Engineers Applying to B-school must read

I did not apply to the LFM or any engineering thing. I really want to get away from engineering and working operations. Not really interested in supply chainl, operations or any of that stuff. Plus the internship while interesting just seemed way too long for me since I am married so it would be away from the wife for a long time most likely. That said it definitely is a great dual degree program, especially considering the cost of the program vs a normal MBA or dual degree program. You also can pick your specialty area, electrical, mechanical, aeronotical, chemical etc. Other dual degrees typically give out master's of engineering management which going to be a little more generic.

If you want the dual degree area definitely check out Kellogg's MMM. I think its the largest MBA/engineering program out there. I thought about doing this since it seems to be very popular with top MC companies and other very popular career locations. However, I figured the added required classes were not what I was interested, so I would rather take electives that I prefer.
https://www.mmm.northwestern.edu/

A lot of schools offer dual options, ross, tuck, etc. If its what you want definitely dig into the pluses and minuses of each program and try to get the specific career stats for those programs...where students go and in what careers.

Do you think guys this kind of dual programs would be good for me if I were interested in industrial project management?

Cheers

Yes, any of these programs would be great. I think the more degrees the better. Within reason.

Keep in mind, the LFM program is the FULL Sloan MBA and the FULL Masters in Engineering degree from MIT. You can taylor your MBA to do whatever you choose, whether that be technology, ops, supply chain, finance etc. The engineering major you choose as well, and have electives so you can explore other engineering disciplines at MIT. The program is a lot of work because you are doing both degrees at once, but it's not as bad as it sounds. People have been doing it for 20 years now. The 6 month internship is longer but there is a wide array of offerings and locations (including local).

For my field, computer science, people around me always say C.M. is the best.

If you are getting an MBA and another degree the MBA is going to trump the other degree. It may be true that CMU has a better comp sci program than MIT but do you think Tepper compares to Sloan in terms of MBA? Didnt think so. Honestly, I think that while the dual degrees are an interesting idea I decided for a straight MBA because I felt that taking more business classes was important to my career than another engingeering degree. I dont plan on working as an engineer anymore so there is little benefit in that degree to me.

Being a CS&E major myself, many of my classmates went to work for engineering companies (defense, computer hardware). The idea I got from them was as such: there are really two ways to move up as an engineer. One is to become an expert in your sub-field; many people I know went back to get a Masters. The other is to go into management, which usually means you won't use your engineering background as much, so your UG is more than sufficient. Incidentally, the CEO of Northrop is a Phd in Engineering.

In the end, for myself, and I think many people going to BSchool, it is a way to diversify yourself. Dual Degree programs sound great on paper, but I'm curious to know how much of the additional knowledge you gain is really all that relevant. Like other posters, I think 1 degree trumps the other and almost minimizes its significance. I myself was considering a dual degree program myself (Erb @ Ross) but am not so sure.

Regardless, thanks for the heads up.

I agree that one degree will be more prevelanty than the other. The important factor to keep in mind here is that a dual degree is also a way to seperate yourself from the thousands of other MBAs. Distinguishing yourself will be especially important in the stellar economy we are in.

I think it comes down to what you plan on doing after school, what you did before, and what your real interests are. The dual degree is definitely a good idea for some people and not so much for others. Look at your career goal and ask yourself if you honestly think another engineering degree will help you. True some companies do value the added degree and uniqueness but what classes are going to make you a better employee which will have a bigger impact on your future career.

Since I am pretty confident my job afterwards is not going to require engineering knowledge (hardly any that recruit on campus actually do), and my technical background is pretty strong already I felt the greatest weaknesses for me are my business skills. These also are going to be what my future relies on. As a manager you are going to spend more time reviewing financial data than heavy duty technical specs...thats what the engineers are for. So being able to eliminate as many of those weaknesses as I can will allow me to hit the ground running and I feel I will be more effective at my job which once I get hired is more important.

If you have 24 classes you can take during your 2 years but a dual degree requires a good portion of them to be engineering related I think you might not fill in all the wholes in your business knowledge. Remember different dual programs are different. MITs is straight up you get and MS in an engineering field where as Kellogg's and Ross's are a masters of engineering management. A big pro of MITs is you can pick what type of engineering you want to do. Pro of Kellogg/Ross is that its more management focused than hardcore engineering skills, so it relates to the MBA more.

I would say the most common masters degree for people to have here already is an MS in some sort of engineering field. So I tend to think that there is a reason they are coming back for the MBA. Heck I know some MMM's who already have masters of engineering.

Riverripper, I agree with some of what you saying. Most people probably will only use one degree after graduation, but most MS in Engineering programs are geared more towards engineering management than the fundamental concepts learned in undergrad. Most dual degree programs are an MBA AND another degree, not an MBA/MS in XYZ. Some programs do have some overlap in the classes, but most of them require you do the full requirements of each degree individually.

Every MBA has focused on their business skills. The dual program just provides something additional to distinguish yourself from evrry other MBA. All areas of business are starting to recruit from graduate programs in the sciences today for a reason. As business competition get tougher, higher level mathematics and concepts are needed. Scientific concepts are increasingly being applied in business to solve problems. Companies like the possibility of a different perspective that a non MBA degree offers. The one question to ask is, will a second degree hurt your career options upon graduation from an MBA program? You may never use the second degree, but I cannot see any way in which it will work against you.

I second you. Won't the LFM be a great program for someone looking to jump into entrepreneurship? Somebody looking to start up a high tech company a few years down the line?

Just my 2 cents on this issue.

One of the main reasons I am applying for an MBA is because of my desire to be viewed as more than a techie(my undergrad is in CS, masters is in systems engineering). Today's workplace is hurting a lot more for qualified engineers and programmers than it is for managers. It's not a case of smart MBA's not providing value, just supply vs demand. This doesn't look likely to change in the near future. For anyone looking to go into consulting, my experience has shown me that if someone has an equivalent background in tech vs management and are on a project that needs both, they will be assigned to the tech role much more often. So with that said, I would be sure before taking part in such a program that you are very, very sure you see yourself working on tech projects and don't mind at the least occasionally having to abandon a more managerial role to go into the trenches. Can you really blame a client insisting on using that person's related skills if he/she has an engineering masters from MIT?

That said, I'm a Sloan R1 applicant myself, so I suppose take all the above w/ a grain of salt.

Sure. Its not for people who have no inclination of doing technology. It wont make sense for someone wanting to be an IBanker, but it would be great for someone who is interested in high tech/entrepreneurship/VC.
And in any case most people applying to Sloan I believe are engineers at heart.

Oh the second degree never will hurt you...as long as you get all the actual business classes you need in during your 2 years then it makes complete sense. The LFM is great for a select group of people but it is also tiny so it is very hard for those folks to get in, thus it has a ton of demand. The really long internship is interesting too...sometimes I think it would be nice to have a longer internship to really get an idea of what you would be jumping into. A company can do a good sell job for two months but 6 months would be a bit much.

Doing one of these programs has one big advantage that I dont think has been brought up...the network it provides. Since they are pretty small programs, alums are going to be pretty supportive of students that contact. So if people out of a program go into companies you are interested in then if you reach out there are much more likely to really be helpful.