Haas EWMBA (part-time) this year or Wharton EMBA next year?

Question

Hello! Seek your thoughts to help me decide. I got an admit yesterday to the Haas EWMBA (part-time mba). I’m trying to decide if I should take up Haas or wait for a year to apply to the Wharton EMBA.

I have close to 7 years of work experience and I’m a Sr Product Manager in a tech company and manage a large product portfolio end to end. I have a MS in engineering and work experience in tech across marketing, biz dev, product operations and product management.
I’m confused if I should take up Haas because I’m not entirely sold on how much benefit I’ll get through Haas EWMBA to achieve my career goals. People are generally smart and ambitious in the Haas program but most people are trying to become product managers or marketers and I crossed that hurdle a while ago and I’m in a senior role in product management. I’m trying to accelerate my career and become a product leader and advance to general management in a few years. Would the Wharton emba be a better fit considering my career goals? I couldn’t apply this year because I didn’t have 8 years work experience required to apply to the Wharton EMBA as a non-fellow candidate. I have 7 years work experience so I’ll have to apply next year.

Finally, the Haas EWMBA program is 3 years long and Wharton EMBA is 2 years long so in either case I can complete the degree by 2026. My role requires that I work 60 hour weeks and for 2-3 weeks every Qtr it becomes 70 hour weeks. Considering this being able to put in enough time for studies and networking in the mba is also a concern and would prefer the one that’s not too demanding.

I live in the Bay Area so commute-wise both options are fine. I'll have to sponsor my education completely in both cases.

Thank you so much in advance for your inputs!!!! 🙏🏻

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MBASomeTime · Answer

A bird in the hand is worth three in the bush? Part of me feels that the most competitive bucket for Wharton's EMBA will be for those with less experience (you would barely meet the cutoff, and are well below the average age of 37). Pure speculation though. You didn't mention where you're based either - travel should be a factor.

bb · Answer

Congratulations on your admit!

Haas WEMBA is one of the most competitive programs actually based on the app volume (approximated from discussion volume). This tells me you would likely get admitted at Wharton in the next year.

But - as you correctly pointed out, many go to business school to get the job you have right now or perhaps the job you had a couple years ago. Many use business school as a way to change their careers. That is not your goal here. If you’re staying in the same industry and looking to advance within the same path, I don’t think they’ll be that much difference in terms of having the Berkeley name versus Wharton name. You would be splitting hairs, the warden does have more elite fuel and sound to the name in most peoples minds. The reason is that you would most likely be evaluated based on your professional achievements and based on your résumé accomplishments….

I also have a bit of a concern about your work week and work schedule. Working 60 hours a week is a lot. That will create a constant conflict between school and work and whatever else that you may be interested in doing though I can’t see how you would have time for anything else 🥴 anyway, this conflict will force you to choose between your job and your future career. If you choose one, your performance at work goes down and if you choose the other, then you’re putting your long-term career on the back burner. Neither is really ideal. I wonder if an executive MBA is really the best thing for you and for your progression…. I can see for example taking some executive courses including from Wharton and spending five or 10 grand for a two week course instead to focus in a specific area and take time off for it…

I’m assuming you have done quite a bit of research and soul-searching about it, but have you taken your boss or your bosses boss to lunch and ask them what do they think would help you grow the most. Do they think getting an MBA would give you the necessary vision and experience and skill set? This would be a great litmus test… they may even offered to pay for it. He didn’t mention how are you paying for it 😇

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kvsinus · Answer

Haas ewmba is better than Wharton sf cohort...Wharton Pennsylvania cohort is more diverse so if u are moving to penn then it's worth the wait

You can charter your path at Haas by taking leadership level courses and advanced product management courses and avoid generic courses that help with campus recruiting as that is not your goal. I would recommend doing courses that are completely different from tech so that it will make u get out of comfort zone like consulting, finance etc.

That will help you grow in your product leadership career too

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vijaytr1911 · Answer

bb thanks for sharing your thoughts!! I've been a big fan of gmatclub and it helped me lot during my gmat prep a few year ago!

As you rightly pointed out, managing my schedule and jugging work and b-school is going to be a huge challenge given my 60-hour work week. However, I feel like a structured MBA program will be significantly more beneficial in the long-term compared to taking an executive course/certificate because of the opportunity to form lifelong friendships and build a network with high-potential classmates and alumni. On a personal note, I've wanted to get a MBA since a long time and had even applied to many of the M7 full-time mba programs over 2 years ago. Unfortunately, I ended up getting waitlisted in most places then and didn't ultimately get an admit. After that I landed a Sr PM role and also COVID hit so I decided to ditch my full-time mba plans.

I've asked my boss for his thoughts on this matter. My boss thinks I'll mainly benefit from doing MBA in the following areas: business frameworks, executive presence, business communication and soft skills. Regarding Haas EWMBA vs Wharton EMBA, his opinion was that Wharton EMBA is meant for older candidates who are at director level and not suited for me. But my boss did HaaS EWMBA so may be he's a bit biased lol

I also sometimes wonder if I'd be too young for the Wharton EMBA if the average age is 37. Even if you ignore titles, can a guy in early 30s really become friends with or network with someone who's in their 40s with 2-3 kids? I work with such managers/directors from Eng, Ops, finance etc everyday in my job and often lead them as part of a cross-functional teams but I doubt if they'd ask me for a referral instead of reaching out to a more a senior colleague. Again, I may be wrong since I'm only guessing.

Regarding financing my mba, my employer doesn't normally provide tuition reimbursement so my plan is to fund it myself. I've asked my HR again but wouldn't bank on it.

I also sometimes wonder if I'd be too young for the Wharton EMBA if the average age is 37. Even if you ignore titles, can a guy in early 30s really become friends with or network with someone who's in their 40s with 2-3 kids? I work with such managers/directors from Eng, Ops, finance etc everyday in my job and often lead them as part of a cross-functional teams but I doubt if they'd ask me for a referral instead of reaching out to a more a senior colleague. Again, I may be wrong since I'm only guessing. Regarding financing my mba, my employer doesn't normally provide tuition reimbursement so my plan is to fund it myself. I've asked my HR again but wouldn't bank on it.

vijaytr1911 · Answer

kvsinus  - could you elaborate on the diversity aspect of Wharton SF program? I've heard that the Wharton SF EMBA program is more diverse than the HaaS EWMBA, which has >50% people in tech and/or with Eng undergrad. I'm based in the South Bay Area and will not be able to relocate to Philly.

bb · Answer

Got it. Makes sense in terms of your goals and aspirations.

In terms of your growth areas, business schools do not teach soft skills or executive presence or communication skills directly. There won’t be a class on any of these topics but it’s rather some thing you will learn through the pain of delivering presentations and speaking in the class and engaging with your classmates and discussions. The skills will improve but they would probably improve a lot more if you hired a speech coach or join the Toastmasters club. I’m not trying to talk you out of it but I want to show you that there are other options potentially. There’s obviously things business school will give you that a Toastmasters club or not so I’m kind of simplifying quite a bit … but I’m saying is that if you really wanted to improve the specific skills, there’s no reason to wait you can improve them next week or at least start improving next week.

About age and connecting quest your classmates, it really depends on how mature you are and how are you engage with more senior and more experienced individuals. I did have a classmate who was younger than the rest of us and he always felt inferior. We’ve never made him feel that way but he always was Positioning himself as a newbie. I think that was a mistake on his part and it totally depends on how you handle yourself. I think you have enough experience to bring value to the table and while you may not half 12 or 15 years, I don’t think you need that much to figure out which way is up… really depends on your attitude and personality. At the same time I can see it will be easier to connect with your peers. What’s the age at WEMBA?

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kvsinus · Answer

If you look at the class profiles, haas ewmba has about 300 students -- all in bay area

wharton emba has total of about 200 students not sure what the breakdown is between phily and sf -- my guess is phily is higher in terms of numbers -- also phily is closer to new york, chicago etc. which has more diverse industries -- so my guess is that it will have a diverse cohort -- better reach out to them and understand exactly what the cohort details are at SF and dont fall for the overall diversity numbers of the program as it may be skewed

https://executivemba.wharton.upenn.edu/class-profile/

https://ewmba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissi ... ss-profile

LauraDienstag · Answer

I guess Wharton is not what I will get.

vijaytr1911 · Answer

bb  I spoke to a few people who have done the EWMBA program and some research on LinkedIn. I’m yet to make a decision but here’s what I’ve learnt: 1) in the Haas EWMBA program, while the majority of folks are trying to pivot to a business role, >20% of the people are trying to accelerate their career in a business role like product management. There are few people managers from functions like Eng, support, sales etc. 2) a sizeable portion of EMBA class consists of people who are not in a leadership role but were admitted because of their higher yoe. This is particularly applicable for senior ICs in roles like product management. Of course the majority of people are in a leadership role and manage teams. 
So in conclusion, the difference is mainly the seniority of the people in the program and coursework. The courses in EMBA are bit more geared toward leadership/soft skills while EWMBA courses are bit more geared towards hard skills.

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bb · Answer

Thanks so much! I appreciate reporting your findings. EMBA does not mean you are an amazing leader/exec. I can see the opposite perhaps - you are a terrible leader or perhaps you are not leading at all or have a small team and that's why you need the EMBA. Otherwise, why bother if what you doing is working. This is oversimplification, I have seen many people get EMBA to gain confidence, get better footing in other skills, get business side of things, and so on. I am not sure this is a problem or an issue. I guess one take is that if you are looking to recruit, you can always work your butt off in your Wharton class and see if one of the folks hires you - that's likely the best networking opportunity. At the same time, others who are not in a leadership role can always refer you within their company. Whichever route you take, you want to make a great impression on your classmates and be a good team player who is a go-getter and does not mind to put in work while at school. If one is working hard while at school, imagine what they will do if we pay them?

vijaytr1911 · Answer

bb  I hope there are other easier routes.. such as becoming friends? 😉

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Haas EWMBA (part-time) this year or Wharton EMBA next year?

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