S3E9: How to Choose Between MBA Programs
Today's question of the week- "How do I choose between different types of MBA programs?”
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Today's question of the week- “How do I choose between different types of MBA programs?"
In this episode of the "Admittedly" podcast, host Thomas Caleel explores the different types of MBA programs available: full-time, part-time or executive, online, and early career. He provides insights into how to choose the right program based on your career goals, timing, and personal circumstances.
Summary of Key Points:
1. Full-Time MBA Programs: Full-time MBAs are immersive, two-year programs ideal for individuals in their mid-20s who are looking to make a career change or deepen their expertise in a particular industry. The program offers intense networking opportunities, deep friendships, and a chance to focus solely on personal and professional growth.
2. Part-Time and Executive MBA Programs: These programs are designed for working professionals who wish to advance their careers while maintaining their current employment. Although intense due to the need to balance work, studies, and personal life, they provide valuable networking opportunities and can often be employer-sponsored.
3. Online MBA Programs: Online MBAs are flexible options for individuals who cannot afford to take time off work or need to balance other responsibilities. These programs offer the same educational benefits as traditional MBAs, allowing students to gain skills and knowledge at their own pace while continuing to work.
4. Early Career MBA Programs: Programs like Harvard's two-plus-two allow students to secure an MBA seat early in their careers, often immediately after undergrad. While this offers a fast track to an MBA, students may miss out on some networking opportunities and the maturity that comes with work experience.
5. Importance of Timing and Goals: Choosing the right MBA program requires careful consideration of your current career stage, goals, and personal circumstances. It's essential to maximize the return on your MBA investment by selecting a program that aligns with your professional and personal life.
Thomas Caleel emphasizes the importance of understanding your motivations and timing when choosing an MBA program. Whether full-time, part-time, online, or early career, each program offers unique advantages that can significantly impact your career and personal development.
Have your own question you want answered? Leave us a comment on social media @admittedlypodcast for a chance to be featured.
About Thomas Caleel:
Thomas is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania. After earning his MBA at the Wharton School of Business in 2003, he moved to Silicon Valley. For three years, he was Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at Wharton. He worked closely with admissions professionals, students, alumni, and professors to curate the best possible MBA class. Thomas has been an entrepreneur his entire life in the fields of finance, agriculture, wellness, and sporting goods. As the founder of Global Education Opportunities LLC, he works as a high-level admissions advisor to help families and students achieve their education goals. Thomas started the podcast Admittedly because he is passionate about demystifying the application process for all parents and applicants.
Related Links
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Welcome to the Admittedly Podcast. I'm your host, Thomas Caleel, and today we're talking MBA programs, specifically the four types of different MBA programs available: full-time, part-time or executive, online, and early career. It's very important as you're considering an MBA to think about the type of MBA that suits you best. I always encourage people to ask themselves the following question, why do I want an MBA? Why is now the right time in my career? Why is this the right school and in this case, the right type of program, and how will it help me achieve my short-term and long-term goals?
So let's talk about first the full-time MBA. Full-time MBA, which is what I did at the Wharton School, is very intense. You take two years off of your career. It is expensive. You have to pay tuition. You have two years opportunity cost. There's no guarantee, unless you're a sponsored MBA candidate, that you'll have a job at the end. And as somebody who entered school in 2001 right into the jaws of one of the great recessions, I can tell you, it's very terrifying to be making that investment in yourself and watching the second-year students lose their return job offers.
There was a lot of a lot of very, very angry, sad, upset people wandering Vance Hall at the time. Everything worked out for them, but it was a tough time to be an MBA student. So what I would say for full-time is full-time gives you probably the greatest networking effect. You're with these people for two years. You know them very, very well. You're in class with them every day. You're doing projects together, you're socializing together, you're having a lot of fun. You're doing clubs, activities. So it's, it's a pressure cooker, it's two years of just way more than you can possibly do in a day, but you're managing to do it and going out at night and having fun, and it's wonderful. I made lifelong friends. The godfather of one of my children is a cohort made of mine from Wharton. So these are deep and lasting friendships that as I travel around the world, I still see people and now wonderfully, I get to talk to their children about education. And it's this full circle moment that is, that is great, but certainly full time is good for you. If you're generally in your mid-20s, if you are looking to sometimes make a career change, maybe you're an entrepreneur, like I was looking to go into a more traditional route, which I didn't end up doing. That's a story for another time.
Maybe you're you've been in consulting or marketing, and you'd like to transition into finance or hedge funds or venture capital, or even start your own company full-time, this is a way for you to really kind of step back and focus and focus on that transition, especially if you're changing industries. It's a lot of work. It's not like you can just go to a top MBA program and every bank in the world is going to be chasing you to come. Please come work for them. You really have to brush up on the industry, on what aspect of the industry you want to work on. You need to network. You need to go, oftentimes, to New York or San Francisco or London or wherever it is that you want to work and get to know the people at the bank. Go to the recruiting events. And in the fall, when the recruiting events happen, it's very easy to neglect your schoolwork, which is not good when you're trying to recruit later, but it really is your opportunity to step back and focus on yourself for two years. It's a really, really unique chance for you to take your academics seriously learn and really have a good time with it.
A part-time or executive MBA is different, right? You are going part-time, it's still over, generally, over a year period. So it's intense because you're working full-time, but then in the evenings, you're doing group projects on Zoom, usually every few weekends, you need to fly in and spend a couple of days on campus working. So the commitment for a part-time MBA is intense. If you have a family, if you have a senior position in a company, it is a lot to balance. And so a lot of times executive MBAs, part-time MBAs, those are sponsored students. And many times those. Are students that are not necessarily looking to trans– to change careers, but are looking to get a leg up in their current organization, they've been sometimes marked for higher management potential, and the company is investing in them and saying, we're going to send you to an Executive MBA Program. We want you to learn once you get the education, once you get the stamp, and also build the networks. There are a lot of network networking opportunities to be had. And part-time, you just need to work a little bit harder, because you're not together all the time, and people have, obviously, families, careers, things that are pulling at them. And so it's something I think you need to think about very carefully, because, yes, you're hedged in the sense that you're still making a salary while you're at an MBA, but you give up some of the intensity and relationships that you get in a full-time MBA.
And so again, “why is this the right program for you?” is a very critical question. In part-time, there are online-only MBAs and an online-only MBA, I could see being relevant, for example, if you are at a company or in a career you would like to change out of they're not going to support you to do that you can't afford, or you're a little bit hesitant to take two years off and the opportunity cost of that and fully immerse yourself. And you say, “You know what? I'm going to do this online. I'm gonna do it on nights and weekends, and I'm going to get the education and the skills, and then I'm going to use my own natural hustle to create opportunities with this degree to better myself, advance myself. Maybe start my own company.” Right? Maybe I need to learn about finance and marketing and strategies so that I can launch my own company. And I need, but I need to keep this existing job. Maybe I have a family. Maybe I just can't afford to, you know, not have an income for two years, and that's a very important option as well.
The final thing I want to talk about is what I refer to as an early career MBA. Harvard is the school that pioneered this with their two plus two program. And basically what that program said is that you apply your senior year of undergrad, you take two years. You're guaranteed a seat in the class. You can matriculate immediately into the MBA program. You can wait one year or wait two years, and Harvard also provided internships. They partnered–very, very immensely smart program–rhey partnered with a lot of top employers in Silicon Valley and in Manhattan, and they gave students an opportunity. They said, “Okay, if you go to Google and you say, ‘I was admitted to Harvard two plus two’, they will usually have an internship opportunity for you, so you can work there for two years and then come to the MBA program, you're guaranteed a seat and you get your MBA.” A lot of other schools have followed their lead. They have some version of this, early career MBA, direct matriculation or delayed matriculation. And, you know, look for the right student. It's a great thing. I know Wharton has always had a sub-matriculation program where Wharton undergrads could do their bachelor's, their BS and their MBA in five years. And I'll tell you what, those students were so insanely smart that they lit up the room when they walked in, just from sheer brain power. But I think the timing on this is really critical, because a lot of students, when they're in undergrad, they're in a hurry. They want to get it over with.
And what I will tell you is, in general, you can only do your MBA once, and a critical part of the MBA is the networking. When I was at Wharton, I did a trial program with Janet Hanson, who is this absolutely pioneering, amazing woman who founded an organization called 85 Broads, which was a play on the name of 85 Broad Street, which was Goldman Sachs's address in lower Manhattan, and it was for women in finance. She broadened it out a little bit. And she kind of called my–called me out one day and said, through one of our students, and said, “Listen, you know, you can't just admit students who are–28 years old women have a very different decision matrix, and so you're not taking that into account.” And we talked, we talked, we talked, and I said, “You know what? You're right? So we're gonna do a pilot program. I'm gonna admit some direct out-of-undergrad women and see how they do.”
And by and large, they all came back and they said, “Listen, this program was exceptional. It was great. We really appreciate the opportunity. The problem is, and we heard this not just from these women, but from other early career young men that we had admitted. They said, “Look, we just, we thought we were ready, but we really missed a lot of the networking effects.” Why? Because 28-year-olds, some of whom are married, even have children. You know, 30-year-olds, we didn't really have a lot in common with them. We didn't have that much to contribute during classroom discussion. Classes, and so we were kind of on the outside during the classes. We didn't really fit into the social life. And so did we make friends? Of course, we did. But had we just taken a couple years to get a little bit of experience and mature, a little bit, we would have had a much more compelling networking experience and contribution experience at the MBA program. And so I think it's really important.
You know, obviously everybody is different, and so you need to step back and think about what is the right time for me, and what am I trying to accomplish if I'm going into, for example, a family business? Well, yes, maybe the answer is to get everything done and then go right back and work, but think carefully. You get one chance at this, you really want to do it in a way that maximizes your experience, maximizes your enjoyment, maximizes your network effects, and at the end, maximizes the return on your investment.
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