Wayne State University MBA: Good or BAD?

[dominogold]

Originally Posted by willman0

Would an IT security analyst making $75-80K benefit from an MBA from Wayne State with a concentration in IS and FIN or an MBA from MSU (Michigan State) with a finance concentration? I wonder if Brand really has a significant impact on someone in my industry and whether the ROI is worth the higher MSU price tag.

If you plan to stay in Michigan or the midwest area I don't think it will make any difference. A select few people might hold the MSU MBA in higher regard but honestly unless you are going to a top 10 MBA school or looking for nationwide or international opportunities, I don't think it will make a difference.

[MonkeyButler7000]

I realize I'm late to the game, but I have a few thoughts to add:

1) Professor001: You should know that it very well does matter where you earn an MBA precisely because there are so many B-schools out there. You stated that you worked for McKinsey; it certainly matters to them where you earned your degree. Last time I checked, they weren't recruiting at Wayne State (or anywhere else in Michigan other than Ross). Of course, the right school can get your foot in the door, but how far you go ultimately depends on the work you do once you are there.

2) There has been a lot of back and forth on rankings. I think that to obsess over rankings between Wayne State and UM-Dearborn is an exercise in futility. Locally, I think that Wayne State is better tied into the business community, but a decision between these two schools should be based on personal factors (campus location in relation to work/home, class schedules, etc.) and not on negligable differences in rankings.

3) Bottom line: UM-Ann Arbor (Ross), Dearborn, and Flint are all different schools, not just in terms of MBA programs, but in every discipline. To attend one while allowing others to belive that you attended another is to grossly misrepresent yourself.

4) I think that there are some people on this thread who do not understand business schools and the differences between them. In general, for people who are debating whether to attend Wayne State or UM-Dearborn, UM-Ann Arbor isn't a part of the conversation. People who are thinking about attending Ann Arbor are also looking at Northwestern (Kellogg), Chicago, and other top-tier programs.

Now, I suppose we could have a debate about whether Ross actually does a better job than Dearborn or Wayne State when it comes to teaching how to calculate net-present value or something like that, but it misses the point. With its ciricullum, faculty, facilities, and prestige, a place like is able to offer access in a way that UM-Dearborn just can't do. That is the key point that many of the people here are missing. Employers aren't just going to look at your resume, see "University of Michigan" and read no further. They know the difference. Top companies from around the country actively seek out Ross graduates. Only about 7% of Ross graduates actually stay in SE Michigan. The rest go to primarily Chicago, New York, or the Bay Area in California. With UM-Dearborn, your resume is not being looked at by the same employers.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

It really depends on your situation and what you want to do with your MBA.

If you are getting your MBA with the goal of becoming a senior-level executive, analyst or investment banker, you should absolutely go to Ross. If you can't get into Ross, then Broad is a fine consolation prize. These schools certainly do attract recruiters and are most appropriate for full-time students who want to maximize their opportunity immediately following graduation.

If you are already in a good career and want to get an MBA part-time to bolster your resume, or because you don't have a business undergrad, it's probably not worth it to kill yourself (and incur massive debt) going to Ross or Broad. There are a number of very good, accredited programs in the Metro area that will do just fine. WSU, UM-D, Walsh, Oakland and EMU are all fine accredited programs and are all acceptable to employers in MI.

[Bhaalspawn]

Originally Posted by MonkeyButler7000

3) Bottom line: UM-Ann Arbor (Ross), Dearborn, and Flint are all different schools, not just in terms of MBA programs, but in every discipline. To attend one while allowing others to belive that you attended another is to grossly misrepresent yourself.

I wonder if anyone who graduated from the MBA program at UM-Dearborn or UM-Flint presented themselves as having an MBA from the University of Michigan without specifying a location and then used the Ann Arbor MBA's cachet to trick an unsophisticated hiring manager on the other side of the country into hiring them based (at least partially) on that credential.

[LCSDays]

I NEVER discourage people from pursuing education or pursuing a dream. No matter what program you attend you will get something great out of it.

I will say, however, that I have met and talked to several MBA's recently, including four from Top 10 schools (2 from Northwestern, Stanford and Wharton), and the general consensus among all of them was that while their MBA experience was good to excellent, they now feel it was a waste of time and money.

Of course, it always depends on the person and the area of specialization, but these two Northwestern MBA's (a pretty good program) have been looking for over a year. They were generalists.

One, a Wharton guy and a finance geek, got laid off in the purges going on at Goldman Sachs. He is not only bitter, but sees a dark future for anything and anyone in finance.

The bitterness or anger of these guys is not your problem and should have no bearing on what you do. But just be aware that even with a degree from a top school, you are not automatically employable and it is a lot of time, effort and expense.

The MBA degree does not hold the cache' it once did and there are so many of them out there.

Best of luck to you no matter what you decide.