business School and that will be the name on the diploma.

Henley's beautiful riverside facility will be kept and used for executive education and the EMBA. The Full-time MBA will move to a state-of-the-art new facility at Reading's campus that is under construction.

Incidentally; as I joined 'Henley Management College' but will graduate from 'Henley Business School' I have a choice of diploma name. I am choosing the latter - I don't see the point of having a diploma from a non-existing entity.

FT article here - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7aaf8dd8-beaf-11dc-8c61-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=02e16f4a-46f9-11da-b8e5-00000e2511c8.html

More info here - http://www.henleymc.ac.uk/henleymc03.nsf/pages/news_merger

And here - http://www.reading.ac.uk/business/About/bus-ourfuture.asp

Cheers,

Dave C.

 

Hi Pilot,

Visit TAMU-C's site and take a look at the MGT 527 course description. The comprehensive exam is offered in this course. If you successfully complete the required classes I see no reason why you would have problems with the exam. Good luck.

 

Hi Karl,
Thanks for the advice.
Can you tell me a little bit about your experience at TAMU?
I am employed full time and have to manage maried life with kids.
How many classes did you take at once, where the classes manageable.
Did you have to write a lot of paers beside the exams etc..
Why would you recommend it over others beside the fact that they are accsb
Thank you much,

 

http://mbaonline.csudh.edu/curriculum.asp
Cal State U Dominguez Hills has a DL MBA that you might want to check out.