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Are there any 5 year MBA programs that are well known and hold a certain prestige? Though I originally thought about looking into schools with this program, I cam to formulate the opinion that in the "real world" businesses would prefer people who did the traditional MBA set up. As of now I am looking towards Ivy League schools, but I don't want to rule out the 5 year masters. ANy Suggestions?

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:16 am: Edit

An MBA is worthless unless two conditions are met:

1) You get it from an elite program. There are very few such programs (only about 15 or so). The obvious ones are, in approximate order of excellence:

Harvard, Wharton (Penn), Kellogg (Northwestern), Michigan-Ann Arbor, Stanford, Columbia, Chicago, Sloan (MIT), Fuqua (Duke), Haas (Cal-Berkeley), Tuck (Dartmouth), Carnegie Mellon, Darden (Virginia), Sloan (NYU), Anderson (UCLA), Johnson (Cornell), Yale. 10 of the 17 schools above do not offer Business as an undergraduate degree.

Other decent programs are Goizuta (Emory), Marshall (USC), Kelley (Indiana-Bloomington), Kenan-Flagler (UNC), McCombs (Texas-Austin), McDonough (Georgetown), Mendoza (Notre Dame), Smith (Maryland), Krannert (Purdue), Fisher (Ohio State), Broad (Michigan State).

Johns Hopkins, Brown, Princeton and Cal Tech do not have MBA programs or undergraduate Business courses.

Once you leave this bunch, you are not really going to benefit from an MBA as it is generaly understood.

2) You have at least 3 years of good work experience with a clear record of good performance and steady increase in responsibility.

In short, I do not recommend going straight into an MBA.

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:16 am: Edit

Tulane has a magnificent 5 year MBA program.

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:17 am: Edit

You are crazy...an MBA from a top 50 business school school will get you a great job.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:41 am: Edit

Vulcano, an MBA is always useful, but people who want to get the most out of an MBA are best served getting it from a top university.

You mentioned Tulane. Freeman (I think that's Tulane's B School) is one of the better MBA programs to be sure. But starting salaries hover around the $60,000 range, which is not much higher than the average salaries for BBA graduates at NYU or Carnegie Mellon.

And an MBA without work experience is not very beneficial. Most of what MBAs teach is based on having a sound professional background. Besides, companies that recruit MBAs usually want to see demonstrated professional ability.

By Sk6488 (Sk6488) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 01:07 pm: Edit

how do you get into a top mba program?

By Hsseniorpa (Hsseniorpa) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 01:23 pm: Edit

you have to have about 4 or 5 years of work experience, i spoke with MBA admissions counselors at Harvard, Wharton and Michigan and less than 1% of the students go directly from undergrad to B-School, you also need strong grades and high GMAT scores

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 03:09 pm: Edit

Alexandre, you are right in that, but you must also realize that alot of people can't get into those top programs.

By Kinglin2 (Kinglin2) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 05:16 pm: Edit

You don't have to go to a top school to get a good job from the MBA program. Look at Indiana Universiy, and Michigan State University, average pay outside of MBA program is $70,000+, yes it's not $100,000 like Harvard. But it doesnt hurt to get an MBA. Also *business* rank plays an important role when getting a high paying job out of a MBA program. www.businessweek.com offers an area for business colleges, shows rank, pay, what allumni thought ect...

By Kinglin2 (Kinglin2) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 05:18 pm: Edit

Also an MBA isn't a 5year program, usually around 2years. Also you need to get some work experience like what Hsseniopra said. Thats considered a part of admissions.

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 06:14 pm: Edit

kinglin, some schools offer a 5 year program in which you get a bachelors degree AND an MBA.

By Kinglin2 (Kinglin2) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:28 pm: Edit

Yea but wouldnt you be better off to do the 4yea bachelors, followed by a 2year MBA after you work? I mean as far as getting better job offers in such. Cause I dont know if youd want to hire an MBA with no work experience.

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 12:42 am: Edit

Oh yeah definitely, but I'm just saying there ARE those schools.

But just know this, if you do good at a top 50 university for undergrad, then getting into a good grad school will not be a problem.

By Thekev (Thekev) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 12:59 am: Edit

An accredited MBA from a good school will do good things for your career. A guy with an MBA from Texas A&M or Tulsa will generally get preference in the energy industry over someone with one from Mich State or UCLA. Various firms have preferences for certain schools. Brigham Young is great if you are interested in Hostpitality. A large amount depends on your career goals. Temple MBA's get access to a great network as to those of Ohio State and of Florida State. It's all about which program suits your needs. U of Kansas and U of South Car. have terrific programs and their graduates are recruited strongly.

By Bern700 (Bern700) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 01:24 am: Edit

So schools like Wharton have a submatriculation program which is a 5 year program in which you get both undergrad and MBA. However, at wharton from a class of about 500 only about 5-7 are allowed to submatriculate. Many other top schools have programs like these.

As Alexandre stated, most MBA programs want you to have 3-5 years work experience, good undergrad GPA, and high GMATS.

I'd also suggest looking into Claremont McKenna. They have a 3-2 program in which you study in an Econ,Govt,& Politics program for 3 years and then head off to Stanford for a 2 year MBA. I'v seen other schools with 3-2 programs but I can't really think of any right now other tha Claremont.

By Sk6488 (Sk6488) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 11:02 pm: Edit

is it better to major in a something other than business in undergrad and do an MBA later or better to do undergrad business.

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 02:44 am: Edit

It's very arguable, and it truly varies from MBA program to MBA program. But an often suggester pre-MBA track is Econ or Math, some like Engineering. But the truth is that many universities like undergrad business majors.

By Kk19131 (Kk19131) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 02:55 am: Edit

Do business schools like to see apps from their own students (undergrad)?

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 11:22 am: Edit

Depends on the school. I know Michigan does not like its own blood but Cornell does.

By Slipper2002 (Slipper2002) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 11:29 am: Edit

Alexandre I cannot BELIEVE how biased you are. Michigan better than Stanford, Columbia? Who are you, the Cornell/ Michigan PR guy?

By Mom101 (Mom101) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 11:30 am: Edit

Top business schools do not favor undergrad "business" majors. In fact, the most represented undergrad institutions at top business schools, ivys and top LACs, most often don't even offer business as a major. Top B schools want very smart, highly focussed achievers of all stripes.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 12:26 pm: Edit

There are three rankings that matter where Business schools are concerned:

The USNWR:
According to the USNWR, Stanford is generally anywhere between #1 and #3. Columbia is always between #6 and #9 and Michigan is always betwen #5 and #13. Michigan took a dive 2 years ago because its dean retired. That is a normal occurance with the exception of Kellogg.

Business Week (the most respected MBA ranking):
The link below speaks louder than words.
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/ranking_history00.htm

Wallstreet Journal:
http://www.collegejournal.com/bschool04/rankingsatglance/top50.html

On average, Michigan is slightly better than Stanford and Columbia, although they are all about the same really. I actually said "approximate" order, not absolute. To somebody who wants to work with startups or with a VC group, Stanford is #1. To somebody who wants to work on Wall Street, Columbia is obviously superior to Michigan. Michigan is generally better known for General Management, Strategy and Marketing.

So to answer your question, no I am not biased. I know Michigan's limitations, but unlike many here, I am not prejudiced against Michigan and Cal simply because they are state universities. Those two universities are among the top 10 universities in the US. Corporate recruiters know that, as do the top researchers and academics in the World. I would never have picked Michigan had I not known for a fact that it is one of the top 10 universities.

And by the way, I am not all that fond of Cornell. I acknowledge it is a fine university, but Cornell is not nearly as accomplished as Michigan.

By Dazed04confused (Dazed04confused) on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 02:11 pm: Edit

5 YEAR COMBINED BS/MBA: Fordham