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01 Aug 2010, 21:49
Kudos
Bookmarks
So here's my situation...and apologies in advance for typos as I'm typing in the dark.
39 yrs old, UT-Austin grad in Government/Spanish minor w/3.25 gpa. Started late in life, graduated in early 30's. Worked as an admin assistant/buyer for research lab for 7 yrs, parlayed that into a purchasing manager job at fast growing bio-tech company. In my third year there and now moving into overall operations/supply chain management role. I'd like to increase my formal education and make myself more valuable to the firm, however schedule and travel make attending a part-time or executive program impossible, so distance learning it has to be.
Also, I never taken GMAT and not particularly looking forward to it. Not a deal breaker or anything, just seems daunting after all these years. It is what it is. The schools I'm interested are below and all are AACSB accredited:
1. Arizona State University with focus on Supply Chain. My dream school, but I'm tight on cash and the cost is tough though, coming in at 48k and no company contribution, not to mention prior loans from undergrad still being paid. But their MBA program ranks in the top 30, #5 in supply chain, they seem very supportive and attentive to the distance learning program and students.
2. UMASS-Amherst - I've heard good things about the program and reputation, but no focus on supply chain, nor does it carry the reputation for the field that ASU has. The cost is reasonable though for the name recognition. They also offer a foundations course to knock out pre-reqs in one semester, and I will definitely need to take those.
3. Texas A&M-Commerce - From what I've been able to find online comment-wise, this seems to be a good school with good instruction, just not well known, other than being part of the Texas A&M system of schools. It's cost is outstanding for residents, which I am, and comes in around $10k all told. They also waive the GMAT which is a nice bonus.
My main concern is overall name recognition of the school, how much it matters, and if it's worth the extra money.
1. Do I bite the bullet, go for ASU at 48K? Getting the reputation and focus in supply chain and operations? But saddled with extra debt?
2. Go to UMASS-Amherst at around $30k? Decent national reputation, name recognition and ranked in USNWR. Still somewhat pricey for me.
3. Got to Texas A&M-Commerce for $10k, but no national recognition or ranking, but I could likely graduate without owing any loan payments. And may offer some regional benefit should I seek another job, although it's not Texas A&M - College Station.
Or....
Supplement either the UMASS-Amherst or Texas A&M-Commerce degrees with a graduate certificate in Supply Chain Management from Arizona State? It included all of the courses that would be offered in the MBA program but cost is 15k. This brings the UMASS program to 45k, pretty much the same cost as ASU, however the Texas A&M-Commerce program w/ASU cert would total out to only around $25k - almost half the cost of the others.
So I'm just torn. For schools that aren't top-tier, and for a guy my age, that has no plans to move out of state or change jobs or job type (supply chain/operations), will having MBA from Texas A&M-Commerce make me that much less competitive over having one that says UMASS-Amherst or Arizona State University? Especially if I supplemented the Texas A&M-Commerce degree with the quality name-brand ASU supply chain cert??
If I'm going to do this I don't want to sell myself short by not going with a more well-recognized name, but also don't want to spend unnecessarily if it's really not going to make much of a difference.
Sorry for the long rant. Please offer any critique or advice that comes to mind. You guys seem really helpful so far and I'm hoping to benefit from the wealth of knowledge and experience on this board. I would just love some guidance in this decision.
Cheers!
- D
39 yrs old, UT-Austin grad in Government/Spanish minor w/3.25 gpa. Started late in life, graduated in early 30's. Worked as an admin assistant/buyer for research lab for 7 yrs, parlayed that into a purchasing manager job at fast growing bio-tech company. In my third year there and now moving into overall operations/supply chain management role. I'd like to increase my formal education and make myself more valuable to the firm, however schedule and travel make attending a part-time or executive program impossible, so distance learning it has to be.
Also, I never taken GMAT and not particularly looking forward to it. Not a deal breaker or anything, just seems daunting after all these years. It is what it is. The schools I'm interested are below and all are AACSB accredited:
1. Arizona State University with focus on Supply Chain. My dream school, but I'm tight on cash and the cost is tough though, coming in at 48k and no company contribution, not to mention prior loans from undergrad still being paid. But their MBA program ranks in the top 30, #5 in supply chain, they seem very supportive and attentive to the distance learning program and students.
2. UMASS-Amherst - I've heard good things about the program and reputation, but no focus on supply chain, nor does it carry the reputation for the field that ASU has. The cost is reasonable though for the name recognition. They also offer a foundations course to knock out pre-reqs in one semester, and I will definitely need to take those.
3. Texas A&M-Commerce - From what I've been able to find online comment-wise, this seems to be a good school with good instruction, just not well known, other than being part of the Texas A&M system of schools. It's cost is outstanding for residents, which I am, and comes in around $10k all told. They also waive the GMAT which is a nice bonus.
My main concern is overall name recognition of the school, how much it matters, and if it's worth the extra money.
1. Do I bite the bullet, go for ASU at 48K? Getting the reputation and focus in supply chain and operations? But saddled with extra debt?
2. Go to UMASS-Amherst at around $30k? Decent national reputation, name recognition and ranked in USNWR. Still somewhat pricey for me.
3. Got to Texas A&M-Commerce for $10k, but no national recognition or ranking, but I could likely graduate without owing any loan payments. And may offer some regional benefit should I seek another job, although it's not Texas A&M - College Station.
Or....
Supplement either the UMASS-Amherst or Texas A&M-Commerce degrees with a graduate certificate in Supply Chain Management from Arizona State? It included all of the courses that would be offered in the MBA program but cost is 15k. This brings the UMASS program to 45k, pretty much the same cost as ASU, however the Texas A&M-Commerce program w/ASU cert would total out to only around $25k - almost half the cost of the others.
So I'm just torn. For schools that aren't top-tier, and for a guy my age, that has no plans to move out of state or change jobs or job type (supply chain/operations), will having MBA from Texas A&M-Commerce make me that much less competitive over having one that says UMASS-Amherst or Arizona State University? Especially if I supplemented the Texas A&M-Commerce degree with the quality name-brand ASU supply chain cert??
If I'm going to do this I don't want to sell myself short by not going with a more well-recognized name, but also don't want to spend unnecessarily if it's really not going to make much of a difference.
Sorry for the long rant. Please offer any critique or advice that comes to mind. You guys seem really helpful so far and I'm hoping to benefit from the wealth of knowledge and experience on this board. I would just love some guidance in this decision.
Cheers!
- D
02 Aug 2010, 04:41
Kudos
Bookmarks
Judging from the tuition, it seems like that you live in Texas. For you goals, it doesn't make sense to dish out that much more for an OOS school, because those school's brand do not carry beyond the state/city. If you live in Texas, you should try to consider some of the more prestigious part time programs. A part time program will allow you to achieve your goal of moving up in the same company without giving up your job/pay check.
02 Aug 2010, 21:13
Kudos
Bookmarks
asimov
Thanks for the input. There are a wealth of more prestigious programs in Texas, but my work schedule and semi-regular travel out of city prevent me from being able to commit to a part-time, professional, or executive "Brick and Mortar" program.
That said, I'm just trying to get a feel for how much reputation, ranking, etc. is worth compared to a school like Texas A&M-Commerce, a satellite campus, no ranking, versus a lower ranked school, but still ranked. Minus ASU of course, who ranks damn good all around.
