MBA Questions from Potential Candidate

[tplyons]

I received my acceptance letter (Email) today for an accelerated MBA program... Should I wait for a better opportunity, or should I take the bull by the horns?

As background, I graduated from my undergrad College in 2009 with a degree in management, with a concentration in marketing and a minor in accounting. I have worked full time in a business environment for the past two and a half years and have recently been promoted from my first job as an inventory analyst to a marketing specialist for our seasonal business. The items that come across my desk account for a very large portion of the business and I'm certainly cutting my teeth on high profile marketing initiatives.

Before I was promoted, I began to pursue my MBA with a local school, Centenary College that's right around the corner from the office. They have a good relationship with the business and offer an accelerated MBA program in 23 months, and will allow a cohort of our employees to take classes together as a trial for a program. They get more students from our business, and in turn, our business has more MBA's.

My company will pay for a little over 2/3 of the tuition. About $9,000 over two years will come out of pocket, the remainder will be picked up by the business, pending program approval. Money isn't the issue.

Should I continue to pursue a general MBA with a local college that doesn't have much of a name outside of the area, at a convenient time and place, after two and a half years of service in this business (and a few years of miscellaneous business experience throughout the rest of my life time), or would it be best of me to find my niche in the business, and pursue a specialized MBA from a bigger name institution, with more personal business experience?

I am currently young, unattached, and frankly have no major responsibilities outside of my career. I can't say that this won't change over the next couple of years, but I'm fairly confident that now would be an ideal time for me to take the courses.

While an MBA from a bigger name institution is obviously more likely to open doors for me outside of the company, should I pass up a perfectly good opportunity to obtain a degree of the same level (not caliber) in hopes of the stars aligning in the future? As of right now, I would have to relocate to attend a more known school and would not be able to maintain my current job.

Thoughts? Who's gotten their MBA? From a large, well known institution?

Has anyone gotten an MBA from a local college that doesn't have much of a name outside of your region? Do you feel as though it has hindered you in any way or is seen in a lesser light than other universities?

[tplyons]

Any MBA's have any insight on the matter?

[Tat2dHeart]

I have my MBA from a university that was small, relatively unheard of, and through a distance learning program at the time I was attending. My work paid for quite a large amount of the tuition, which was key for my budgeting factor. From what I've seen in the workplace during my studies and since getting my MBA is that employers are looking for quality of education and not the "branding" of the university. It really depends on what you're studying, however, and if you're planning to concentrate your MBA in a particular field.

I see a lot more worry about the school when companies are looking for lawyers. Apparently, law schools matter a LOT; a lot more than B-schools. But, that's just my nickel's worth from my own experience.

[Pilgrim]

Given the proximity to your work, the financial support available and the fact that your employer has a relationship with the institution, I think that program probably deserves serious consideration.

I checked their accreditation and it's accredited by one of the top associations in the US. They appear to be a solid institution. The degree appears to be flexible and well-designed for a working adult in your situation.

Once you get the degree, it's the DEGREE that matters, not the school which granted it - provided that it's a legitimate, properly accredited institution.

I've been in higher ed for 30+ years and am currently with Colorado State University...so this is ground I'm familiar with. People get WAY, WAY, WAY too hung up on institution names. Get a good degree and the rest depends on your ability.

But wherever you went to college, be a member of the alumni association and use it to network. All alumni associations are valuable tools that people under-value.

[LiquidMidnight]

In my experience, most people in the real world don't give two craps where you went to school, so as long as it's an accredited institution and isn't some online diploma mill. The exceptions are engineering and the more elite law firms that hire on the Cravath system - educational pedigree seems to account for something there. An MBA from a highly ranked school may open some doors, but my guess is that high ranking would have to be in the top 15. So unless you're planning on hitting up Princeton or University of Pennsylvania, I wouldn't worry as much about pedigree. I agree with Pilgrim; it sounds like you have a really good opportunity with this business school. General wisdom is to have your company pay for your MBA, since the return on investment takes quite a while with that particular degree.

I'm not an MBA student nor do I have an MBA. However, I have taken MBA courses as electives within my doctoral program. I have found the courses to be quite challenging and rigorous. The professors are definitely on top of their game, and it's given me a different perspective on many things. I particularly enjoyed an operations class that I had.

Ironically, in my last MBA course, we spent a fair amount of time reading articles published by the big consulting firms, like Booz-Allen, Bain, and BCG, which are staffed by some of the most elite MBAs around. Time after time, I was seriously underwhelmed by some of the stuff they wrote about that was like "No ****, Sherlock!" I remember one article talked about how important it was to have a performance culture. I thought, "Really? These are supposed to be the greatest business minds around, and all they can come up with is how important a performance culture is? I was under the impression that all organizations wanted slackers and serial failures in their ranks." But I digress.

I say "go for it!"