Okay so here's a scenario.

Wife graduated in 2007.

The wife graduated with a degree in industrial distribution. Has worked as mid level supervised for McKesson Corp, and Michaels, and as a Quality Manager with Siemens. Now she is in the forecasting and inventory control department for a warehouse.

In the next 2-3 years we will be in a good place for her to go after her MBA as she wants to have a shot at executives and management opportunities and at this point she has a decent amount of experience in a lot of the different facets of the supply chain.

Her current company does tuition reimbursement and she works on the north side of the metroplex within a 1/2 hour drive of UNT (close to north Fort Worth)

She would not be quitting her job to get her MBA full time, but be going either on weekends or online.

What are y'alls Recommendations: UNT on weekends? Online from another University?

Like I said this is probably 2 years away but would like to get thoughts so we can start planning.

Talk with your wife. Talk with current students. Understand the commitment both of you will make.

I know it's a "weekend" program, but it will involve much more time than that. Many class weekends, when I left for work in the morning Friday, I wouldn't see my wife awake again until after Saturday class ended in the evening. Weekdays required many hours spent reading and completing assignments. My wife is every bit invested in this as I am, and I couldn't do it without her support.

Can you email me Ags4DaWin? I think I may have a great solution for her given her job role/experience.. specializedgradprogram@tamu.edu

I'm in the middle of the application process for the professional programs at Jones and McCombs in Houston. UT has the higher rated program, but I'm leaning towards Rice because I would be on the main campus and have access to all of the resources that come with that.

My goal is to enhance my career within my current field, oil and gas. I'd prefer to change companies to more of a management type position. I'm currently a project engineer/manager.

Does Rice give me better odds for success?

Can't speak to texas, but Rice is energy heavy. Vast majority of my class are in energy.

When I got my MBA the admissions office told me that rice prohibited professional students from using the on campus recruitment process.

Not sure if that is still the case.

Professional students have access to the career center. However, they do focus on the full timers. They will help you, but I wouldnt list it as a primary feature of the program for professionals.

Is UT better about that with professionals? They sold that as part of the recruiting pitch.

Noble07 said:

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Is UT better about that with professionals? They sold that as part of the recruiting pitch.

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Ut lets the professional students have full access to the on campus recruitment processes.

Unfortunately, that meant driving to Austin a few times but most of the major companies would do local recruitment events in Dallas and Houston.

Nm

Evaluating two of the programs for an MBA in this thread. Rice and Indiana. Indiana would be the online structure as I am located in In greater Houston area. Class of 06 and have been in sales and account management since graduation. Industry is Ag and more specifically feed and feed ingredients including commodities. I would like to become more strategy focused and am being encouraged by my employer to get an MBA. I am leaning towards Rice and the in class weekend structure due to my travel schedule but the online option may provide more flexibility. I appreciate any advice and personal experiences.

whitespikes06 said:

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Evaluating two of the programs for an MBA in this thread. Rice and Indiana. Indiana would be the online structure as I am located in In greater Houston area. Class of 06 and have been in sales and account management since graduation. Industry is Ag and more specifically feed and feed ingredients including commodities. I would like to become more strategy focused and am being encouraged by my employer to get an MBA. I am leaning towards Rice and the in class weekend structure due to my travel schedule but the online option may provide more flexibility. I appreciate any advice and personal experiences.

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If you're going the online route, the Illinois iMBA is a no brainer for the quality , flexibility and cost. The community is so great that I often forget I'm in an online program.

Thanks for the reply and suggestion. One of my main concerns with an online format is the potential lack of network formed versus an in class setting. In your experience, how do you feel your experience is benefitting your network now and post graduation?

I'm in a similar situation to you, except my decision is no MBA vs online MBA. Indiana is currently my first choice considering the lower, relative price point and the Kelley name. They advocate the Kelley Connect Week at the beginning of each year - I'm sure it helps with networking, but not nearly as good as being on campus every day.

Agree completely on cost, name etc and why I am considering IU. My boss received his MBA from Kelley and speaks highly of it in any format. Applications have been started for both and have interviewed with recruiting folks from both. As you mentioned, they speak highly of the connect weeks but just still have some reservations on lack of physical class time/networking.

whitespikes06 said:

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Thanks for the reply and suggestion. One of my main concerns with an online format is the potential lack of network formed versus an in class setting. In your experience, how do you feel your experience is benefitting your network now and post graduation?

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Sorry for the delay. I don't visit this board often. I've been blown away by the networking opportunities. We often have meet ups and they also organize an on-campus meet up once per year called iConverge.

Separately from that, a Workplace by Facebook account is created so that you can network. A ton of people are active on that. Group assignments and in-class break out discussions also give another chance for networking. I feel like I have a contact for just about any company now.

Noble07:

What did you end up doing?

I ended up going with McCombs. I feel pretty good about it, but it's one of those things that I feel I won't know if I made the correct decision until years down the road. Rice seems like a strong program with a lot of momentum.

Might if I pick your brain a little more about it? you can email me at username at gmail dot com if you don't want to post your email.

Sent you an email

Duncan Idaho said:

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jamaggie06 said:

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I dont understand the full time programs. Who, except 23 year olds with little actual experience can suddenly not only stop receiving a paycheck, but then also add another $200k in debt to finance an MBA? I mean, its $100k just in tuition. Now add back in your living expenses for two years and thats like a $400-500k decision.

There is no way.

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Your math says that you are probably not a good candidate or you are but you have a lot to learn. Your base living expenses for two years are a fixed opertaing cost that would be spent if you went to school or not, hell it would be spent if you were unemployed.

Without getting into discounting future cash flows, The cost is (tuition-scholarships) + (2 years salary - internship pay) - signing bonus.

Of course that only takes into account part of the value, you need to consider the increase to the of your entire career's future cash flow from two years out. Put the two together and you have an NPV. If that NPV is more than a single dollar, going is a good fiscal idea.

The right person getting Getting an MBA from the right school is a no brainier. Ths wrong person Getting an MBA from the wrong school is a no brainier.

It is the wrong person getting an MBA from the right school or the right person getting an MBA from the wrong school that is sticky

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It really bothers me that everyone looks at full time MBA programs as a financial exercise. I got the chance to go to a top 3 program and took it. $135k in loans, $200k in foregone salary ... but you know what it was a ton of fun, I met AMAZING people from all over the world who I will know the rest of my life and I will get opportunities because of my degree that are truly fulfilling and life changing.

Yes the NPV of it all has worked out fine but I got so much more than that from it and continue to do so.

I was being a smart ass and pointing out that he wasnt as smart as he thought he was.

But I agree with your point, I loved my program and even if it had been a financial loss, I still would have been so glad that I did it. It was so awesome to be surrounded by smart, driven people and challenged every day.

I think my post came off harsher than I intended. I was looking at it mainly from my POV. And to be fair, it seems pretty consistent with what I observed while in school; younger folks (mid to late twenties) doing the full time and older (30+) in the professional programs.

I wouldnt trade my experience for the cash it cost me. Love the program, what I learned, and the people I met. It's exactly what I needed given my background; heavily technical.

Mea culpa to any offended. Probably was a bad night after a long day at work and/or coupled with a long night of assignments.

I definitely see the value, I was just looking at it from my POV. A full time gig wouldn't make sense for me. But I do understand that for many, it might, especially when you haven't found your niche, or are looking to totally alter your path.

Either way, at a good program, you will learn a great many things, and expand your opportunities.

My one regret, even though I vastly improved at it, is that there wasn't more emphasis on professionalism/presentation skills. Apparently, just before I started at Rice, public speaking and presenting became more of a "satisfactory" type of grade. I actually wish it had been more of a true "how well did you do" type of thing. It would have pushed me more to improve. I didn't realize how weak
I had become in that department until I took the first business communications, aka, presenting, course.

Don't feel too bad. The professor Rice ran off when they revamped the program was a beat down.

Don't know what it looks like now, but it had to be an improvement over that guy.

In general, I felt the professors were very hit and miss at Rice. Some were excellent and well worth the time and money. Others seemed liked fillers and and a couple had no business, and seemingly no desire, to teach MBA's.

Noble07 said:

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Sent you an email

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Noble:

Do you mind sending me another email? I wanted to reach out to you again but I think Ive accidentally deleted your email. Thanks

email is username at gmail

Boy this is dated, some pertaining to OP's question but I like the overall discussion as well! My thoughts for people in similar situation as OP:

You mentioned being at a financial institution. For some interested in commercial banking/lending, senior and executive management... consider looking into graduate banking programs specific to the banking industry. These are for working professionals that help you really learn the details of operating banks, interest rate risk, etc... and are incredible for networking within the industry both from a short-term and long-term perspective. Look into SWGSB at SMU (Southwestern Graduate School of Banking) if focused on staying in Texas. LSU also has one and Princeton. Depending on the situation, your bank is much more likely to pay for you to attend this. These kind of program schedules are typically about 26 months where you attend on-campus for a 2-week period in "Yr1, Yr2, Yr3" and during the ~12 months in between attending you work on projects and/or papers specific to the industry.

I would highly recommend a program like SWGSB first, and then also working towards a Professional MBA afterwards either locally like A&M/UT/Tulane/UH/Rice or online like some others have recommended. Especially if you like the institution you're at and plan on staying there.

Sent you an email. Did you receive it?

I did not Jaggiemaggie at Gmail Thanks

You might check your spam folder, it looks like I sent to that address.

Got it thanks!

Lots of good info on this thread. I'm exploring options right now and also feel pretty strongly, as someone else mentioned, that my options are online or not at all. There was some previous discussion in the thread about Indiana. Has anyone done online at Kelley?

I'm also curious if anyone has an opinion on UT Dallas? It seems to be ranked relatively well, but I have not seen it discussed on this thread so wanted to see if there were any opinions on the program or grads you've interacted with, etc.

Doing some research on this thread and looking for some input on UHD for Sales/Business Development. Currently working in Industrial Sales in Houston with aspirations to grow into a sales management/VP role or potentially sales consulting down the road. Current company is willing to pay for tuition. Would it be more beneficial to apply to higher tier program (UH, Rice, Tulane) or is there enough long term gain from the UHD program with wanting to stay in the sales line of work long term?

Highly recommend getting into the best school you can. If you live in Houston, go to Rice (Jones) or tu's Houston program (McCombs), if you can. After those, then Tulane or A&M. Beyond that, the program doesn't really matter. The network and prestige mostly only helps at top ranked programs. After that, it is usually to check a resume box or to get enough business understanding to move up internally or to become an entrepreneur.
So to answer your question, it depends on what you want to do. If you want to stay with your company in sales, and they just want you to have an MBA, then UHD is probably fine. If the executives at your company all have MBA's from somewhere, then you might want to go there. If you want to move to sales management for Amazon or Dell, then you probably ought to try to get into McCombs or Jones. Branding is a big part of an MBA, so having a name brand behind you is helpful in board meetings or interviews.
One more consideration, when people ask where you got your MBA, you want to be proud of you school. You don't want to spend the next couple of minutes explaining why you could have gone to McCombs but went to UHD instead.

Heisenberg01 said:

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Highly recommend getting into the best school you can. If you live in Houston, go to Rice (Jones) or tu's Houston program (McCombs), if you can. After those, then Tulane or A&M. Beyond that, the program doesn't really matter. The network and prestige mostly only helps at top ranked programs. After that, it is usually to check a resume box or to get enough business understanding to move up internally or to become an entrepreneur.
So to answer your question, it depends on what you want to do. If you want to stay with your company in sales, and they just want you to have an MBA, then UHD is probably fine. If the executives at your company all have MBA's from somewhere, then you might want to go there. If you want to move to sales management for Amazon or Dell, then you probably ought to try to get into McCombs or Jones. Branding is a big part of an MBA, so having a name brand behind you is helpful in board meetings or interviews.
One more consideration, when people ask where you got your MBA, you want to be proud of you school. You don't want to spend the next couple of minutes explaining why you could have gone to McCombs but went to UHD instead.

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This.