mrfredo82

I am currently undecided as to what MBA program to attend and currently work as an engineer in Florida. I am only 23, so right now I am just concentrating on getting good solid work experience and preparing for GMAT to get a really good score.

Even though I may not be applying to graduate school at this very moment since I don't have that much work experience, I do wish to take the GMAT to get it over with, as well as getting the best possible score I can get.

I was wondering if anyone can answer the following questions for me:
1) Taken GMAT?
2) What was your highest score (if you took it multiple times)?
3) What in your opinion is the best way to prepare? Recommended books, courses, etc...
3) Is there a significant difference between graduating from a top MBA program and an average one? Or is work experience more important?

Nimrod (Jody)

Christian attended, The EMBA program at UCF. I think the value of the program has much to do with what you want out of it. I would say you should get at least 5-8 years of work experience before you attend. I just got the spiel from the Rollins MBA folks today, Average GMAT was around 590 for their part time MBA program. GMAT is just part of what they look at. Real world experience and letters of recommendation carry much more weight than your GMAT. Also if you are planning on staying in a techinical job then a Masters in your field of study is probably worth more to you. Yoy need to be in the workforce a while as an engineer before you can make an informed decision if the business/management route is really what you want to do. Many of my co-workers decided against that route and make much more than most of the MBAs where I work. (Motorola)

Mexican Audi (Shane)

I downloaded the free software for the GRE a few years ago. Or it might have been the LSAT- don't remember.

Longwolf (Christian)

OK, here are my thoughts that I have off the top of my head:

First, research the school's accreditation. Everyone says they are accredited, but only a couple in town are accredited by legitimate organizations.

Second, do you want the easy way to an MBA? Avoid programs that will make it easy...as long as your check clears, you get a passing grade! Most companies that I spoke with while shopping MBAs told me that they will immediately throw out a resume with a weak MBA. I'll leave it to you to figure out which ones are the weak ones.

Third, MBA programs that are nationally ranked (or regionally ranked)...what determines the ranking of the survey? I checked out a FL program that was ranked very high...only to find out the ranking entity looked at items such as alumni donations back to the school and starting salary of the grads. Those 2 items are really not a measure of the school, but by the strength the of alumni.

Fourth, Alumni....you want a good local base of MBA grad alumni. These people are hopefully directors and CEOs of local companies, and having that potential network is a good thing.

Fifth, who do they turn away? You need the MBA school to work hard to ensure that the people in your class are diverse, but they have the same work ethic and drive that you do.

Sixth, GMAT/GRE: don't even look at a program that does not require one of these tests. A good program will look at several factors; resume, undergrad GPA, interview, admission essay and standardized tests. All of those are important. I took the GMAT blind...didn't study a single bit and haven't been in school in 10 years...but somehow I got a 570. UCF EMBA requires a 550 I believe. I wanted to take it blind to see where I needed help, then I was planning on taking a GMAT prep course. But since I met my goal first time out, I never did the GMAT course. Pretty much everyone else I have met took a prep course of some sort, and they were very happy with how well it prepared them. (ok, no more bragging)

Seventh, commitment to students/expectations of students. My program cost a lot of money, and yet they booted a student after 2 semesters even though they had already paid $6K. A weak program would have let the person continue on and drag down the quality of the program.

Eight, group projects vs individual accountability. All MBA programs have a lot of group projects, but good ones also stress individual projects to make sure no student is just coasting by on other people's work. Some programs are 90% group project based...that's not a good sign.


Email me or call me if you have any questions, I will be more than happy to tell you more about my program at UCF. The UCF EMBA program is having a info seminar on November 15th, and I will most likely be there to talk to potential students to give them insight into class workload, expectations and benefits of the program. You should come to the seminar and talk to the professors and alumni. Another person on this forum you should talk to is Pierre, he is currently going to Florida Atlantic for his MBA, and he is quite happy about it so far (meaning that it is hard and worth the money!).

What has my MBA done for me? Well, I am not making $100K yet, but thanks to the program, my company promoted me from a boring contracting negotiation job to a very important position as the Company Economist and Analyst for my region...which puts all my MBA skills to use and is a great experience. I'll get the big bucks a little later, for now I am just trying to build up my resume.

dashtt

I attend the EMBA program at Rollins and have been amazed at the quality of the proffesors and more importnantly the students. Having students with diverse backgrounds provides unique perspective on real world issues.

Below is a link to some recent accolades for the school

http://www.crummer.rollins.edu/corporate/press/releases/ForbesRanking2005r.shtml

Keep in mind they set ranking by comparing the costs of the school compared to monetary rewards after obtaining the degree.

I did my undergraduate at UCF in Economics but decided on Rollins because at my company(CNL) it is a well respected degree with alot of alumni.

Nimrod (Jody)

linked to how people will perceive your MBA and the prestige of the school. While school A &amp; B may have similar programs and students, if school A gives higher ROI on the money I spent to go there then it is worth more to me. That's the reason schools like Harvard are ranked so highly. It's not just the quality of the education, because many schools have great programs. It's the wealth and clout of the Alumni association and that network of contacts that comes with it. I'm not taking this 2 years out of my life for fun, I'm doing it so I can make more $$$ and so are most folks who pursue a MBA. Luckily my company pays 100% of tuition if it is job related, so that makes my decision a little easier. If I had to pay out of my own pocket I'd probably choose a more affordable program that has good accreditation and a quality faculty. The AACSB is considered the best accreditation for business schools.<ul><li><a href="http://www.aacsb.edu/">AACSB</a></li></ul>

mike*green

Crazy talk. I figured they paid them well over that.

mrfredo82

Thanks for the input Christian.