December 2nd, 2009
Which Part-time Mba Program Will Add Value To A Software Developer With 15 Years Experience?
online mba program, by mba ranking.Wow. There are some pretty negative answers in this thread.
Pick a good program. Pick a highly rated program. The brand *is* part of the value of an MBA, and frankly, the lower rated programs aren’t that much cheaper. Here in the Bay Area, Haas (Berkeley) has a great ranking (top 5 in part time rankings, recently been in the top 10 for full time). I am currently a student at Haas (in the PT program), and I can’t understand why people would pick a different program in this region. Stanford, unfortunately, doesn’t have a part time program.
I agree with the previous poster who said you need to have an idea what you want out of it. Go in with a plan on how you’re going to get value from the MBA, and just from being a student. I’m amazed at the access I get just by being an MBA student. It opens a lot of doors. But you need to be very goal directed to get this value.
I can’t agree with the person who said networking in a PT program isn’t good. As a current PT student, I have an *amazing* network of rising stars at a number of bay area companies, right now. Comparing notes with some co-workers who are recent graduates from the FT programs at Wharton, Stanford, Columbia, it’s clear that my network is broader, more active, and more useful right now than their networks.
So – to your actual question. If you are in the Bay Area, pick Berkeley (I’m biased, obviously). Really, you can gain a lot of value from any part time MBA program. But talk to people, figure out how *you* can gain value from an MBA, and then go from there.
It really depends on where you work. Some companies almost require an MBA to advance within an organization, but many value experience and demonstrated ability far more. I’m of the opinion that an MBA is really useless without context, if you don’t know what you’re going to do with the degree, and it’s not relevant to what you are currently doing, don’t do it.
The primary benefit of an MBA in addition to the name brand is the opportunity for networking, which are minimized with a PT program. Also any MBA worth its salt will take a minimum of 4 years to complete on a PT schedule. If you really want to go, get admitted to a good program and get it done in 18 months.
PS- I was admitted to a PT MBA program at a name (top 10) MBA program and realized that it was really not going to be useful to me. There are plenty of ways to compensate for the lack of a formal business education.
I would not “waste” my time on a part-time MBA. I know several Engineers who thought that an MBA was going to be the ticket to mgmt & be able to leave coding once and for all. But in reality, the most valuable part of an MBA is the brand. So an MBA, if not from a brand name school, is not that interesting to many employers. More than an MBA, employers are looking for management experience. An MBA is not even close to being a substitute for management experience. If you just want to learn Finance, or Marketing, take a one-off class for your own edification. (Full Disclosure: I have an MBA from a brand school)