Which MBA?

[ordway]

well there is quite frankly a stark if not distinct difference between the top 10 and top 100.
So correspondingly this has an impact on job hunting as well
its good that people go in with this expectations early on.... unfortunately, MBAs are not made equal

This is so true. In most cases, having an MBA from a top 10 school may open doors that are closed to some people, especially engineers trying to get into finance, or people in middle/back office trying to get into front office in investment banks.

Beyond that, and you get into murky ground on whether the opportunity cost (cost of the MBA program AND the cost of lost income + career progression) is worth the certification.

Ask yourself why you want to get an MBA in your target school, why now, and how you see the MBA helping you in your career. Research the placement of past cohorts at these schools and see if you have a likelihood of finding a job in the field that interests you.

Talk to alumni if possible (reach out and find an old-boy/girl network in your country, there's always someone willing to reach out to a candidate) and get their thoughts.

Again, taking the MBA is a costly and momentous career decision. Understand why you need it and you won't regret your decision later. As a side bonus, researching the schools will also help your application and interview assuming that entry is competitive.

 

[mdaspro]

Hi,
I am currently based in Singapore and having 11 yrs exp in engineering (Oil & Gas). I am interested in MBA at Strathclyde. I am also considering Hull MBA. Is it worth doing comparing with Strathclyde?? I mean to say about recognition. In this forum anybody hardly talking about Hull MBA. So I am bit sceptical about that. Please advice.

 

[Ciscoboiboi]

Hi,
I am currently based in Singapore and having 11 yrs exp in engineering (Oil & Gas). I am interested in MBA at Strathclyde. I am also considering Hull MBA. Is it worth doing comparing with Strathclyde?? I mean to say about recognition. In this forum anybody hardly talking about Hull MBA. So I am bit sceptical about that. Please advice.

Go for NTU bah

 

[sukkieman]

well, i am currently studying my ACCA and would like to study an MBA in future. my brother on the other hand, is a NTU NBS degree holder and a CFA. and he is also looking for an MBA. thing thing he mention is, there should only be four choices of MBA we should look out for in singapore, namely, NTU, NUS, SMU and Insead. the rest is actually, as he claim, close to useless if we are aiming for a high rank executive in any MNCs.

i am also quite concern with the standard require to get in, cost wise is still secondary as i am willing to sell my car and shares to fork out the money... can i reapply if i failed the initial interview? or can i even get there with just a professional qualification?

if i failed to apply, should i even consider other MBA? or should graduate diploma be a choice as well?

 

[Victorlamb]

Anyone can advise on EMBA University of Hull??

Dear all ,

am looking at EMBA offered by University Of Hull.

i feel is pretty gd as it Is Triple Accreditation and the fees are rather attractive..

i think Kaplan is quite establish too..

Anyone can give some advise?

thanks..

 

[knight80]

Actually, I still couldn't decide between a Manchester MBA or a local uni - NUS/SMU.

The reason why I chose Manchester because it has an official direct office and classroom in singapore and allow overseas students from other center to attend workshops in singapore. The other UK MBAs are through a 'middle man' training center. Just like Insead, CSB and ESSEC also has direct presence in singapore. And the fact that Spring MDS scholarship only support a list of selected universities - INSEAD, Manchester, NUS, NTU and SMU, so it seems to show the manchester seems to be recognized by government.

There is one thing I do not like the local uni is that my feeling tell me the local uni MBA programmes tend to accept quite alot overseas student from (you know especially that 2 particular countries) sorry no offence here, but this is the kind of feeling the schools give me. I studied my undergraduate studies in NUS, so I roughly know... I feel that the overseas student make up around 50% and they are the ppl who score well in gmat but maybe less working experience eg only 2-3 yrs. These are the ppl who can score v high GMAT and they will help to pull up the rank of the schools through gmat score and pull up difference in before/after MBA pay. (The starting pay from overseas students before MBA may be lower). It give me the feeling the locals are minority in the class. Those who studied MBA in NUS/NTU/SMU, pls correct me if my intuitions are wrong.

On the other hand, I find the UK MBAs in Singapore, eg Manchester, Strathclyde, it give me the feeling that there are more locals, mainly experienced ppl at least more than 4 or 5 yrs working experience and who have managed to save up the money to self-finance. These are the kind of ppl I tend to respect and I would like to interact with during class - a more matured audience.

 

[Antz621]

There is one thing I do not like the local uni is that my feeling tell me the local uni MBA programmes tend to accept quite alot overseas student from (you know especially that 2 particular countries) sorry no offence here, but this is the kind of feeling the schools give me. I studied my undergraduate studies in NUS, so I roughly know... I feel that the overseas student make up around 50% and they are the ppl who score well in gmat but maybe less working experience eg only 2-3 yrs. These are the ppl who can score v high GMAT and they will help to pull up the rank of the schools through gmat score and pull up difference in before/after MBA pay. (The starting pay from overseas students before MBA may be lower). It give me the feeling the locals are minority in the class. Those who studied MBA in NUS/NTU/SMU, pls correct me if my intuitions are wrong.

On the other hand, I find the UK MBAs in Singapore, eg Manchester, Strathclyde, it give me the feeling that there are more locals, mainly experienced ppl at least more than 4 or 5 yrs working experience and who have managed to save up the money to self-finance. These are the kind of ppl I tend to respect and I would like to interact with during class - a more matured audience.

I just started my 2nd Post Grad PT cse in NTU and I must say; I fully concur with you! It's a disappointment of catastrophic magnitude to find that the class is made up of 60% Cheena; 20% Ah Nehs and the remainder other MINORITIES like LOCALS and some other nationalities. Almost all of those cheena students (as in 95%!) are fresh B.Eng grads who are literally leechers with no experience to share. And those ah nehs are trying to paint themselves smart by asking questions of unbelievably low standard in class. Yet they are also very fast to associate themselves with "useful" characters that they can find in the class. "Useful" in the sense those folks they approached are local students already working in big MNCs and for obvious reasons, they are perfect leechers' magnet. The first assignment that comes along is worth only 10%. The standard is comparable to what I did in my 1st post grad course as a "group discussion topic in class" but which the Cheenas are finding it a rocket science affair to complete. And best of all the lecturer goes on praising China mkt this good that good. After I am done "collecting" this local cert, the next post grad would definitely be back to distance learning courses again! At least I am sure the high course fee would be a good deterrence against those leechers and I would probably be a lot better off benefiting by learning and sharing with fellow working adults!

 

[PlanetHollywood]

I just started my 2nd Post Grad PT cse in NTU and I must say; I fully concur with you! It's a disappointment of catastrophic magnitude to find that the class is made up of 60% Cheena; 20% Ah Nehs and the remainder other MINORITIES like LOCALS and some other nationalities. Almost all of those cheena students (as in 95%!) are fresh B.Eng grads who are literally leechers with no experience to share. And those ah nehs are trying to paint themselves smart by asking questions of unbelievably low standard in class. Yet they are also very fast to associate themselves with "useful" characters that they can find in the class. "Useful" in the sense those folks they approached are local students already working in big MNCs and for obvious reasons, they are perfect leechers' magnet. The first assignment that comes along is worth only 10%. The standard is comparable to what I did in my 1st post grad course as a "group discussion topic in class" but which the Cheenas are finding it a rocket science affair to complete. And best of all the lecturer goes on praising China mkt this good that good. After I am done "collecting" this local cert, the next post grad would definitely be back to distance learning courses again! At least I am sure the high course fee would be a good deterrence against those leechers and I would probably be a lot better off benefiting by learning and sharing with fellow working adults!

thanks for sharing! I think you've just confirmed something many have suspected

 

[Emo_Rhino]

depends on wat u want... if u want to network with Singaporeans then go DL, if u want to get the SMU, NUS, NTU brandname then go for the local uni. The local uni also have career services centre which can help ppl who want to change career. SMU's career services i would think is one of the best, but content wise, NUS or NTU is more established.

 

[mochi_cake]

which MBA

I agree with Antz621 that there are a lot of foreign students in our local universities full-time MBA programme.

It is good to go for the MBA after a few years of working experience. Then you will find the things you have learnt to be very applicable for your work. You will find more locals in the part-time programme.

I was also deciding between which MBA programme to choose from last year. A MBA programme is not cheap and we have to carefully consider the Return-On-Investment (ROI). No point spending $120k on an executive MBA if you find your salary only increases marginally after the programme.

Overseas MBA are good experience and you will only get your returns if you stay in that country and continue working. No point getting an overseas MBA and coming back to Singapore unless it is sponsored by the organisation. I have a friend who graduated from a top German business school last year, after spending $95k, came back and is unable to secure a job for 8 months.

When it comes to deciding which local part-time MBA to choose from, find one that will not interfere with your career development and increase your network. I just share some of the considerations when deciding on the programme below:
adelaide-mba-in-singapore.blogspot.com/2010/05/selecting-mba-programme.html

 

[Emo_Rhino]

I think the ROI depends on many factors. what industry u r in, what is ur age, what is ur financial situation etc. e.g. if u r changing industries, the ROI wun be great as ur previous exp is not relevant.

For branded schs, I think its abit unfair to measure ROI based on starting pay. Take for example starting pay for docs in sg is abt the same whether u graduated from NUS or Cambridge. But if finances permit, parents wun hesitate to send their children to Cambridge for medical studies.

Sometimes the branding of branded schs comes only in the long run. As supervisors or management, they will normally meet once every year to discuss about internal promotions. Besides a person's work performance, your education background may give u an edge over ur competitor during these discussions. It also depends whether your company values Masters too because your boss with a degree may view your masters as a threat to succeeding him but thats another topic for another day under office politics.

 

[vbhelper]

How come now psb no more offer MBA from Uni of western Aus?

 

[Maxifl75]

Hi Guys,

I'm considering of taking American MBA too. Anybody familiar with Rutgers EMBA?

 

[knight80]

Hi Guys,

I'm considering of taking American MBA too. Anybody familiar with Rutgers EMBA?

I saw the class schedule before, it's require completion of 1 module per month and taking 1 exam per month consecutively for 14 1/2 months, sounds like v fast pace to me.

Hmm...the schedule looks like it's for busy executives to quickly obtain EMBA certificate asap, so as to move up to take on a senior executive role. It may not be helpful for career switching cases, but i think generally EMBA is not helpful for mid-career switching, it's meant for senior executive.

 

[knight80]

Hi ppl,

I am just curious, did anyone or heard of anyone ever got rejected by manchester, strathclyde, etc before ? I just got an offer from manchester, but it seems to give me the impression that these schools are quite easy to get in, as compared to local schools like NUS/SMU/NTU (mainly due to GMAT I guess ?).

Anyone aware of cases where people managed to receive offers from local schools NUS/SMU with low GMAT score (eg 550-600) ? Because I didn't really do well in my GMAT but I am trying my luck to apply. I always have the impression they only accept good GMAT candidates eg at least 620 and above, even with good working experiences and 2nd upper hons local uni, it does not help much.

 

[Emo_Rhino]

Hi ppl,

I am just curious, did anyone or heard of anyone ever got rejected by manchester, strathclyde, etc before ? I just got an offer from manchester, but it seems to give me the impression that these schools are quite easy to get in, as compared to local schools like NUS/SMU/NTU (mainly due to GMAT I guess ?).

Anyone aware of cases where people managed to receive offers from local schools NUS/SMU with low GMAT score (eg 550-600) ? Because I didn't really do well in my GMAT but I am trying my luck to apply. I always have the impression they only accept good GMAT candidates eg at least 620 and above, even with good working experiences and 2nd upper hons local uni, it does not help much.

u r talking abt Manchester MBA in sg or the one in Manchester? I think the one in sg is easier to get in the one in the UK.

 

[knight80]

u r talking abt Manchester MBA in sg or the one in Manchester? I think the one in sg is easier to get in the one in the UK.

Ya, the Manchester (MBS) MBA in SG. I initially chose it because i appreciate it's the only UK MBA which has direct office/branch in SG, and it's not through 3rd party education center.

Can I kindly ask for some opinions, if one who is already in management level and is offered a MBS MBA (SG) placement and a local Uni SMU MBA placement, both part-time and course fees about the same price ($50K ++), which would you likely to take up ? Thx man

p/s: actually, once i think of the school fees, i begin to sweat, the amt can already be used to settle my car loan payment in full.

 

[knight80]

u r talking abt Manchester MBA in sg or the one in Manchester? I think the one in sg is easier to get in the one in the UK.

Ya, the Manchester (MBS) MBA in SG. I initially chose it because i appreciate it's the only UK MBA which has direct office/branch in SG, and it's not through 3rd party education center.

Can I kindly ask for some opinions, if one who is already in management level and is offered a MBS MBA (SG) placement and a local Uni SMU MBA placement, both part-time and course fees about the same price ($50K ++), which would you likely to take up ? Thx man

p/s: actually, once i think of the school fees, i begin to sweat, the amt can already be used to settle my car loan payment in full.

 

[knight80]

Sorry, please ignore my second double post, it got re-posted when I clicked back in my browser

 

[Antz621]

Ya, the Manchester (MBS) MBA in SG. I initially chose it because i appreciate it's the only UK MBA which has direct office/branch in SG, and it's not through 3rd party education center.

Can I kindly ask for some opinions, if one who is already in management level and is offered a MBS MBA (SG) placement and a local Uni SMU MBA placement, both part-time and course fees about the same price ($50K ++), which would you likely to take up ? Thx man

p/s: actually, once i think of the school fees, i begin to sweat, the amt can already be used to settle my car loan payment in full.

Have you ever been to their preview session? I guessed you did right? How does it feels after walking out of it?

My first feeling was it's too commercialized. They seems to be after sales KPI only. It's the longest course with the most expensive price tag. Sometimes I really wonder if it's worth pursing it just for the brandsake...