It seems more and more schools are offering MBA's, and more people are getting them with online/part time being popular options. My question is, are these MBA's being offered by unranked business schools even worth the time or money?
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Value of MBA
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Last: 4 yr ago by Sumlins Pool Guy
SidetrackAg said:
It seems more and more schools are offering MBA's, and more people are getting them with online/part time being popular options. My question is, are these MBA's being offered by unranked business schools even worth the time or money?
Just depends on the cost and what it's worth for your situation. If you're wanting a career change, then go to a good school. If you just want the degree and/or are staying with the same company then it doesn't matter as much.
I got mine via an accelerated plan at TCU and was only out of full time work for 6 months (finished in 12 months). I'm glad I got it but it was free other than books. It got me a level higher than I otherwise would have started at my current employer but I've never really used the degree in my day to day job.
Depends. For some companies it's a box check to a promotion. I knew a few senior project managers (civil engineering) that got an online MBA at UT-Brownsville, checked the box, got the promotion and it paid for itself in a year or two.
Thanks. I was thinking about getting mine through the university near work, which is an unranked business school. Work will pay for it, I was just wondering the value, and if it helps much.
If work pays for it - do it. If not, it's not worth it IMO.
Unless you work in government where getting a degree is checking a box and it doesn't matter where it is from or you are already an identified high performer on a defined development plan amd getting an MBA is one step in that process, dont waste your one shot at an MBA from a bad program.
Unless you are in one of the two cases above, the value of your MBA comes from the network you build and the recruiting opportunities you have coming out of the program.
Just like your undergraduate program, no one is going to care where you went to school in 5 years....but where you are in 5 years will depend a lot on your first job. An accounting major coming out of TAMU has a lot better options than one coming out of UTEP.
Unless you are in one of the two cases above, the value of your MBA comes from the network you build and the recruiting opportunities you have coming out of the program.
Just like your undergraduate program, no one is going to care where you went to school in 5 years....but where you are in 5 years will depend a lot on your first job. An accounting major coming out of TAMU has a lot better options than one coming out of UTEP.
As an adjunct faculty member at a lower tier school, I wouldn't hire someone out of our program. Either they aren't good enough, or I really have to ask why the few good ones went to the low tier program in the first place.
Just to add that data point for you.
Just to add that data point for you.
Dr. Horrible said:
As an adjunct faculty member at a lower tier school, I wouldn't hire someone out of our program. Either they aren't good enough, or I really have to ask why the few good ones went to the low tier program in the first place.
Just to add that data point for you.
This might the greatest "user name checks out" in TexAgs history!
These answers are solid. I'll add as a small business owner with only technical training in college that I talk to MBAs for advice to get what I need to know. I don't know what I'm missing but it doesn't seem to be a major handicap.
My opinion: much of that depends on your background and goals. If you have an engineering/technical degree, any MBA would add value to your business acumen. If you have a finance/accounting degree, then only a top tier would add value.
Yes, goals drive this MBA decision for sure. Mine are simple, stay profitable and small. Good margin, low risk, stay in my wheelhouse. I do embedded systems for mfg and industrial. I'm sure I could grow faster in this economy but I don't want to worry about HR, supply chain, big company problems. I want to stay close to customers and product. Maybe I'd hire an MBA down the road if I wanted to grow, but I'm not personally interested in driving this
Someone more enterprising than me should make an MBA flow-chart like the personal finance flow chart. My general thoughts:
GMAT >> 700?
Drop everything and pursue a full-time MBA from HBS, Stanford, Wharton, etc. You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you'll be along side future titans of industry and heads of state.
GMAT 600-700. Already have a technical degree. Desire a career change into i-banking or management consulting. ++ if employer will pay for it.
Go to the best on-campus regional program you can. Do a night/weekend program. Opportunity cost of a full-time program is too high.
GMAT <600. Just need a resume checkbox. Employer won't pay for it
Find an online program that best fits your budget and schedule.
GMAT >> 700?
Drop everything and pursue a full-time MBA from HBS, Stanford, Wharton, etc. You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you'll be along side future titans of industry and heads of state.
GMAT 600-700. Already have a technical degree. Desire a career change into i-banking or management consulting. ++ if employer will pay for it.
Go to the best on-campus regional program you can. Do a night/weekend program. Opportunity cost of a full-time program is too high.
GMAT <600. Just need a resume checkbox. Employer won't pay for it
Find an online program that best fits your budget and schedule.
I find it interesting that no one talks about the course work actually helping them after they graduate.
It is either about the connections made, or a check box for a large employer. Is it better to get a Masters in a field of study (like Finance)?
It is either about the connections made, or a check box for a large employer. Is it better to get a Masters in a field of study (like Finance)?
Tumble Weed said:
I find it interesting that no one talks about the course work actually helping them after they graduate.
It is either about the connections made, or a check box for a large employer. Is it better to get a Masters in a field of study (like Finance)?
No one talks about the course work helping them because it varies so much. My field of work is so far removed from my mba that the direct coursework is of little value.
But, for example, it does allow me to be able to sit down with a CFO and have an reasonably intelligent conversation about how financial strategies impact the implementation of IT strategies. It also gives me a lot more credibility when I am presenting to the board of directors and can tie in concepts that let them know that I actually do understand their business.
Also, they way classes are taught in an MBA program the quality of your coursework is directly correlated to the quality of your classmates which is directly correlated to the quality of the program.
In other words it is simply a box check to get you in the club.
I would say probably not. If you need one for a specific reason then, that's why I added the "probably" to my previous statement. A huge part of an MBA is the network that you're basically buying into. That's why SMU and UofH, while not the most highly rated, can be worth it if you intend to be based in Dallas or Houston and really even in Texas.
Thank you all for the replies
TriAg2010 said:
Someone more enterprising than me should make an MBA flow-chart like the personal finance flow chart. My general thoughts:
GMAT >> 700?
Drop everything and pursue a full-time MBA from HBS, Stanford, Wharton, etc. You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you'll be along side future titans of industry and heads of state.
GMAT 600-700. Already have a technical degree. Desire a career change into i-banking or management consulting. ++ if employer will pay for it.
Go to the best on-campus regional program you can. Do a night/weekend program. Opportunity cost of a full-time program is too high.
GMAT <600. Just need a resume checkbox. Employer won't pay for it
Find an online program that best fits your budget and schedule.
Damn. Used ETS to convert my GRE to estimated GMAT and I'm only a 690. 1 point higher on my quant and I'd be at 700.
I need to do a lot of studying for the GMAT. The match part isnt too bad, but the verbal killed me on the practice.
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Also, they way classes are taught in an MBA program the quality of your coursework is directly correlated to the quality of your classmates which is directly correlated to the quality of the program.
I used veritas prep and it got me up about 100 points. This was 8 years ago so there might be better options now but it worked well for me.SidetrackAg said:
I need to do a lot of studying for the GMAT. The match part isnt too bad, but the verbal killed me on the practice.
It's been a few years since I took mine. I got a 730 exam day, but was disappointed I didn't get the 760 I got two days before on the official GMAT prep software (not disappointed enough to retake). Both of these scores were a decent improvement from where I started.agcrock2005 said:I used veritas prep and it got me up about 100 points. This was 8 years ago so there might be better options now but it worked well for me.SidetrackAg said:
I need to do a lot of studying for the GMAT. The match part isnt too bad, but the verbal killed me on the practice.
In addition to studying and practicing it is beneficial to know how the exam works and have a strategy. I'm not sure how things have changed, but when I took the exam I went in knowing I was going to quickly guess on one or two questions that seemed difficult to bank time, ensuring I would finish and have enough time to have a chance to get every other question correct. For me timing was an issue, for you it might be a particular style of problem.
1. you only get out of it what you put into it
2. I think it's a threshold deal, if you can get into a top 10, name brand program (Harvard, Stanford, Tuck etc) then it's for sure worth it, but largely if you wanna go work somewhere that that matters to, such as private equity. Otherwise you're better off just going at night to the best program in your city. Just don't think it's worth it to quit your job to go to another program if it's just slightly better or if you just like something about it.
2. I think it's a threshold deal, if you can get into a top 10, name brand program (Harvard, Stanford, Tuck etc) then it's for sure worth it, but largely if you wanna go work somewhere that that matters to, such as private equity. Otherwise you're better off just going at night to the best program in your city. Just don't think it's worth it to quit your job to go to another program if it's just slightly better or if you just like something about it.