Print
Email
Print Edition StoriesFriday, April 17, 2009
How to select an MBA program
By Keith Regan, Special to Mass High Tech
MHT managing editor Rodney Brown on NECN: 22 tech companies give back to community
How is the economic crisis affecting tech companies?
For many who aspire to obtain higher-level executive positions, hope to sit one day in the CEO’s chair, or dream of running their own enterprise, business school is seen as an inevitable rite of passage.
MBA programs in the Boston area and around the world produce thousands of graduates each year, all bearing credentials they hope will help them move up the corporate ladder or tackle their own challenges.
While some aspire to have instantly recognizable brand names on their diplomas — and to tap into high-powered alumni networks — experts say just how far that educational experience, and the degree it produces, will take someone may depend more than anything on pursuing the right course of study at the right time and for the right reasons.
Before they get a letter of recommendation or even crack the annual biz-school rankings books, prospective MBA students should be able to clearly and concisely articulate why they want the degree, said Dennis Nations, director of MBA admissions at Babson College in Wellesley.
“You need to carefully consider what your goals and aspirations are and be able to talk about how an MBA fits into that set of plans,” he said. That includes considering when the degree should be pursued. Nations has seen some students jump too soon and others wait too long. “If the timing is right, they’ll be more focused, get more involved and get more out of it.”
Before a school is chosen, would-be students need to make some gateway choices, such as whether to pursue part-time or full-time studies. While many part-time students continue to work while getting their MBAs, a full-time program should be an absorbing, intensive experience. While some colleges offer only full-time programs, others offer programs customized for someone juggling a career and a family, offering weekend sessions, limited residency programs and other options.
“If it’s done right, getting an MBA full time should be like having two full-time jobs,” said Hayden Estrada, assistant dean of graduate admissions at the Boston University School of Management. “Between class work and project work and group work, we advise students to plan on working no more than 10 or 12 hours a week. If it weren’t that hard, it wouldn’t be worth doing.”
Over the years, different business schools have developed reputations for expertise in certain areas, but experts say universities are constantly adjusting their curricula, adding new professors and attracting different students. In other words, a reputation may not accurately reflect what’s happening at a school today.
In the Boston area, would-be MBA students have a range of choices of schools, some with particular specialties, such as Northeastern University’s High Tech MBA program. Others offer the opportunity to walk away with a diploma from universities whose names and reputations are instantly recognizable around the world, such as MIT and Harvard University.
“There are some career tracks and employers for whom a brand-name MBA is absolutely essential, while applicants just looking to fill certain skill gaps to advance in their current jobs might not need a name brand as much,” said Boston-based admissions and career counselor Anna Ivey, president of Anna Ivey Consulting.
Ivey noted that students who plan to take their careers overseas should carefully consider how well an MBA’s reputation travels in today’s international business world as well.
The network of alumni gained through a program can also be a consideration. Finding out where the top CEOs in a given field hold degrees from can aim a person in the right direction and suggest what the alumni network is like. “MBA programs are as much about access as they are about skills,” Ivey said.
Norm Wilkinson, director of graduate management programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said students should take it upon themselves to go beyond rankings and reputation when evaluating schools.
“Check out which companies recruit on campus,” he said. “Look at the job titles and salaries graduates leave with. And look at the students you’ll be sharing the classroom with — how much professional experience do they have?”
Keith Regan is a freelance writer in Grafton.
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
RSS Feeds
