online MBA decision: Indiana Kelley or UNC-CH Kenan-Flagler?

UNC is definitely a lot more aggressive recruiting new students. I think that's because they're basically a brand new program just started last year, so they need more students to grow, whereas Indiana already has 1500 online students, so they don't need to be as aggressive recruiting new students. UNC is pretty open to potential applicants too, they regularly host Q&A sessions and webnars with the admissions director (Beth Flye) and current students (they don't have any graduate yet because their first cohort was in 2011) to talk about the actual student experience. I'm still debating which school to choose.

Hello uclacolumbia,

Congratulations on being accepted into MBA@UNC! I am the community manager for the MBA@UNC program and I guess I'll continue our "agressive" reputation just by reaching out to see if I could answer and further questions that you may have that will help you with your final decision. Of course we're very excited to be one of your final choices, but I want to make sure we help you make the decision that is best for you.

Please feel free to reach out if you'd like: harrison_kratz@kenan-flagler.unc.edu.

For everyone else on this thread, feel free to contact me directly with any questions or comments about the program... Happy to help in any way I can.

Hope you have a great holiday week!

- Harrison Kratz, MBA@UNC community manager

I looked hard at Kelley, but ended up applying and being accepted to MBA@UNC and Duke's Cross Continent Program. I am going with UNC this fall for its flexibility combined with more live interaction. Kelley came off as a lot more recorded material. But, hey, money is important and is a valid concern. Good luck with your decision and I certainly hope to see you in class (on my computer screen).

Was the flexibility factor the decider for you in choosing MBA@UNC over Duke's Cross Continent Program? It seems the technology used for UNC is top notch and well above the other two (my opinion).

I know in doing preliminary research on Duke's program it is described as more of an executive..hybrid program, if you will, whereas MBA@UNC is grouped into the online MBA category with Kelley Direct? Funny thing is it seems to me that Kelley Direct, MBA@UNV and Duke CC compete for the same calibre of student in stats and work experience

Practically, what are the differences in how these programs add value to your career progression? My understanding is that these are used primarily to advance you at your current employer and aren't major door openers like the FT programs where you enjoy the benefits of on-campus recruiting and certain schools tend to pipeline specific careers more than another. I don't think that really occurs with the remote programs, meaning this is more about a modicum of brand prestige, perhaps?

Given that Indiana and UNC are essentially peer business schools, I would go with the cheaper option between the two. Depending on what you want to do with your career, local MBA programs can be quite cost effective as well and translate to good opportunities. Not everyone is in a place with a decent local options though, so I understand the appeal of the remote programs.

Indiana Kelley is a great school, but it has over 1500 students in its online program, so that gives me a little bit of doubt in its selectivity....

[quote="uclacolumbia"]Indiana Kelley is a great school, but it has over 1500 students in its online program, so that gives me a little bit of doubt in its selectivity....[/

Sounds like you're getting close. Good luck!

Who are you saying the selectivity matters to, you or a future employer? I can't imagine a future employer caring about how selective an online MBA is at this point in time.

I could just as easily see the 1500 students as a positive instead of a negative. Kelley has been doing this for a while building an established track record and a pretty impressive online class size whereas UNC just got their ball rolling.

Just some more food for thought!

MBA @ UNC did disclose their average GMAT and GPA numbers to me over the phone. I think they prefer not to disclose the numbers on the internet because their sample size is still relatively small (because the program just started a little over a year), so I think once they have a larger sample size, they'll disclose the numbers more formally on the internet.

well, in addition to the selectivity issue, wouldn't 1500+ students mean a much larger class size for each class? I was told that UNC caps their class size at 15 for each class.

Hi all,

Just to jump in here again, our classroom sizes are capped to a low number because all of our classes are done through live webcam and you are on the screen with your fellow classmates and professor. This provides an intimate learning experience where a large class on the live platform wouldn't be as collaborative or beneficial to the experience we provide.

I hope that helps answer a few questions! If anyone is interested in learning more about the platform you can send me a private message, email me, or watch this video that displays our learning platform: https://youtu.be/BzONDRR9qL4

Kindest regards,

Harrison Kratz
Community Manager, MBA@UNC
harrison_kratz@kenan-flagler.unc.edu

Hi, I recently attended the Bangalore Info Session of UNC Kenan Flagler and I've written my experiences here. Hope this will help in making an informed decision.

https://amitkpandeyece.blogspot.in/2012/ ... chool.html