Anyone ever pursue a part time MBA program?

[jinduy]

I'm currently working in IT and am thinking about pursuing some part time MBA program for fully employed students.

just wondering if you guys think it's worth it or what your thoughts may be... I'm currently a developer and would like to open myself up to management opportunities and flexibility to find jobs more easily in the future. i think getting a masters in comp sci wouldn't help me as much compared to an mba as well in many different areas.

I'm currently 25 and figure i can take 1 or 2 classes at a time as my work reimburses tuition costs (up to a 10k limit/year).

 

[ColdFusion718]

I'm in IT and I'm thinking of getting my MBA. I even bought a study guide for the GMAT. I need to set aside some time to study it though..... hmm.

 

[krunchykrome]

I'll be pursuing an MBA part-time after I finish my masters graduate program. That'll be around 2009.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I'd recommend it if you have the time. When I was in finance I got my MBA at night. It was a major life/time sacrifice. Now, I'm in IT.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: jinduy
I'm currently working in IT and am thinking about pursuing some part time MBA program for fully employed students.

just wondering if you guys think it's worth it or what your thoughts may be... I'm currently a developer and would like to open myself up to management opportunities and flexibility to find jobs more easily in the future. i think getting a masters in comp sci wouldn't help me as much compared to an mba as well in many different areas.

I'm currently 25 and figure i can take 1 or 2 classes at a time as my work reimburses tuition costs (up to a 10k limit/year).

Thats a very nice tuition reimbursement program that your work has.

 

[Svnla]

OP, I went to night school for over 4 years (part time) for my MBA. It wasn't easy or fun ( try to go to class after a long touch day at work) but it was well worth it.

My former employer paid for everything (tuition, books, etc.), all I had to do was to make B average.

<<<-------strongly believe in education

Edit: You said you are 25 and I am assuming that you are single. Do it now before you are married and have kids. You won't have time/energy then.

 

[Funyuns101]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: jinduy
I'm currently 25 and figure i can take 1 or 2 classes at a time as my work reimburses tuition costs (up to a 10k limit/year).

Thats a very nice tuition reimbursement program that your work has.

With that much tuition reimbursement... I'd be all over it! Assuming of course that you can handle it.
A lot of schools offer 2 different options: 1) weeknight classes 2) weekend/saturday classes only where option2 would take a little longer, but it might make your life easier although tearing up your weekends for the next 2 years.

My company only offers $4k per year. So I'm considering just going back full-time and finishing up in 1.5-2 years instead. But it's hard to go back to school now that I actually have income flowing in.

 

[amdskip]

I'm currently working on my masters in cs while working for the school so I too have tuition reimbursement. I thought about the MBA route but it would take longer and just not work out well for me.

 

[rsd]

I'll give you my story.

I have undergrad degree in chem/cs, masters in cs, and work in biotech. But I know already that I want to get out of the very technical software development stuff, so I started my MBA a couple of years ago. My work also reimburses me (up to 4 classes a year regardless of cost, so it's averaged 12-15k a year which is great).

As others said, if you have the willingness and time, I think its a great idea to do it before you have kids/married (that's what helped me decide to do it). It IS a lot of work, but obviously it depends on where you do it. For me its been an eye opener since I did not have much exposure to the business side of things.

I honestly don't know yet what I will actually do with it, but I think my options are wide open and its given me a chance to see and experience things I would not have otherwise. I'd say besides the eduation, the other real benefit of it (especially if you do it part-time) is simply the networking. You will meet a lot of people in a variety of industries and jobs. You never know when that will come in handy.

Feel free to ask any questions of me.

 

[rsd]

Also don't expect to rush through it. I'm starting my 3rd year and hopefully will finish next year. I started at 26 to give you perspective. So at your age, it's a great opportunity I think. Expect to make a lot of sacrifices though.

 

[UNCjigga]

Do it.

 

[UNCjigga]

Do it.

 

[UNCjigga]

Do it.

 

[pmoa]

Im in one now and its a cakewalk. I finished my undergrad and grad so the part time program is a good break from the technical degrees.

 

[Elbryn]

i'm nearly the same background as you were when i started. in IT at a university and 25. started in the part time program, big deciding factor was that working for the university amounted to about an 85% tuition coverage. The networkling is big and my plan is to use it to move out of the technical IT arena into the business side of IT. project management is the goal for now. Now is definately better than later.. i saw guys who had 2 kids gutting it out and pulling all sorts of strange hours to get thier stuff done. i felt this route was 1) mostly paid for 2) doesnt ever expire and 3) is a great point to make a change

 

[davestar]

I'm just a nerdy IT guy and am contemplating touching the other end of the spectrum

women?

 

[kalrith]

I just finished my part-time MBA in August. It was definitely a lot of work and lot of sacrifice, but I'm very thankful to have done it and not given up. I haven't reaped the benefits from it yet, as I still haven't gotten around to doing my resume and actually applying for jobs (you'd think after 8 years in college, I'd have given up procrastinating!).

I also work in IT, but I got the job without a degree. My BA is from a Bible college.

From the online job searching I've done, I should get about a 40-50% increase in wages; whereas without the MBA, I'm in about the best position possible for me getting a 5-7% annual raise with no upward mobility whatsoever at my small company. In other words, I should start out making the same amount that I would be making 6-8 years from now without the MBA.

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: davestar

I'm just a nerdy IT guy and am contemplating touching the other end of the spectrum

women?

good guess

very interesting responses i've gotten so far. i've been really motivated as of late and just ordered the gmat review book. hopefully i can take the test early next year (jan/feb). i know for certain i have to set a date and stick to it.

it's a weird feeling i have because i feel like this degree can possibly improve me in many ways other than making it easier to find a job just because I have it on my resume.

 

[jinduy]

also, i feel like many of you were in similar situations as mine, so did you take any gmat prep courses, or just used a book? my company reimburses for up to 1k on prep courses, but i feel like i have good enough discipline to study on my own.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: jinduy
also, i feel like many of you were in similar situations as mine, so did you take any gmat prep courses, or just used a book? my company reimburses for up to 1k on prep courses, but i feel like i have good enough discipline to study on my own.

It depends on how good you are at test-taking and how high of a score you need. I would definitely recommend getting a good book like the Princeton Review one (that's what I used). It should have a few copies of complete tests on there that will give you some good practice and an idea of what your actual score will be. My practice score the night before the test was 620, and I got a 640 on the GMAT.