On-campus or Online MBA? Help!?
Am planning to get my MBA by next year and would like to know what would be better. Time is not an issue as I can attend the weekend and evening classes on-campus, no problem.
Hope someone can help me out…
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But since you have time…had you thought about doing a “term paper” on the subject, then call Human Resources depts of various firms in the areas/industries of your interest…where you might be seeking a job. Tell them you are conducting a survey for your term paper and ask them:
1) do you perceive a quality difference between an online MBA and a traditional residential campus MBA?
2) if a difference is perceived, what is it?
3) have they ever hired people who earned online MBAs?
If so, was there a noticeable difference in job performance?
4) then also contact the schools for online and residential MBAs and ask them where their graduates have gotten placed / hired.
That should give you some good data to make a decision about your situation.
The right question is “from where?”
Try this exercise as you ask people:
Is it better to get an online MBA from UMass or a classroom MBA from East Podunk State?
The reputation of some schools is low regardless of delivery method. Those that advertise heavily on infomercials for example. Some schools have such a high reputation that nobody cares whether it was online or classroom (Harvard, Stanford, etc…). Most are somewhere in between.
Keep in mind a couple things though. 1) online classes from a good school are WAY harder than in-the-seat classes. 2) online requires that you are very self-motivated. 3) the diploma doesn’t say “online” on it.
It’s possible that the very best option is a combination of the two methods. Very many programs offer courses online and in the classroom.
As for “honored” – it’s all about who awarded the degree. It’s the reputation of the college and not whether it was online or traditional. If you have an extra $100K laying around, Duke U. has an online MBA that very very few employers would look down on…
Part of the problem is that if I say “I have an online degree” people first think University of Phoenix and not Harvard University. They relate this method to what they know. Harvard has some very solid online programs though (as does UMass, U Florida, UC, etc…).
There’s more than convenience at issue here. By going online, you can pick a program at a fine college that you’d not be able to move to. Or, as some people do, you could pick an easy to get into college because it’s easy to get into. The only thing DL does is remove the geographic restrictions.
Bottom line is to pick the best college you can get into and attend — whether online or traditional.
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