Back in the day, I really agonized between going full time or part time. Looked at a lot of schools for full time. Ended up applying only to RU and Stern. Got into both. RU was much cheaper. And had the reputation for putting you thru the ringer. Ended up switching my Stern acceptance into joining their part-time program and getting reimbursement thru my employer. Stern has some excellent professors who only teach at night. But there is no denying Hudson's very valid point about participating in career services/job placement. But quitting a decent job and then coming out of pocket for 2 years tuition is a large investment that puts pressure on you to land a much higher paying job when you finish. Plenty of horror stories of people getting caught by a recession when they finish and taking a job that pays equal or less than they made pre-MBA plus sitting on the debt incurred. I was able to move within my company post-completion and then jumped outside within a few years.
OT - Rutgers MBA
- Thread starter BK_TO_THE
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RU is consistently Top 10-15 in ROI.
RU is consistently Top 5 in employment outcomes which is a metric measured by % of graduates with full time employment within 90 days of graduation and starting salary.
RU is great at several things. And not very good at several others. It is not a universal golden ticket in the way Harvard, Stanford, Columbia or MIT are.
However, if you know what you want, it will easily pay for itself and be all the MBA you'll ever need.
I simply caution someone against going to RU to "find yourself" in the business world. It's not that kinda school.
This is very valid and brings us back to the conversation of career changer vs. someone whose employer is willing to make a multi year commitment to them.
Even if your employer doesn't provide you with $$, you still need their commitment in terms of schedule flexibility. If you think you'll be able to complete anything resembling a rigorous program without A SHIT TON of understanding from your organization, you are delusional.
I think I said similar about career servces and quitting a job nowadays to pursue a full time MBA in this thread and gave my fellow UNC grads experience (MS. not MBA) re similar here and in other threads. However it's optimal if you can handle it (and have your employers support) part time and be reimbursed.
I understand your logic, but I'm not sure I agree with it.
A big advantage of earning an MBA part-time is that you are continuing to earn a living, which means a lower cost to the MBA (you only have to pay tuition, vs having to pay tuition plus the lost salary for someone attending full-time). Plus with a part-time MBA, you are taking classes with a lot of other part-time students ... these are classmates that already have jobs and provide a good pool for networking and for learning from their experiences. (One of my colleagues was hired into my company by a classmate he met during his part-time MBA program at Rutgers many years ago.)
That said, to attend part-time, you need an employer who is understanding of the flexibility you need to attend school. That employer is probably going to want you to stick around so they can reap the benefits of your education after you earn your degree (and if they pay part of your tuition, they may require that you stick around).
I think the real decision of which school to attend and whether you want to go part-time or full-time really depends on your current employment situation and what you plan to do after you earn your degree. Part-time may not make sense if you are a logistics manager at a heavy machinery manufacturer and you want to get into investment banking. But it may make sense if you are a research chemist and want to get into pharmaceutical marketing.
As an aside, I can't speak to the quality of career services at Rutgers for full-time and part-time MBA candidates. But I would assume that part-time candidates make less use of career services, because many of them already have jobs and are earning their degrees to advance within their own companies.
Part time MBAs scream to recruiters that you hedged your bets and are essentially a pussy.
If you think you are getting hired by a bulge bracket bank or white shoe consulting firm with either of those stigmas attached, knock yourself out.
And again, this entire conversation is predicated on what the OP wants out of the experience. My reading of his post is that he is unhappy with his current career prospects and wants to reboot.
If you think you are getting hired by a bulge bracket bank or white shoe consulting firm with either of those stigmas attached, knock yourself out.
And again, this entire conversation is predicated on what the OP wants out of the experience. My reading of his post is that he is unhappy with his current career prospects and wants to reboot.
The flip side of the coin is that a part-time MBA tells a Fortune 500 hiring manager that you are hard working, able to multitask, and looking to advance your career.
Part-time is the right answer for some people and the wrong answer for others. Whether it is right for the OP really depends on what he wants to reboot to.
Are you GMATs totally out of scope with your other standardized tests? If they are I agree with the advice to retake them. Spend some money on a prep class. In your late 20s there's no reason not to go for the MBA. For every guy like you there are 20 others struggling just to get through part-time college at a Thomas Edison Univ. When you're 50 you'll regret not having done it.
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do" Eleanor Roosevelt
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do" Eleanor Roosevelt
Stern is a great school but I've generally been under impressed with our hired from there as well.
Also worth remembering that you get out what you put in. Understand the trade offs of the FT / PT decision, but realistically there is no way you can possibly get out as much, be it academically, networking, whatever, via PT simply from time time constraints. You can't put in 6-8 hours a day on school because, you know, your working.
Career services could give two shits about PT students, btw. That's the case at every legit school.
Also worth remembering that you get out what you put in. Understand the trade offs of the FT / PT decision, but realistically there is no way you can possibly get out as much, be it academically, networking, whatever, via PT simply from time time constraints. You can't put in 6-8 hours a day on school because, you know, your working.
Career services could give two shits about PT students, btw. That's the case at every legit school.
Thank you so much to everyone for their insight. I've been reading thru all the posts and it's definitely given me a lot to think about.
@ruhudsonfan - you are correct that I'm unhappy in my current role and am looking for a "career reboot." Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure what direction I wan't to go in. My undergrad degree is in Marketing and I've spent the last 6 years in a support role in a large international bank, where I haven't really utilized my degree at all. In my brief career I have seen multiple rounds of layoffs and I worry that if I don't do anything now, I will allow myself to grow expendable in the future.
The particular program at Rutgers I'm interested in is the professional accounting MBA program.
@ruhudsonfan - you are correct that I'm unhappy in my current role and am looking for a "career reboot." Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure what direction I wan't to go in. My undergrad degree is in Marketing and I've spent the last 6 years in a support role in a large international bank, where I haven't really utilized my degree at all. In my brief career I have seen multiple rounds of layoffs and I worry that if I don't do anything now, I will allow myself to grow expendable in the future.
The particular program at Rutgers I'm interested in is the professional accounting MBA program.
I got my MBA over 30 years ago at Rutgers but not in the Accounting program. The MBA Accounting program is one of the best which only accepts about 20-30 students a year and a majority of them when they graduated normally received a Big 8 offer, now Big 4. If you're getting into Accounting probably the best program in the area. Work at the Big 4 for at least 4-5 years and get your CPA. Stay in public as long as they allow you or you can tolerance. This background will give you job security for at least 20-25 years.
I started my MBA part-time taking 2 classes a semester but after a year, I was able to network with two classmates and after getting 2 job offers, left the program for one of the jobs since it required extensive traveling. I came back 7 years later to get my MBA full time but my severance, 5 months pay, paid for the tuition. After graduation, placement service did get me several interviews and I received 2 job offers. I finally ended back at my old company when I was visiting a friend at Corp HQ and got an offer to come back.
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my wife finished her MBA last year...i believe there was an email sent out to the grads that they placed their very first RU MBA grad at Goldman this past year or something like that.
Thank all for the input. I've never used my MBA sans two weeks of training for the USPS (left after first day on job). Guess I just "happened to fall off the radar and not be counted in the stats. I'm usually negative based on my experience but this thread plain depresses me.
From two yesrs at the local employment center (where the candidates as a whole are probably closec to bottom of society, the one guy who kept getting called had taken 1 several month computer programmimg class in an HR sarea I believe. Call after call it seemed.Was evenmg turnimg down many interviews. Took a position in VATech land.
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From two yesrs at the local employment center (where the candidates as a whole are probably closec to bottom of society, the one guy who kept getting called had taken 1 several month computer programmimg class in an HR sarea I believe. Call after call it seemed.Was evenmg turnimg down many interviews. Took a position in VATech land.
..
This is where going for a part-time MBA at Rutgers worked out for me. I finished undergrad at Rutgers engineering, and was hired before graduation by one of the top professional engineering/consulting firms. While I like the engineering/construction fields in general, I fairly quickly started to realize that dealing with the small details and technical discussion/decisions day-to-day as a career wasn't for me; project management, scheduling, and budgets were more appealing, with a long-term goal of ascending to corporate/strategic roles in my firm or another.
With this in mind, I immediately jumped into grad school that following fall and spent 4 years taking evening classes part-time in order to obtain that MBA (in Management with a just-because Global Business concentration as well), working more than full-time in engineering/project management during the days. Thankfully my firm (project) not only maintained scheduling flexibility, but also contributed the standard 5.25k to tuition per year for a master's degree that was not in engineering.
When first applying to grad school 8 years ago, it was rare to hear about an engineer going for a MBA. Now while interviewing with other top firms to likely make a jump, I'm finding that it's valuable and putting me in contention for higher-level PM roles, even while still working on obtaining my professional license.
Hopefully that somewhat unique perspective helps..
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The problem is that there are a few students that go full time straight after they get their undergraduate degrees. They definitely have a harder time getting employment competing against students with work experience. When I went, I remember students with undergraduate degrees from ND, Princton and even MIT. The MIT student could have gone to MIT for his MBA but went to Rutgers because they paid his full tuition.
I went from RU engineering (ChemE) to RU MBA as well. Very similar story, started on the bench in pharma R&D and decided that I wanted a career more strategic and corporate. However, I was able to go back full-time and landed a job at a consulting firm and after a few years moved back to an in-house pharma job. The MBA was exactly what I needed to change direction with my career and it really paid off. Am I using the hard skills that I learned everyday, mostly, probably not. But it did help me see the big picture from a company's point of view and that was a valuable lesson to learn.
I'm an HR manager at a NJ based Fortune 100 technology company.... And if you have a Rutgers MBA (part time or not), you have a TON of opportunity here. More so if you are an engineer or in IT, but it will also help in HR, finance and supply chain as well. We hire a ton of RU MBAs and have a nice pipeline of RU interns who ultimately receive offers. And we offer tuition assistance, so for those already employed here, many more doors are opened to executive positions by getting their MBA part-time while working.
There is a lot of opportunity for RU MBAs outside of I-banking and consulting. Like others said, it depends on what you want. But anyone who is devaluing Rutgers in this space is pretty myopic.
There is a lot of opportunity for RU MBAs outside of I-banking and consulting. Like others said, it depends on what you want. But anyone who is devaluing Rutgers in this space is pretty myopic.
Given what you've stated, I think its a no-brainer to go full time. I'm pretty much in agreement with everything that ruhudsonfan stated.
But you need to be sure of what area you want to pursue as you don't want to waste time. Also, I've seen many people leverage their careers in support into lucrative careers in sales, and you don't need an MBA to do that. I know an executive director at a big bank who just have a degree in philosophy from NYU.
But if you confidently feel that your future is in Accounting/Finance, then get the MBA.
what i enjoyed most about going full time, was the ability to recharge, have fun, and think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my career/life. My career path was validated when my school set me up with an internship as good as any in the country. Much of that experience was a building block for what i'm doing today.
You may not use your MBA skills right away, but hopefully as your career progresses, you will have an opportunity to do so.
This program is excellent if you want to get into an accounting career. Alex Sannella is one of Rutgers' great assets. Lots of very successful alumni from that program and it continues to produce great opportunities. Of course you have to work hard and make sure accounting is the career path because that's the focus and that's where you'll get worthwhile opportunities.
Like many have said, where to go and how to go is an individual decision that has to be based on one's career goals and what school will best get them there, but also while doing so within the risk tolerance of that individual. I'm an RU undergrad with an MBA from a lesser school. I work with MBAs from all of the best schools now, but when I went for my MBA 20 years ago, none of that was on my radar screen. But I did get my MBA paid for by my company, checked the box on the resume and actually learned a lot going part time. So that's my bias here. I was very risk averse.
Speaking of risk....Top schools come with lots of benefits, but also at a cost and at a risk (two years out of work, potentially big bills, etc.) so you know you need a great job after graduation. Part time programs may come with less risk financially and personally, but will they get you to the end goal and within the timing desired?
For me business is about return on investment and if we are business majors then we have to be ROI focused. So in my recruiting experience and advising several folks on my teams whether to do full time or part time, here has been my advice: First, you have to start with the end in mind and evaluate what it will take to get there.
1) What is your end goal?
2) What is your time horizon for reaching that goal?
3) What school(s) can best get you there within the timing desired?
4) At what cost? (both $ and other costs like personal or success at current job).
5) Compare the return each school can provided above 1+2+3 against 4.
6) Make a decision based on this analysis and of course a bit of gut feel. Don't dismiss intagilbles like where you feel most comfortable, what degree you want to hang on the wall, etc. Business is about facts and feels.
Good luck to the OP!
Speaking of risk....Top schools come with lots of benefits, but also at a cost and at a risk (two years out of work, potentially big bills, etc.) so you know you need a great job after graduation. Part time programs may come with less risk financially and personally, but will they get you to the end goal and within the timing desired?
For me business is about return on investment and if we are business majors then we have to be ROI focused. So in my recruiting experience and advising several folks on my teams whether to do full time or part time, here has been my advice: First, you have to start with the end in mind and evaluate what it will take to get there.
1) What is your end goal?
2) What is your time horizon for reaching that goal?
3) What school(s) can best get you there within the timing desired?
4) At what cost? (both $ and other costs like personal or success at current job).
5) Compare the return each school can provided above 1+2+3 against 4.
6) Make a decision based on this analysis and of course a bit of gut feel. Don't dismiss intagilbles like where you feel most comfortable, what degree you want to hang on the wall, etc. Business is about facts and feels.
Good luck to the OP!
Wait, wut??? Not to blow up your anecdote about rarity of engineers going for MBAs but that is far from the facts. If you look at enrollment profiles of entering classes, anywhere from 25-35% of students in MBA programs have undergraduate engineering degrees, and it's probably been that way for at least a generation or more. About 15 years ago, I went full-time Top 20 MBA (having worked as an engineer for 5 years after my undergrad in civil eng'g at Rutgers) and the general breakdown was that 1/3 of the class were engineers, another 1/3 were undergrad business, and the last 1/3 was a mixed bag of everything else under the sun.
Not the smartest or most focused student/time management (esp after Mom passed) I attended ~1994-1998 part time full time! At that point the engineering degree combined with an MBA was THE hot thing. I think I heard at that point the MBA program was 1/3 engineers. Created a nightmare for me as both they and the program was so quantitative-and profs used to teach THEIR level.
You may be right; my impression of this was more specifically from my experience at Rutgers. At the time, I was one of only only two (out of 100) civil engineering major graduates from my year to go straight into the MBA program, and knew of only one other engineering major who did the same (he went to Newark full-time for two years); perhaps there were a few more, but I likely would have had classes with them over 4 years. It was 1-2 years into the part-time MBA that many of my fellow engineering alumni started asking me about specific concentrations and demands of the MBA program; some actually planned to go for it after finishing an engineering master's degree first.
I got to know most fellow classmates in many core and management classes well, and at most 10% had been engineering undergrads; in at least half of my classes, I was either alone or one of two.
Nowadays, I certainly agree that it's more commonplace to combine engineering and business degrees.
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Actually Al, RBS has its own MBA Career Services Department that does an outstanding job. My advice as someone who just finished the Rutgers MBA in May, go to NYU if cost isn't a concern at all because a different academic environment is good. If cost is a concern go to Rutgers. Granted I'm still looking around for a full-time gig at this point.
spot on
The view by the 'elites' changed when RU did away with RC and merged the schools. In the early 90s, FO jobs were available and RU was recruited but, and I'm being honest here, politics got in the way. Kind of tough to have the old barn filled with Cantors, GS, ME, Bear etc wanting only RC when Livingston students couldn't get in.
NO RU MBA is being recruited out of school for FO or the like positions or training programs by these firms. If you have an in, then use that.
Define what you want in a job, what you want to do, the life you want to lead etc.. Pick the program that aligns with this and pick the program that will offers you the best future financially (and I don't mean paycheck as those bills can be steep for an MBA)
To add to what I said, I have gotten 2 MBA students jobs as I thought they were good enough to recommend. Be warned, there is a lot of filler in the PT programs, I'd go FT.
My guess is your perspective is limited because you only went to rutgers, as far as i can remember. Look at how well staffed NYU's career development office is:
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/portal-partners/recruiters/visit-stern/career-development-team
Now compare with Rutgers office:
http://www.business.rutgers.edu/full-time-mba/career-management/staff
when Rutgers has dedicated people tasked with solely tasked with finding their graduates jobs, i'll take this post seriously.
My niece earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering at Georgia Tech, and then went on to get an MBA at Northwestern. This was well over a decade ago, and it's worked out well for her: she now has a career in consulting for high-tech startups.
Your niece rules. I have BS/MS in Chem Eng. (RU) and then MBA at Northwestern. Go Cats!
Lots of engineers who get MBAs
Rutgersal, please do not compare NYU to RU, RU needs that additional staff to compensate for the embedded rep NYU already has
Rutgersal, please do not compare NYU to RU, RU needs that additional staff to compensate for the embedded rep NYU already has
She loved Northwestern. I used to live in Evanston, and always liked being on the campus. It's a shame the law school is downtown.
I went through the MBA in Professional Accounting program. I think it's a great option. You go full time, no breaks, and you're done in 18 months. Every single student in my class (that was an American citizen) had a good job waiting for them when they graduated. After I was hired, I later found out that I got the job over another candidate because I had the MBA. Later on in my career, I got a promotion due to having an MBA. Now, I don't know that for a fact, but I think it had a lot to do with it. The other candidates didn't have theirs. An MBA works like college. It's not necessarily what you learn, it's showing that you have the discipline to complete it that employers want. Also, it was a great return on investment for me. I commuted to Newark, so I just spent money on tuition. My first year out, I made two and a half times what it cost in tuition.
