Questions for those who've earned an MBA
 

From which institution did you receive your degree? Has it helped you in terms of career advancement and salary increase? How do you feel about the ROI? I'm going to take the GMAT soon and was wondering if I should apply at a highly ranked program or a run of the mill school (not diploma mill though). I have 18 years work experience and do not have aspirations of becoming a CEO so I wonder if the intitution's reputation should matter at this point in my career.

Depends what you want to do - some industries only want top schools, others aren't so narrow-minded. I'll PM you my phone # and we can talk about it.

Thanks John. I'll call you a later when the sun is up.

I went to Central Michigan and their program is solid and quite well respected. I found the curriculum interesting and insightful. Honestly, It has not seemed to help me much financially, but my career in the military and later as an ops research analyst and engineer would have prefered an advanced engineereing degree.

University of Rochester for my Master's. Found that it did garner a bit of respect in the workplace and steered me away from engineering and into finance. I would do it all over again. Took four years of night school including summers.

cantdrv, we haven't talked yet, but I thought I'd post these thoughts in case anyone else is interested.

I'd seriously consider an evening program. When I was at Haas (Berkeley MBA program), the evening students were older, more experienced, more focused, and generally more impressive than the day program students. They had to work very hard and usually took 3 years to complete the program, but then again they were earning income at the same time, a decent trade-off I'd think. The quality of classes and professors was identical between the programs (the same professors, in fact).

The evening students also had the option of transferring to the day MBA program after completing the equivalent of the first year of the day MBA program. The first year curriculum is quite generic and basic, and you might get extra benefit from taking it with older, experienced people. In the second year, you take the electives for your particular area of interest. That's when there might be an advantage to be in the day program (more choices).

You have 18 years of work experience, so I assume you're around 36-40 y/o. I was 35 with 13 years of work experience when I started my MBA program, so we're in similar situations. The average MBA student is appx 25 y/o with 4 years of work experience (this was so when I was at Haas, anyway). That is what the average employer recruiting newly minted MBAs is looking for, so that is what the MBA programs try to produce. This means a 40 y/o guy is going to be unusual. This will make a difference in admissions (I was told that a particular program actually limits how many of the older candidates it will take). It will also make a difference for on-campus recruiting. You'll have to do your own job search, as you won't fit the usual recruiting "profile". None of this is a problem, it just means you won't be part of the herd. It is another reason why I'd recommend looking at the evening program.

There's also executive MBA programs, about which I know zip. And specialized Masters of Financial Engineering (MFE) programs, if you happen to be a physics PhD candidate who's decided to work in finance.

As for choosing a top program vs non-top program, it depends on what you want to do. If you're planning to stay with your existing company, or in your existing industry, and use the MBA to move a couple steps up the ladder, you might not "need" a top program. I'd be guided by the people who already have those jobs - what MBA programs did they go to, and did they actually need an MBA to get there? If you're trying to switch industries, a top program is probably more important. It is already tough to switch industries at 40 y/o - I found it so, anyway - so every bit of help, well, helps. If you're aiming for certain specific industries like Wall Street or high-end consulting, then a top program is pretty much necessary.

I'll put in a pitch for Haas here. It is a very good school, usually ranks 13-17th in most rankings. Tuition for CA residents is a relative bargain for a top-20 program (doesn't mean it is cheap, just that it is not ridiculous). It is local to you. Excellent professors and facilities.

Thanks for the information guys, I had many of the same questions. I have a bachelors degree but I can wait another year to reach the average year for starting an MBA program. I was thinking to start next fall but at least I can check into the various California programs in the meantime. Any recommendations for So. Cal? I was thinking about UCSB or Cal Poly SLO, thoughts? I hope I am not hijacking the thread.

Cal State Northridge, got it in 85. Get an MBA if you think you'll use it. If you want to use it, get it from a "Name" school, otherwise they don't get you a lot of mileage. Business is never bad for life, especially if you have a science or engineering background.

I have both an MBA and an MSITM (Masters of Science in Information Technology Management) from Creighton University here in Omaha. I work in IT, so that degree is probably more beneficial, but the MBA helps a lot in job interviews. It also shows that I'm not just a computer geek.

I'll agree with what others said in that the worth of the MBA depends on what you want to do with it. If you're interested in a management job, it helps a great deal, but if you're in a technical, non-managerial job, it might help give you the edge over the other guy in the interview, but it probably won't help career-wise.