Which MBA?

watashidictator

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
865
Reaction score
0
been a while since i contribute in here and kinda feel compelled to given the comments here

i grad from where some will consider a reasonably good school. it is usually ranked in the top 10 or top 5 mba program worldwide in financial times, businessweek or economist. I took time off work and spent 200k

i want to confirm ROI that Patryn mentioned is spot on
and since Bain is mentioned (i almost joined them), there was a Bain managing partner that came from my school and i quote him "get into the best school and it will pay off by itself within a year or 2." To me the determinant of when you can pay off is dependent on your job industry and continent post MBA. Some job opportunities will obviously pay off earlier

without referring to outliers, this is an industry where what you pay gives you equal return or better return. there is a difference between a 40k mba and a 200k mba. The opportunities are significantly different. The easiest analogy is this, a 40k mba opens 10 silver doors for you vs a 200k mba opens 50 golden doors for you; so you are paying for options

academic wise, it really isnt much difference. You get good professors in most schools, the main difference (to me) is that you get more famous lecturers in top schools. eg in some schools you are taught by the authors of the textbooks that other schools are using. and you get a varied group of occasional speakers too. In my year the highlight was Warren Buffet giving a lecture to only my MBA class. And it is not uncommon for Alan Greenspan to drop by Stern in the past. So academic material is usually the same but the person delivering it is different. and btw the authors are not necessarily better teachers but they articulate their thoughts better.

in short i am saying that the price of the MBA does impact your future career roles and the experience you get out of the program is vastly different. A short term view on cash needs is sometimes ignoring medium to long terms returns although you still have to get in first. :)

huat ah... generally biz education and textbooks are the same...

as for guest speakers, u can even view all these lectures on youtube...

but employers still pay $$ for mba grads, even if their undergrad is from uni of manila or uni of swailand.:s13::s13:
 

patryn33

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
23,203
Reaction score
80
huat ah... generally biz education and textbooks are the same...

as for guest speakers, u can even view all these lectures on youtube...

but employers still pay $$ for mba grads, even if their undergrad is from uni of manila or uni of swailand.:s13::s13:

yes employer still pay $$ the million qns is how much these grads vs your typical top 10 MBA Uni! :s22:

even employer hire a person to clean up toilet also pay $$. since when is hiring free? volunteer isn't hiring leh.

U can certainly view these guest speakers online but U are offer the opportunity to ask qns. MBA is about interaction.. not your typical elementary school style edu.. just sit, shut up and listen! :s13:
 

fsg316

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
17,052
Reaction score
287
huat ah... generally biz education and textbooks are the same...

as for guest speakers, u can even view all these lectures on youtube...

but employers still pay $$ for mba grads, even if their undergrad is from uni of manila or uni of swailand.:s13::s13:

I'll let you in on a little secret. This is something sinkies from NUS/NTU will never understand.

This is called the alumni network. Attending a top tier school and graduating as an alum, is like joining a gang or the mafia.

For job opportunities, alumni will help fellow alums, and also tend to hire fellow alums. That piece of paper that you graduate with is like your gang membership card.

And NO, merely "attending" a top tier school on an exchange program, from NUS/NTU, does NOT count.

The only local institution that I see at least attempting to establish some semblance of gang membership is SMU. But they still have ways to go.
 

djlowballer

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
The local MBAs require candidate to have a min 2 year working experience. So they are not fresh graduates.

SMU admit whomever to fill in the seats. The current fulltime crop has a few less than 2 years experience, most under 3. The PT cohort averages 8+.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
182
Reaction score
0
I'll let you in on a little secret. This is something sinkies from NUS/NTU will never understand.

This is called the alumni network. Attending a top tier school and graduating as an alum, is like joining a gang or the mafia.

For job opportunities, alumni will help fellow alums, and also tend to hire fellow alums. That piece of paper that you graduate with is like your gang membership card.

And NO, merely "attending" a top tier school on an exchange program, from NUS/NTU, does NOT count.

The only local institution that I see at least attempting to establish some semblance of gang membership is SMU. But they still have ways to go.

Your secret is no secret at all. Singapore just drank 2 bottles of koolaid 1. That meritocracy is real 2. That it's 1965 and studying hard and getting good grades will get you a good job so any paper is better than no paper. Psst! Toilet paper 3-ply is the best paper. Works as promised, hurts no butts...
 

dareaper

Supremacy Member
Joined
May 22, 2003
Messages
7,595
Reaction score
274

Why would you want to do an online mba? The networking that you get for online studies is probably going to be not too good, which kinda negate a key factor of mba. Not sure what kind of opportunities you get for on campus recruiting with the online program too. If you are planning to leverage on the imperial brand name, imperial MBA is at best considered tier 2, and depending on what you want the MBA to do for you, it may or may not be worth the money.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
182
Reaction score
0
You said everything faster than I can type it. Goes to show I'm right. The government can do its top down academics are not the be all and end all and you will have people like that asking because any paper is better than no paper.

If I were toilet paper, I would be very pissed to be classified along with all the other papers.
 

goodchong

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2002
Messages
334
Reaction score
20
If you are looking for online MBA , you may consider IE-SMU. Comparable school fee plus IE MBA has better ranking than imperial MBA,
 

Genesisz

Master Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
3,254
Reaction score
0
If you are looking for online MBA , you may consider IE-SMU. Comparable school fee plus IE MBA has better ranking than imperial MBA,

There was another one from the US. Apparently, it was mentioned in this thread but that one is reputable and expensive.
 

Genesisz

Master Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
3,254
Reaction score
0
Your secret is no secret at all. Singapore just drank 2 bottles of koolaid 1. That meritocracy is real 2. That it's 1965 and studying hard and getting good grades will get you a good job so any paper is better than no paper. Psst! Toilet paper 3-ply is the best paper. Works as promised, hurts no butts...

This one got depth and really well written.
 

vesfreq

Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2001
Messages
194
Reaction score
0
been a while since i contribute in here and kinda feel compelled to given the comments here

i grad from where some will consider a reasonably good school. it is usually ranked in the top 10 or top 5 mba program worldwide in financial times, businessweek or economist. I took time off work and spent 200k

i want to confirm ROI that Patryn mentioned is spot on
and since Bain is mentioned (i almost joined them), there was a Bain managing partner that came from my school and i quote him "get into the best school and it will pay off by itself within a year or 2." To me the determinant of when you can pay off is dependent on your job industry and continent post MBA. Some job opportunities will obviously pay off earlier

without referring to outliers, this is an industry where what you pay gives you equal return or better return. there is a difference between a 40k mba and a 200k mba. The opportunities are significantly different. The easiest analogy is this, a 40k mba opens 10 silver doors for you vs a 200k mba opens 50 golden doors for you; so you are paying for options

academic wise, it really isnt much difference. You get good professors in most schools, the main difference (to me) is that you get more famous lecturers in top schools. eg in some schools you are taught by the authors of the textbooks that other schools are using. and you get a varied group of occasional speakers too. In my year the highlight was Warren Buffet giving a lecture to only my MBA class. And it is not uncommon for Alan Greenspan to drop by Stern in the past. So academic material is usually the same but the person delivering it is different. and btw the authors are not necessarily better teachers but they articulate their thoughts better.

in short i am saying that the price of the MBA does impact your future career roles and the experience you get out of the program is vastly different. A short term view on cash needs is sometimes ignoring medium to long terms returns although you still have to get in first. :)

I have to agree. In the MBA program I took, Patrick McNutt was one of the lecturers for economics. And, for that particular intake, the economics module was very full. Guest speakers add value in different ways, especially in terms of the experience sharing. Though I didn't have the luxury of having Greenspan to give talks during class. That would have been epic.

The last part about the price is exactly right. The future value of a "good" MBA has many intangible benefits. To quote another forum writer here, its like a ritual to get inducted into certain "mafia" or societies.

One of the usual comments I get from some fellow alumni is "lucky finish sooner" or "better to have done it than never".

Also, starting earlier means more energy to make it through.
 

kaixin18

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2012
Messages
750
Reaction score
56
just asking

sorry can ask something. im an FASS graduate. many of my friends from finance and law background are doing or have done MBA. What is the purpose of doing an MBA? I can understand if you have a finance background and you want to do MBA cos it's related? but why do lawyers do MBA? is there a need to? and going back to me, does it make sense for an FASS grad to do an MBA?
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
182
Reaction score
0
Lawyers Are business men first, Lawyers second if and when they are made partner.

By then, they would have spent their whole adult life learning about the law only. They cannot go back to undergraduate level business school so they end up doing MBA hoping the hot housing will more than make up for having chased and lived in a bubble much of their student and working life that has now burst.

Does this answer your first question?

As for you being an FASS graduate, only you can chart where your career goes, and if further studies in the form of an MBA is absolutely necessary.

sorry can ask something. im an FASS graduate. many of my friends from finance and law background are doing or have done MBA. What is the purpose of doing an MBA? I can understand if you have a finance background and you want to do MBA cos it's related? but why do lawyers do MBA? is there a need to? and going back to me, does it make sense for an FASS grad to do an MBA?
 
Last edited:

kaixin18

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2012
Messages
750
Reaction score
56
thanks

Lawyers Are business men first, Lawyers second if and when they are made partner.

By then, they would have spent their whole adult life learning about the law only. They cannot go back to undergraduate level business school so they end up doing MBA hoping the hot housing will more than make up for having chased and lived in a bubble much of their student and working life that has now burst.

Does this answer your first question?

As for you being an FASS graduate, only you can chart where your career goes, and if further studies in the form of an MBA is absolutely necessary.

thanks for your answer. has anyone actually come up with a list of top unis offering MBAs? im quite interested to know more about MBAs. I finish reading the first 50 pages of this thread. will continue reading to learn more about this.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
182
Reaction score
0
MBAs here or do you mean worldwide?

INSEAD and Adelaide are still here; not so Chicago Booth that has shifted operations to Hong Kong. There are others, however I am not inclined to recommend them not because they are no good but because the reputation of the schools in their own home states are....bleh.

Overseas you have the standard Wharton, Havard, Stamford, Cambridge, Oxford etc. Be prepared for the time and $$$ commitment if and when you do seriously consider applying and will do anything to accumulate the 7 years working experience to get there.

thanks for your answer. has anyone actually come up with a list of top unis offering MBAs? im quite interested to know more about MBAs. I finish reading the first 50 pages of this thread. will continue reading to learn more about this.
 
Last edited:

intime

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Messages
1,885
Reaction score
1
thanks for your answer. has anyone actually come up with a list of top unis offering MBAs? im quite interested to know more about MBAs. I finish reading the first 50 pages of this thread. will continue reading to learn more about this.

For full-time MBA, you can make use of FT Global MBA rankings or QS MBA rankings,
- http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2016
- http://www.topmba.com/mba-rankings/home

Locally in Singapore, the top MBA available is by INSEAD.
 

kaixin18

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2012
Messages
750
Reaction score
56
thanks

For full-time MBA, you can make use of FT Global MBA rankings or QS MBA rankings,
- http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2016
- http://www.topmba.com/mba-rankings/home

Locally in Singapore, the top MBA available is by INSEAD.

thanks for the links. going to look into them now. How do I activate the option of receiving notifications on this forum if someone quotes me? cos I don't receive them. I have to manually go back to look at my posts and then see if anyone quoted me.

As for private messages I receive a prompt. But not when other forum members quote me. Please tell me what to do.
 

goodchong

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2002
Messages
334
Reaction score
20
Insead only offers full time one year program, the cost fee is 71k euro which is around S$109k
If you want to minimize your opportunities cost, NUS and NTU do offer half of the amount for their part time program. Without a doubt, both are very good business schools that you could find in Singapore after Insead, but they are consider to be a tier-2 MBA program which normally ranked at the top 30-40 in most global MBA ranking.
 
Last edited:
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ Forums. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts. Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards and Terms and Conditions for more information.
Top