Question on Masters degrees

[hooligan]

Didn’t want to hijack Buckley’s thread so thought I’d start another one. I’ve been contemplating getting my masters since I graduated in ‘12. My undergrad is in Journalism/PR so I’ve been looking at an MA in Mass Communication or an MBA.

To those who hire, does the school matter that much as long as it’s accredited? There are a lot of programs that are under $30k and then I look at SMU, TCU, UT and I can’t imagine going $100k in debt for a masters. Is it worth the extra tuition?

[Ruttin&Struttin]

I would recommend you look for the jobs you plan to pursue once you complete a Masters. See what those companies require regarding education. This will help answer your question. Some companies are more specific when identifying the accreditations they accept. Others not so much. Look at what they have in common. Good luck!

[Buck Shot]

To me it depends on what you want to do for a living. I'm a big fan of education, but I think what you do is more important than what you know. You can always teach yourself anything you want. My undergrad degree is in engineering. I self-taught myself all the accounting and finance stuff that I needed to advance my career. For those I interview, the where is not as important as the what; meaning the school where the grad degree came from is secondary to the fact that the individual went and got it. I'll take a person who put their self through night school while working over someone who got an advanced degree on mommy and daddy's dime any day.

Now, one of my brothers was an accounting and finance major and after toiling working an entry level job for two years took out a loan and went to Harvard and got his MBA. The kid has made a nice living for himself and could quit and never work again.

[Plain Lucky]

I'm not in your profession but as an employer, your GPA means much more to me than where you went to school.

[Abcdj]

A $100K for 36 hours??? Man oh man WOW!

My oldest daughter got hers at Lubbock Christian and it wasn't anywhere near that much back 6-8 years ago. I think when I got mine in the stone ages it was $325 dollars per 3-hour class.

No wonder so many people are getting a 2-year certificate degrees that pay off big in a few years.

I would say that having a masters is way more important than where you get it from. Especially if it is at 1/3 rd the cost and you have 2/3 less debt at the end.

It doesn't take a masters in math to figure that out!

[Tom]

find your career and you will find an employer that will pay for your education. I can tell you this from my experience.

[Gherkin05]

I have a master's and I hire professionals. My take is if it's not a hard science I'd prefer it be business focused from an accredited university. Sure, an MBA for UT gets my attention but they dang sure better interview well. My primary reporting manager has an MBA from Saint Eds, she knows her stuff as well as any.

[Kevin]

Hooligan,

IMO the reason for the higher prestige schools is the networking and contacts you make from those schools. I have a good friend that just graduated with his MBA from SMU and his classmates were everything from self-starters to people there because their dad required it to inherit the trust fund of 9+ figures. I would say the contacts open more doors than having a name on your resume. Its probably more important than the degree.

Kevin

[Kevin]

To me it depends on what you want to do for a living. I'm a big fan of education, but I think what you do is more important than what you know. You can always teach yourself anything you want. My undergrad degree is in engineering. I self-taught myself all the accounting and finance stuff that I needed to advance my career. For those I interview, the where is not as important as the what; meaning the school where the grad degree came from is secondary to the fact that the individual went and got it. I'll take a person who put their self through night school while working over someone who got an advanced degree on mommy and daddy's dime any day.

Now, one of my brothers was an accounting and finance major and after toiling working an entry level job for two years took out a loan and went to Harvard and got his MBA. The kid has made a nice living for himself and could quit and never work again.

Perfect example of a school that comes with contacts and networking that pays for the degree when you apply them correctly.

[Abcdj]

Hooligan,

IMO the reason for the higher prestige schools is the networking and contacts you make from those schools. I have a good friend that just graduated with his MBA from SMU and his classmates were everything from self-starters to people there because their dad required it to inherit the trust fund of 9+ figures. I would say the contacts open more doors than having a name on your resume. Its probably more important than the degree.

Kevin

I agree with this too.

[hopedale]

Honestly, you need to ask what will a Master's do for you?

Some employers value education, so without that MBA you're limited on how far you'll go in the organization.

Some, its about where the rubber meets the road, and what your work experience you have.

Took me a long time to get my under graduate degree. Worked and went to school for a long time, but was Hotel Echo Lima Lima bent on getting my degree.

The University I went to wanted to promote their Executive MBA program, so they continued to say, you need to get your MBA. Honestly, I felt like they Pappa India Sierra Sieera all over my undergraduate degree, and made me feel like I wasted my time.

Thankfully for my capstone course in business, I had a professor that retired from a fortune 500 company. We discussed what value a MBA truly had, and I just shared with you his thoughts.

Do you need an MBA to excel? No
Will getting an MBA hurt you? No
Does an MBA ensure you're making that six figure income? Not at all.
Do you need an MBA to advance? No, but you need to make sure you're the best at what you do.

Go get your MBA if you think its the key to you advancing. Make sure the school you pick, has a solid program that people who start finish.

Screw the we're the best.

You're the best if 100% of the people that start finish. If you weed people out, then you're just a money machine for the school, and your only goal is collecting tuition to fund your non-profit existence.

Good luck in what you end up deciding to do.


BTW, an Executive MBA at UT Austin is cheaper than Baylor. Baylor's executive MBA is around $68K. A traditional MBA is cheaper, so if you pursue it, get the hard data on cost to make your decisions.

Love them or hate them, I'm impressed with UT. Your top companies are looking at UT graduates. Unsure about Baylor, but a friend of mine called the entire University over priced for what you get.

But at the end of the day, my nephew is going to work for goldman sachs for two years. When he finishes, he'll be able to go any where and command a high salary. He went to UT.

[hopedale]

Honestly, you need to ask what will a Master's do for you?

Some employers value education, so without that MBA you're limited on how far you'll go in the organization.

Some, its about where the rubber meets the road, and what you work experience you have.

Took me a long time to get my under graduate degree. Worked and went to school for a long time, but was Hotel Echo Lima Lima bent on getting my degree.

The University I went to wanted to promote their Executive MBA program, so they continued to say, you need to get your MBA. Honestly, I felt like they ****** all over my undergraduate degree, and made me feel like I wasted my time.

Thankfully for my capstone course in business, I had a professor that retired from a fortune 500 company. We discussed what value a MBA truly had, and I just shared with you his thoughts.

Do you need an MBA to excel? No
Will getting an MBA hurt you? No
Does an MBA ensure you're making that six figure income? not at all.
Do you need an MBA to advance? No, but you need to make sure you're the best at what you do.

Go get your MBA if you think its the key to you advancing. Make sure the school you pick, had a solid program that people who start finish. Screw the we're the best. You're the best if 100% of the people that start finish. If you weed people out, then you're just a money machine for the school, and your only goal is collecting tuition to fund your non-profit existence.

Good luck in what you end up deciding to do.


BTW, an Executive MBA at UT Austin is cheaper than Baylor. Baylor's executive MBA is around $68K. A traditional MBA is cheaper, so if you pursue it, get the hard data on cost to make your decisions.

Love them or hate them, I'm impressed with UT. Your top companies are looking at UT graduates. Unsure about Baylor, but a friend of mine called the entire University over priced for what you get.

But at the end of the day, my nephew is going to work for goldman sachs for two years. When he finishes, he'll be able to go any where and command a high salary.

Does that help?

[Black Ice]

Hooligan,

IMO the reason for the higher prestige schools is the networking and contacts you make from those schools. I have a good friend that just graduated with his MBA from SMU and his classmates were everything from self-starters to people there because their dad required it to inherit the trust fund of 9+ figures. I would say the contacts open more doors than having a name on your resume. Its probably more important than the degree.

Kevin

I hated school and stopped at high-school but I think I would make an exception for a trust fund of 9 figures.




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[dru.bishop73]

Not in your field, but in mine the school doesn't really come into play until after you are hired. The degree is of primary importance to get on board as long as it's accredited. Down the road, the school can make a big difference when it comes to promotions if it's a big enough name like Stanford, Harvard, etc.

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[deerwatcher51]

I agree with Buckshot...I was more interested in how they got through school rather than where they went to school. One of the best hires we ever made did not have a great GPA, but she worked 40+ hours a week to put herself through undergraduate school.