UCLA Anderson MBA vs Stanford MS&E

Hi backspacebar, I think that I have a rather similar background, but am a bit further along in the process (read: older), so I can at least tell you how I feel about my experience.

After I began working, I noticed a dearth of analytics sophistication in business. This was true for almost every group in my company as well as with the MBB consultants that we too often hired. I'm talking about things like exclusively using stepwise variable selection, not doing any fit diagnostics, and calling Excel spreadsheets models.

Therefore, I did a M.S. program in OR/MS at a top 10 school (not Stanford). While I will be a bit older than the average (28) when I begin my MBA program, I attribute a large part of my business success to my OR/MS education because I've been able to utilize tangible skills rather than focus on "strategy" right away. I can tell you that my employer certainly appreciated it and I feel far more fulfilled in my work than I would have trying to manage business operations as an entry-level analyst.

At 3 years of experience, you're not precluding an MBA in the future. However, I would advise you - if you do choose Stanford - to complete the program in one year, which is an option. Many students in the program are straight out of undergrad and an internship is therefore useful to them. Since you already have experience, it would be best for you to get back into the full-time work world as soon as possible. This will allow you to gain another 2 years of experience after the M.S. and still get into a top-tier MBA program at a reasonable age (what I've considered 26-28) if you decide that's still something that you want to do.

Hope that helps; congrats on your admits!