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Jumping Frog wrote:An MBA is one of those cases where "brand name" matters, at least for the first few years. Even 20 years later, a prestigious brand name can help get someone in the door for the interview, but by that stage of their career, actual track record matters more when it comes to actually getting the job.

I'd suggest buying from the best brand that you can afford while still living together as a family.

An advanced degree will give you more credibility and may help get an interview, but an MBA won't get you a "better job" or more money. What you do at work [and where you do it] k is what counts. Working for a "name" company will likely be more important than a "name" university. Another important factor is your class ranking. The "top 5%" get better job offers than others.

Two years ago, a friend and co-worker earned her MBA from Rice. She has an undergraduate mechanical engineering degree from UT. She is very smart and a hard worker, but she is doing the same job that she did prior to getting her MBA. This is very common. Promotions are usually given to the people with more experience, and more importantly, having the right people like you.

I went to St. Edward's Univ in Austin. My company paid for it at the time and it was the only one in the area offering evening / night classes. The MBA program at Texas didn't offer evening classes then and I was already working full time / supporting a family. I will echo what others have said in that I didn't get a big raise or promotion out of it, but a lot of experience and critical thinking skills that I have applied to my current job. As far as law school goes, I know quite a few who have gotten an engineering undergrad and then gone to law school and ended up going into patent law...

I got mine from Houston Baptist University. They offer an EMBA program. Fairly small class size and everyone who attended was also working fulltime. One of the things that I really liked was the number of adjunct faculty. It was great to have people with real world experience as the instructors.

WildBill wrote:

Jumping Frog wrote:An MBA is one of those cases where "brand name" matters, at least for the first few years. Even 20 years later, a prestigious brand name can help get someone in the door for the interview, but by that stage of their career, actual track record matters more when it comes to actually getting the job.

I'd suggest buying from the best brand that you can afford while still living together as a family.

An advanced degree will give you more credibility and may help get an interview, but an MBA won't get you a "better job" or more money. What you do at work [and where you do it] k is what counts. Working for a "name" company will likely be more important than a "name" university. Another important factor is your class ranking. The "top 5%" get better job offers than others.

Two years ago, a friend and co-worker earned her MBA from Rice. She has an undergraduate mechanical engineering degree from UT. She is very smart and a hard worker, but she is doing the same job that she did prior to getting her MBA. This is very common. Promotions are usually given to the people with more experience, and more importantly, having the right people like you.

For me, the MBA was almost a language degree. It helps me speak and understand the language of business. I don't use all of the tools that I learned, but when I'm interacting with a business customer I have a better understanding of what's important to them.

A general rule I have seen is employers not taking the MBA seriously if it's less than five years after the bachelors because they haven't had enough work experience. They're usually lacking the context to really understand the lessons that make the difference in the real world. They may memorize the theory but I'll take somebody with practical experience over theory any day I'm expected to stay in business.

If I was thinking about doing it today, I would absolutely do this one....
You can do it all online and get a top-tier degree.
Kenan Flagler (UNC) Online MBA: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/online-mba" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/admissions/online-mba" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://onlinemba.unc.edu/request-info/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When I started in '94, I lived just south of Chapel Hill, but the Blue Devils had the more flexible program.
http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/programs/duke ... executive/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

gigag04 - Some more advice.

Check out the various schools to find out the prerequisite classes for their MBA program. Since you have an engineering degree, you may not have the required business, economics, etc. Then take them at a community college. It will be much cheaper.

The programs that I researched did not let you take classes at a community college once you started the MBA program. Since I had been out of school so long, I had to retake some classes such as calculus, computer programming, business, and economics.

JALLEN wrote:

gigag04 wrote: I just had a good friend/adviser tell me to consider law school too. My undergrad was in engineering so either would be a change. Looking at a MBA/Finance.

If you have to be told to consider going to law school, you don't want to go badly enough.

You shouldn't go to law school unless you want to practice law. Otherwise it's a waste of brainwashing that ruins you for honest work.

I second that. My son is going to a top tier law school on full scholarship having made a perfect score on the LSAT --he doesn't think it's all that great --boring in fact-- and I don't think he'd say it was worth the money if he wasn't attending for free.

VMI77 wrote:
I second that. My son is going to a top tier law school on full scholarship having made a perfect score on the LSAT --he doesn't think it's all that great --boring in fact-- and I don't think he'd say it was worth the money if he wasn't attending for free.

Congratulations! He's on his way to becoming a law professor. "A" Students become law professors, "B" students become judges and "C" students make all the money, or so I have heard it said.

If he thinks it is boring, he won't be happy practicing law. Practicing law is many things, but seldom boring in my ~38 years of experience.

It's all about helping people and involves one of 4 variations. 1. Helping people who have been cheated. 2. Helping people who have been accused of cheating. 3. Helping people avoid being cheated. and 4. Helping people cheat.

The LSAT is a good indicator of academic success, I suppose. If I had it all to do over again, though, I would major in poker.

JALLEN wrote:

VMI77 wrote:
I second that. My son is going to a top tier law school on full scholarship having made a perfect score on the LSAT --he doesn't think it's all that great --boring in fact-- and I don't think he'd say it was worth the money if he wasn't attending for free.

Congratulations! He's on his way to becoming a law professor. "A" Students become law professors, "B" students become judges and "C" students make all the money, or so I have heard it said.

If he thinks it is boring, he won't be happy practicing law. Practicing law is many things, but seldom boring in my ~38 years of experience.

It's all about helping people and involves one of 4 variations. 1. Helping people who have been cheated. 2. Helping people who have been accused of cheating. 3. Helping people avoid being cheated. and 4. Helping people cheat.

The LSAT is a good indicator of academic success, I suppose. If I had it all to do over again, though, I would major in poker.

Well, it would be more accurate to say he finds a lot of the classes boring. He interned in the legal department of the Chicago Sun Times and I don't think he found actual law practice boring. His boss said he read contracts better than attorneys she knows with 10 years of experience. But yes, he's sort of academically oriented, and in general, loves school (which I never did). He graduated UT Austin with both a B of S (filter won't let me specific the degree any other way) and a B.A., in four years, with a 4.0 GPA, so he's pretty intense when it comes to his academic performance. I attribute his academic success both to his motivation and hard work, and the fact that he never set foot in a public school until he started college.