Ot: part time mba

I've heard that there are people that you can pay between $15,000 to $6 million and they will get you in wherever you want.

Depends on if you are planning on staying at your current company or if you have other career goals. I'd care more about rankings and reputation if you're looking to make a move at some point. By rankings, its Ross->Mendoza->>>Broad (less of drop if you're in Supply Chain, but don't think you are). Ross has a solid name brand internationally, and Mendoza's largely carried by their strong undergrad program, but is still a decent program. Broad is respected here in Michigan, but outside of the state their's not really a strong network or any name recognition.

I would put in a plug for going full time, but that's not for everyone based on career / family commitments. 

I went back to an evening, 2 year program (which I guess qualifies as part time) after 10 years of working. If the company is paying for a substantial portion of it, then go to the best school that you can. There are a lot of comments on here about the networking (which are certainly valid), but I can say that I got a lot more out of the experience than that. In fact, because I had more real life experience to apply to the concepts and program, I enjoyed and got more out of my MBA than my undergraduate engineering. 

I have an undergraduate engineering degree from UM.  I got an MBA at a local university doing night classes --- 13 quarters in a row.  I placed out of the 14 class.  Loved that tuition reimbursement from my employer that paid for the MBA.

In the end, what mattered was that I had the MBA.  No one every quibbled over where I got it.  Sure, I didn't go to Northwestern like some of my colleagues did.  If I was doing a complete career change, then maybe where I went would have made a difference.  The engineering undergrad from UM is what always opened the doors for me.

Here's my MBA hot take: ignore MBA hot takes. Take the time to visit each program if possible, talk to current students and alums, and see for yourself where the program's grads are ending up and what they're doing. You'll likely be surprised at what you find.

I currently see an online ad for the Grand Canyon University Colangelo College of Business online MBA program hovering to the upper right on my MGoBlog screen.   They claim to be accredited, flexible, and affordable.   

Did the part-time MBA at Ross while working full time. Highly recommend it but you won’t have much of a personal life. Excellent program that helped every step of the way in my career.

I’ve hired about 50 MBAs and interviewed over 500 over the last decade at Amazon. Unless you have hyper relevant experience, an ND or MSU MBA is going to be a hard pass (unless they specialize in things like supply chain or other).  This is the norm. It does not mean there aren’t exceptions to this rule. And once you’re in no one gives a rats ass about your resume. But to get your foot in the door it matters. 

I got a part-time MBA from a top 70 school.  It was free since my company paid for it.  

I wasn't a business major in undergrad, but took two accounting, two econ and a marketing class. After having read a book or two, most everything in my MBA program was a waste of time.   Stats and a marketing simulation competition were the exceptions.  If you are in finance you will be bored to tears.   The daytime program at my grad school seemed to be a little more rigorous. 

That said,  the MBA is a signaling device.  I did get a job in Business Affairs because I had the MBA.  

The other big factor is networking.  If you're living in Michigan you can't go wrong with Ross and ND and MSU probably aren't bad backups.  Especially being in finance, you'd get to know some people who can get you jobs at other companies.     I'm in entertainment/tech, so my MBA school in the middle of nowhere wasn't great for networking.

I'd go for it, but try to figure out if you can learn something you don't already know.

I'm also looking into the Ross part time programs, so the responses in this thread will be interesting. 

Unfortunately, Ross is one of the few programs NOT starting in the Fall, and I've missed the application deadline for the May start. I can do the online program, but being the first year of it, it's going to take 3.5+ years. Long time. 

I had a wuivk consulting call, and I was a little disappointed there's no benefit to me already being an alum (undergraduate in engineering). They really don't care at all. 

I'd love to get a dual degree from Michigan, but the cost is very high and I'd have to delay my start almost a year. 

Any advice on getting your MBA from where you got your undergraduate vs going to a new program?

part time mba

full time lover.

I finished a part time MSF yesterday.  No comments on your particular programs but the time requirements on top of work can be pretty brutal.  

Are you lookin to make a career change, with a new company and new function?

if so, don’t do part time as most schools don’t help make that change. If you are just looking to stay at the company or same function, part time is fine. As for school, no clue. 

I got my MBA online at WGU. Took me 6 months and cost me $3,500. 

If you’re just looking for the degree do it. If you need something prestigious this is not it

UM Evening MBA grad here ‘95. 50 miles each way, twice a week for 5 years. Glad I did it when I was younger, before married, before kids — as there would be no way that I would have the time or energy to do it now. In my experience, the hardest part about it (other than paying for it) was getting in. That being the case, make sure you have got your act together re: your application and test scores. There’s nothing that you can do about your undergrad transcripts at this point but you CAN maximize your test scores thru practice tests, prep classes etc. Grad B-school is SO much about team work. Group projects abound. With mine being a 50 mile commute, it was key to find a group of like minded individuals from the same geographic area — and in some cases, the same employer — so that we wouldn’t have to waste additional weeknights or weeknights commuting to A2 for project meetings. I suppose these days that those meetings could be all held virtually, without the need to travel.  Another benefit of this approach is that once that team dynamic is established and everyone’s relative strengths as weaknesses were understood, subsequent projects were completed VERY efficiently. I acknowledge that this approach limits the networking opportunities afforded by grad school. However, my group wasn’t looking to switch jobs after graduation but rather, to enhance our budding careers. Good Luck!

Went to the Ross Evening MBA, graduated 12/2014.

The educational experience and access to corporate recruiters was phenomenal. However, prior work experience will be crucial to your success post-MBA.  In other words, since your experience is in finance or accounting, stay in those functions after you get your MBA.  If you want to change functions, have some experience in those before you graduate.  Regardless of your education, employers want candidates with experience.  (And every alum who came back as a recruiter said point blank the most applicable classes at Ross weren't the content classes but those on Leadership.)  You won't be able to land a role as, say, a Marketing Manager with only finance/accounting experience plus a Ross MBA on your resume.  The exception to this is Consulting, where if you can nail the case interview you have shown your ability to the recruiters and previous experience doesn't matter that much. Of course, case interviews are very challenging and take A TON of preparation time.

I received my EMBA from Notre Dame. I am also an alum of Wharton. First, you have to compare apples to apples. An EMBA program will provide a different experience than a part-time program, mainly due to the types of students who are admitted into EMBA programs. An EMBA student will have 10-15 years of experience, whereas an MBA student may have 5 years of experience. As a result, you'll probably learn more from your colleagues in an EMBA program and likely take more from your professors in an MBA program. In either case, networking is key, unlike law school which is all about academic competition. 

Whether U of M (PT) or ND (EMBA) is best for you, totally depends on what you want out the program. EMBAs are great for experienced professionals who want to fill in gaps (real or perceived) in their skills set. Most EMBA programs, based on the nature of the programs, do not go very deep so it puts more onus on students to go beyond the syllabus to develop mastery of areas of interests. I highly recommend doing so. EMBA programs may not as good at helping you land your next gig. ND's career services dept. was lacking. Also, going to school locally allows you to take better advantage of on-campus resources and get a more traditional student experience. You won't find much difference in the curriculum (EMBA vs EMBA; PT MBA vs PT MBA). There are several professors that teach at both schools. 

On MBA brand (Ross, ranking, perception, etc.), U of M wins. ND wins on the network, which I'd put up against Wharton's network without a decided winner. Much to the chagrin of the folks on this board, ND and U of M are very similar institutions, excluding ND's religious bent, of course. 

I opted for the ND EMBA program because it felt right. And at the time, U of M's EMBA program ran $65K more. That said, I still have not attended a Notre Dame football game! Go Blue!

You can't even finish your sentence without dogging on ND, but you're alright with msu??

I have some experience with Michigan's WMBA, and while I think there's some good advice above, I'd add the following:

My experience is that both MBA programs at Ross are top notch. I looked around and was deciding between Booth and Ross. Ended up choosing Ross (Beside the fact that I'm a lifelong UM fan), I was more interested in action based learning. Booth sold me their world class faculty- can't disagree there, nobel prize winners in finance, etc. But I bought a bunch of their finance books in their college bookstore on the first floor on my way out, after interviewing. Ross was selling not only world class faculty, but more of a focus on strategy, and the promise that I would get to learn from my peers, many of whom had relevant real world experience. (This point is especially true for a lot of WMBA students who are deep within their industries), but it rings true for Ross in general, where your average incoming MBA student probably has several years of experience in a fortune 500 company already. I remember asking my booth interviewer if they had any focus on learning from the experiences of our peers. She just stared at me, so we moved on:)

As far as the culture, Ross was awesome. The faculty really seemed to care, which you don't always get, considering that many of them are highly successful business people who's time is incredibly valuable. Having spent some time in other Michigan departments I'd say its a culture  you don't always see. The Alumni network can't be understated as well as the recruiting (easier to do if you do the normal MBA, but most recruiters are open to any Ross student who is proactive).

I went to Ross for ideas, both from my cohort, as well as faculty (primarily). I was not disappointed. It's allowed me to be successful in a short period of time. If you go, please take advantage of some of the groups, and especially the guest lectures. A Ross MBA is what you make of it, which if you are motivated, can be huge.

A final note on learning from your peers: just my personal opinion, but if you are at all interested in global business, try for a program where a decent percentage of your class comes with a global background. Many people relocate from worldwide to Ann Arbor for two years for the MBA program and even WMBA. Any time there is class discussion, and Ross has a lot, this will help to open your eyes unlike any other. If you find yourself in a classroom where everyone looks and thinks and talks the same as you, well, you really won't get many new ideas. (The strength of weak links in network communications, ect.)

As far as other MBA programs and go/don't go, I wouldn't personally recommend a program outside of the top 25 schools or so. That's just a ballpark, but in business I feel like it's a world that not everyone can fully understand, and it's not like math or even some portions of finance, where you can have an ah-ha! moment simply by reading the chapter and doing the problems. It simply doesn't click for some people, especially as you add increasingly complex variables and start requiring strategic long-term thinking. A school outside of the top 25 or so is in my opinion less likely to even try to teach these more advanced and subtle aspects of business, as most of the class just wouldn't get it. I'll use the example of HBR case studies. A lot of schools use these (and some of their own). I sat through a few at Columbia as well as at State where a friend attends. There isn't alway a  single right answer for these reviews. You are spoon fed data and maybe there's a good answer based on what you have, but it's so often highly spoon fed. Ross was the only place where we routinely questioned assumptions and what other data might suggest, and the faculty was willing to listen to reasoned arguments. In short it became an exercise in how to better tackle the problem than simply the background given to us by HBR, as well as finding the solution. At State the professor was adamant that there was a single best option and she wasn't willing to listen to other opinions. Columbia had good discussion, but it was their WMBA program so I think most students were worn out by Saturday night. 

If you do WMBA, make sure your employer is somewhat flexible with you. 

There is obviously a tradeoff in quality vs cost, but don't forget your own extra cost of your time, regardless of what school you choose. Spending two years and a lot of work to get a degree that looks decent on paper, but maybe doesn't give you the extra skills you could have gotten elsewhere, that's hard to justify for me. 

I'll also add a note about pay post Ross MBA. A lot of my cohort reported pay that was not as high as say people graduating from Booth or several East Coast places, however that's partially due to where my cohort choose to set down roots; all over the world, really. Take Booth for example, a lot of finance people end up staying local in Chicago or going to NYC or London. Cost of living is much higher and their 40k/yr difference probably doesn't get them much farther than many of my cohort living say in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Atlanta, Boulder, Shanghai, Taiwan, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Egypt, etc. (Yes, lots of Ross grads in Manhattan as well). Don't expect as much of a raise if you stay with your current employer, either. Also, most of that pay data is self-reported, and Ross people are nothing if not honest.