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Does anyone have any experience/additional information on applying to MBA programs on a deferred basis as a college senior? I've had trouble finding programs other than Harvard (2+2) and Stanford that effectively let you in ahead of time after some time in the workforce. I'm going to push hard to apply to those programs, but I'd like to maximize my chances at a good program. Are those the only two MBA programs I can apply to?
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Oct 25, 2012 02:29
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Jer posted:Does anyone have any experience/additional information on applying to MBA programs on a deferred basis as a college senior? Pretty much the whole point of an MBA is that everyone has some real life professional work experience. I'd be really surprised if many schools had an application process like that, because people change and grow dramatically from when they're 18 to when they're in their mid to late 20's.
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Oct 25, 2012 02:37
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Jer posted:Does anyone have any experience/additional information on applying to MBA programs on a deferred basis as a college senior? What school do you go to now and what job have you accepted?
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Oct 25, 2012 14:59
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Vomik posted:What school do you go to now and what job have you accepted? I was just mainly curious if anyone had experience with deferred admissions and how I can maximize the chances I can actually get in somewhere. I just can't seem to find much info on other programs aside from those two, and I'm trying to decide whether or not it's worth it to beg for recommendations and study my rear end off for the GMAT right now at this point  Thank you
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Oct 25, 2012 16:37
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Jer posted:I have an slightly unusual background - I'm 27, first generation college student, and I dropped out of college to support my family, started a decent real estate development business which I did up until 2009 or so. Went to community college, transferred into Berkeley as a Haas undergrad. Interned at Intel over the summer, joining Bain in 2013. Ok, now it makes a lot more sense. Good luck!
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Oct 25, 2012 17:30
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Congrats Jer--sounds like you did well for yourself in the last year.Jer posted:Scenario 2: I graduate from Cal and get a job with an amazing company like Bain & Company or Deloitte. I work for two years. I ask my employer for tuition assistance, which cuts down on my debt big time. My work experience at (insert amazing company here) combined with my life story makes me an awesome MBA candidate and I get into wherever I want. I graduate and come back to my original employer for a 120k+ job. I'm 32 years old.
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Oct 25, 2012 19:16
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Thanks, guys  Sounds like it's worth my time to go balls-out on the GMAT this year.Mandalay posted:Congrats Jer--sounds like you did well for yourself in the last year. Hope things are great on your end as well
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Oct 25, 2012 23:54
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To be honest, it doesn't seem like you should be in that big of a rush to get back into school. It looks like things are getting better and better for you, is not having an MBA going to be a ceiling for you in the next couple of years?
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Oct 26, 2012 00:25
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Has anyone tried the Manhattan GMAT Guided Self Study? I'm sitting through a free trial class and man I do not like how this guy talks.
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Nov 13, 2012 04:28
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I've recently become interested in doing an MBA. I live and work in Hong Kong and already have a Master's in Asian and International Studies. But I feel like I've reached about as far as I can go with just that, career-wise. According to the Financial Times, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has the number one ranked Executive MBA in the world. Is there a big difference between a regular MBA and an EMBA? Can I be as big of a baller with an Asian degree, or do I have to go back home to the US to really advance my career?
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Nov 14, 2012 04:36
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Bloodnose posted:I've recently become interested in doing an MBA. I live and work in Hong Kong and already have a Master's in Asian and International Studies. But I feel like I've reached about as far as I can go with just that, career-wise. I know that in the US, full time MBAs are much more highly regarded than executive MBAs but there are scenarios where an executive MBA is a fine choice such as when your current job is promising and you simply need the extra degree to move up. I have no idea how an Asian MBA is regarded in Asia but if you want to work in the US after you'll want a US MBA or Euro MBA for Euro work etc. The coursework of MBAs is largely a joke - what matters is the alumni network you gain access to, the on campus recruiting you gain access to, and the name-brand/prestige of the program.
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Nov 14, 2012 06:55
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Apparently the full time MBA is also ranked number 10 by the Financial Times. Has anyone ever worked with an HKUST grad? How do they decide on these rankings anyway? The FT website makes it look like it is based on salaries of graduates, and in the case of HKUST that's more than $400,000. Could that be an average?
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Nov 14, 2012 07:02
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Don't know if it means much to you but I work in finance in Tokyo and HKUST is one of our target schools for MBA hires. We don't have any target MBA schools in Japan itself. Not that we're hiring anyone... If you do a campus visit or something let me know, HKUST or INSEAD are probably the only Asian MBA programs that I am considering. I'm guessing the $400K average starting salary is HKD. zmcnulty fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Nov 14, 2012 |
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Nov 14, 2012 09:38
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That's neat to hear. You and I met once on my last trip to Tokyo. We had shabu shabu. Derivatives, right? I don't remember which firm you're at specifically, but I'm sure it would be a cool one to get recruited to. And anyway that means HKUST actually has some clout with internationally-minded corporations around Asia. I checked the FT's rankings again, it's actually average USD salary among alumni 3 years after graduation. Pretty shocking. It's 1.7 times higher than the second rated EMBA school, the Columbia/London Business School. And it's more than twice the number for a Harvard or Stanford MBA. But I guess that makes sense since EMBAs are farther along in their careers. I'll check it out and let you know. Sai Kung is at the end of the loving earth though. I hope they do the MBA classes in a city campus like HKU does. I visited their business school a couple weeks ago before finding out HKUST was much higher rated.
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Nov 14, 2012 10:04
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Swingline posted:The coursework of MBAs is largely a joke - what matters is the alumni network you gain access to, the on campus recruiting you gain access to, and the name-brand/prestige of the program. This! The problem with EMBA's vs. FT MBAs is that you really miss out on two important elements of the MBA experience: 1. The social interactions that help you build a network with of people you can call 20 years from now when you will all be in a position to help each other. (This is often sacrificed in an EMBA due to peoples' busyness from working full-time and going to school.) 2. Recruiting and career change opportunities. Implicit in an EMBA is the assumption that you will be returning to the company/industry you are currently working in, which significantly reduces your ability to explore serious career changes / other employers. (And of course you will be super busy with work and going to school already.) That may be fine if you are totally happy with what you doing currently, but otherwise be aware... Bloodnose posted:I checked the FT's rankings again, it's actually average USD salary among alumni 3 years after graduation. Pretty shocking. It's 1.7 times higher than the second rated EMBA school, the Columbia/London Business School. And it's more than twice the number for a Harvard or Stanford MBA. But I guess that makes sense since EMBAs are farther along in their careers. I wouldn't get too hung up about starting salaries coming out of MBA programs as they are reported in FT/US News/Business Week/WSJ etc. They are just not comparable across school's. Also, if you are going for an MBA, you are making a long term investment. Making decisions based on the highest salary your first year out would just be short-sighted and foolish.
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Nov 14, 2012 15:10
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Oliax posted:I wouldn't get too hung up about starting salaries coming out of MBA programs as they are reported in FT/US News/Business Week/WSJ etc. They are just not comparable across school's. Also, if you are going for an MBA, you are making a long term investment. Making decisions based on the highest salary your first year out would just be short-sighted and foolish. Yeah I'm just trying to understand how the rankings work. But looking again it's not sorted by the salary reports. How are they ranked?
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Nov 14, 2012 16:16
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Bloodnose posted:Yeah I'm just trying to understand how the rankings work. But looking again it's not sorted by the salary reports. How are they ranked? It differs for each publication. US News and WSJ used to publish a fairly detailed formula. US News in particular was highly quantitative to the point where schools were suspected of trying to game the system. Business Week was always more subjective IIRC. FT wasn't as big a deal in the US. Not sure about Asia, but when it comes to the US, they really don't matter other than for a laugh between alumni groups. Perceptions of schools change very slowly and in general the top groups don't change at all. Partly that's because people who are at the age to make hiring decisions base their evaluations on who the good school's were when they were in school and have a small list of school's that, if they see them on a resume, will cause them to take a second look. And they don't do this based on the Buisiness Week rankings. To give you an example: when I was at Wharton 15 years ago, we finished #1 in the Business Week rankings, which was nice; but Business Week ranked Michigan at #2 in the same survey, which practically invalidated the whole thing as far as we were concerned. A Michigan education might be just as good as a Wharton one, but our alumni and those who went to similar schools are the ones who are in the positions to decide whether to help you out with your career, and that is what getting an MBA is ultimately all about.
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Nov 14, 2012 23:32
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Oliax posted:I wouldn't get too hung up about starting salaries coming out of MBA programs as they are reported in FT/US News/Business Week/WSJ etc. They are just not comparable across school's. Also, if you are going for an MBA, you are making a long term investment. Making decisions based on the highest salary your first year out would just be short-sighted and foolish. If I'm sinking two years of my life and $40-$110k in tuition alone into this thing, I'm definitely looking at expected salary and placement rates.
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Nov 15, 2012 00:10
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Mandalay posted:If I'm sinking two years of my life and $40-$110k in tuition alone into this thing, I'm definitely looking at expected salary and placement rates. There's a lot of shenanigans that go on when it comes to these figures for what it's worth. I think talking to a few alum about how easy/difficult it was to find a job and where they placed is far more effective.
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Nov 15, 2012 00:15
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Has anyone ever dropped out of an MBA program mid-way to start another one? I'm 4 semesters through University of Texas' executive MBA and I'm realizing that it's not for me. I wanted to switch careers, and only now is it being made apparent that the successful UT career switchers did the full time program and intern in their new field. Academic wise I've done great, but I'm starting to suspect this is deadweight on my resume, and I could probably get into a better school full-time. Thoughts?
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Nov 18, 2012 00:09
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I don't know about starting another MBA, but a very good friend of mine dropped out halfway through a joint JD/MBA (2 years sunk, with no degree) because she basically got her dream job offer, and she doesn't regret it at all. If the Exec MBA isn't costing you anything, I don't think you have anything to lose but the opportunity cost. The other school will rightfully be really curious and skeptical about why you think it's a good idea. Assuming you are confident you can get that internship in your new field and get that conversion offer. Career switchers have it hard now, not as bad as entrants, but hard. As an entrant I got hosed coming out of my MBA program. I'm finally about to start full time 6 months after graduation, the salary isn't much higher than my previous job, and I won't be using many if any MBA skills.
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Nov 18, 2012 00:13
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Tyro posted:I don't know about starting another MBA, but a very good friend of mine dropped out halfway through a joint JD/MBA (2 years sunk, with no degree) because she basically got her dream job offer, and she doesn't regret it at all. Well the exec MBA already cost me, so it's sunk. Right now it's the ~8 months left of time and (my presumption) that it'd be even more absurd to another school if I finished my MBA and then did another. I suppose another option is to finish the MBA then go back and do a Masters in something like Statistics or Finance. A friend last night suggested I ask/request an internship slot from the program, even though I'm in my second year- which seems like a good middle ground for me, but likely won't be approved by the program. Can you tell me a bit more about your experience? Right now I work in non-profit, which I think is major disadvantage (I do operations for them- which ends up as a mix of project management, IT and data analysis) for moving into for-profit work. I feel like anything entry/analyst level people are wondering why someone with ~8 year of work experience is applying, while the associate level positions posted for most MBAs look at that ~8 years as me playing do-gooder and having no real experience.
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Nov 18, 2012 20:43
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DeclaredYuppie posted:
I was a government employee for 5 years, no business experience, and my feelings mirrored yours in terms of finding an appropriate level or position. I ended up taking an entry level job with (compared to the rest of my class) a very low salary.
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Nov 18, 2012 22:52
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Quick question about the GMAT for those of you who have taken it recently: what tools / resources did you use to prepare yourself for it? Books? Test prep services? Websites / apps? Did anything work pretty well for you or suck really hard? I'm pretty curious what the state of the art in GMAT prep is these days.
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Nov 21, 2012 19:45
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DreadCthulhu posted:Quick question about the GMAT for those of you who have taken it recently: what tools / resources did you use to prepare yourself for it? Books? Test prep services? Websites / apps? Did anything work pretty well for you or suck really hard?
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Nov 21, 2012 20:48
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The only thing I did was buy the Kaplan book that has like 5 tests that come with it. I like their books, though I wish there were ways to reset the test scores and re-take the tests.
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Nov 21, 2012 20:59
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Tyro posted:I was a government employee for 5 years, no business experience, and my feelings mirrored yours in terms of finding an appropriate level or position. I ended up taking an entry level job with (compared to the rest of my class) a very low salary. What the gently caress. Do you think Georgetown's MBA career placement services are to blame here? Was your internship OK?
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Nov 22, 2012 01:00
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Mandalay posted:What the gently caress. Do you think Georgetown's MBA career placement services are to blame here? Was your internship OK? I don't blame the career services office at all. I came in with very different background and different career goals than what they are used to. They worked with me as much as they could, I even hosted some on-campus visits by employers I was interested in. I did a lot of applications and interviews, through official school hiring channels, personal network, alumni network, and the "normal application process" when that failed. My internship was with the govt agency that I want to end up at for my career. Unfortunately the hiring process is taking even longer than I expected (well over a year at this point). I'm doing very well throughout, it's just taking forever. Over the summer/fall since graduation I've been able to support myself through independent consulting and contract work but it's been very stressful. I'm about to start a new job though, as I mentioned. The pay is significantly below the median for my classmates, but it's still a $10K raise for me from before grad school. It's a cool company with great promotion potential as well. And how did I get the job? By applying totally blind on their website and killing the interviews.
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Nov 22, 2012 02:59
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Tyro posted:Over the summer/fall since graduation I've been able to support myself through independent consulting and contract work but it's been very stressful. I'm about to start a new job though, as I mentioned. The pay is significantly below the median for my classmates, but it's still a $10K raise for me from before grad school. It's a cool company with great promotion potential as well. And how did I get the job? By applying totally blind on their website and killing the interviews. Are you willing to be more specific? I'm curious what 'very low' and 'significantly below' are for MBA graduates in this tier.
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Nov 22, 2012 04:53
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Low 50's. The average for my class is in the high 90's.
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Nov 22, 2012 11:37
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Thanks. Are you still glad you did the MBA?
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Nov 22, 2012 13:15
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Yes, but it was a pretty poor decision from a financial standpoint given my career goals. I loved the experience, I made lifelong friends and really learned a lot. But drat if it wasn't expensive. I knew that going in though and there were also some E/N type motivators in place.
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Nov 22, 2012 13:24
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I guess I'm just not getting it, but why does your experience net you so little? I mean, you have years of work experience, why would that screw you compared to your other classmates so badly?
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Nov 22, 2012 22:50
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I think most of the companies I interviewed with thought my experience was interesting, and potentially valuable, but not directly relevant to the positions I was trying to get. I very often get the comment during a first interview "Wow, your resume is really unique/interesting/different!" One commercial bank would not even interview me for an analyst position, despite a recommendation from a current employee, claiming I had no "analytical" experience. Career switchers or new entrants have it pretty hard coming out of MBAs right now.
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Nov 22, 2012 23:07
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DeclaredYuppie posted:Has anyone ever dropped out of an MBA program mid-way to start another one? I was looking into doing an undergraduate degree in finance and, possibly, an MBA at that school. Why would you recommend against it?
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Nov 22, 2012 23:10
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DreadCthulhu posted:Quick question about the GMAT for those of you who have taken it recently: what tools / resources did you use to prepare yourself for it? Books? Test prep services? Websites / apps? Did anything work pretty well for you or suck really hard? I used the Manhattan Gmat books, whilst pricey they were fantastic if you have the time to go through them. The sentence correction book was probably the most valuable one, even for a native english speaker. Anyone else applied R1?
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Nov 23, 2012 00:34
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Parrotman posted:I used the Manhattan Gmat books, whilst pricey they were fantastic if you have the time to go through them. The sentence correction book was probably the most valuable one, even for a native english speaker. I like a lot of their stuff, but they focus far too much on idioms from what I've seen.
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Nov 23, 2012 02:54
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Tyro posted:I think most of the companies I interviewed with thought my experience was interesting, and potentially valuable, but not directly relevant to the positions I was trying to get. I very often get the comment during a first interview "Wow, your resume is really unique/interesting/different!" That's disheartening. I'm gonna be going into my MBA program with about 6 years of office management, and without a business/finance degree. I wonder what things will be like in 2 years.
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Nov 23, 2012 04:05
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ditto on the disheartening. I'm also considering a career switch into the private sector. But what's holding me back is that I'm 31 and have a secure and interesting job at $95k/yr. The prospect of giving that up plus incurring $300k in tuition and opportunity cost is a big deterrent. Especially if MBA programs are no longer the way to pull off big career changes like they used to. Does this also apply to the big commodity and natural resource firms like Glencore? I have a defense/security/and military background if that helps at all.
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Nov 25, 2012 18:45
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usernamen_01 posted:I was looking into doing an undergraduate degree in finance and, possibly, an MBA at that school. Why would you recommend against it? Honestly it's a fine program with generally some great professors- I just have an issue with executive programs now. A class/teammate of mine who works for Goldman has gotten at least 2 interviews I know of with consulting firms. Most people didn't know who he was because he so rarely showed up for class, and me and another classmate have had to do most of the actual work in our finance projects this semester with options pricing and whatnot. To say it's a little disheartening is an understatement. Tyro- thanks for the details. I guess it's going to be blind experienced-hire applications for me from here on out. edit- I can't speak to finance undergrads. I've generally heard people complain about how useless they are, but they're usually complaining from a $60-$70k a year job, and that's from a state school. Double edit- I'll also say that my experience with UT's career services as a Dallas/Fort Worth Executive Program student was disappointing, but I hear it's exceptional for people taking classes in Austin. Overall I felt like the only advice I got was to network network network, but there was never a clear indication on who historically offered jobs to the program (aside from ~2 consulting firms) and the networking events were thin and far between. Fidel Cuckstro fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Nov 25, 2012 |
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Nov 25, 2012 19:32
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