Education - Masters Degrees

[janey]

So its OK to make a pop over a question is it? Have a go and expect no retaliation?

Assumption is a trait that community college teaches....Don't even degrade me by telling me to check out a CC because I asked about people's opinions. Or maybe you were taught to do that. I'm not sure, if so my bad.

If you ask me, that's pretty offensive. Compared to a guy who clearly thinks that any MBA program that doesn't require GMAT is questionable.

..but my intent was to inform that I did not even imply that I was looking for a college that didn't need an GMAT, I was looking for opinions on colleges that didn't want them.

I hate tests like that...but don't most MBA programs require them? So asking for opinions about one that doesn't need a GMAT, that does imply that the thought has crossed your mind at least once, does it not?

 

[Yellowtooth]

Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting, University of Southern California.

In my program, I got in without having to take the GRE, but then once I was in, I had to take it in order to graduate I'm sure the GMAT is more important in terms of weeding out candidates though. Good luck finding a program that is the best for you, that's what really matters.

 

[whocares]

M.S. Geosciences & Reservoir Engineering - Texas A&M Univ. o ).

Coming from Europe I needed GRE which may or may not be the equivalent to GMAT. Twas no big deal (easyish and not *too* expensive).

 

[MmmPancakes]

Master of Arts, Technical Communication - Texas Tech University

- w00t!!

 

[ldburroughs]

J.D.

It might as well be a masters degree. It takes an extra year but doesn't quite reach the level of other doctorate degrees. Additonally, without passing the bar, you can't even practice in the field you spent so much time/money on over the past three years.

I would certainly agree with the sentiment that getting into the best school possible will be worth the extra money/effort. It is unfortunate, but a reality, that a school's reputation carries a lot of weight in the business world because more and more people are going for advanced degrees these days. Quality of education is not what employers care much about. What I mean is, a newer institution may offer a top notch education but may not be taken as seriously as an older, well-established higher education institution. You may need a slight edge over others trying to accomplish the same thing. It may be the only thing that sets you apart from other applicants.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Jschultz]

MA in English from the Unviversity of Maine, Masters of Arts in Teaching from Brown University.

Both are wonderful schools and both are, as far as I know, entirely devoid of MBA programs.

Give up on business. Go teach.

I'm looking at these options as soon as I'm done with my bachelors in secondary education/English. I've been told that a MA in education would be more helpful than a MA in English, if I'm not going to be a college professor. Any input? And how hard is the MA in English program compared to the BA program?

 

[thedude110]

I'm looking at these options as soon as I'm done with my bachelors in secondary education/English. I've been told that a MA in education would be more helpful than a MA in English, if I'm not going to be a college professor. Any input? And how hard is the MA in English program compared to the BA program?

It depends on where you want to teach. Many states require "highly qualified" teachers (the assumption that a teacher who doesn't have a Masters in their field isn't highly qualified is a joke, but I guess a conversation for another thread), so you'll probably have to pursue a Masters in English at some point. My program was intense -- a big reading list, a lot of writing, thesis and comprehensive exam -- but at the same time two of the best years of my life. My MA in English didn't lead directly to a career, but for two years my job was to read wonderful books and then write about those books. It was heaven. A lot harder than my BA, but heaven all the same.

I came to high school teaching in a roundabout way (through IT, actually, like a good English major), so the MAT was really necessary for me (I had to learn how to teach). If you're confident in the methods you've learned with your BA in education, and you feel like you've done enough student teaching -- if you're done with your apprenticeship and ready to take on the classroom and all it entails, you may not need the MAT. But if you're looking to teach in an urban classroom and have had no experience in urban education -- well, I can't tell you how well the MAT program at Brown prepared me. I think I'd be lost as a teacher without the people -- and the mentors -- I met there.

So that's a terribly long answer to your question. Both programs are dear to my heart, and I learned so much from both, that I can't really imagine my life without either.

iSaint is in an MAT program, too. S/he might be able to tell you more about whether the experience has been valuable or no.

Hope that helps?

 

[homerjward]

fwiw my parents both have masters degrees. my dad has one in spanish (it's more specific than that but i don't remember) and my mom's is in speech pathology. i guess their knowledge didn't rub off on me or w/e. i know next to no spanish and i speak very fast and unclearly
i'm kind of curious--do graduate schools care where you went for undergrad, ie you have a better chance of going to x college for grad school if you went to x college for undergrad? does it work the other way around? hope i'm not thread hijacking, just didn't seem worthy of another thread.

 

[GoCubsGo]

fwiw my parents both have masters degrees. my dad has one in spanish (it's more specific than that but i don't remember) and my mom's is in speech pathology. i guess their knowledge didn't rub off on me or w/e. i know next to no spanish and i speak very fast and unclearly
i'm kind of curious--do graduate schools care where you went for undergrad, ie you have a better chance of going to x college for grad school if you went to x college for undergrad? does it work the other way around? hope i'm not thread hijacking, just didn't seem worthy of another thread.

A few things...
The fact that I questioned the validity of a school that did not require a GMAT merely means that I have come across a few. For one, in my profession finding a degree that pertains directly to what I do (fraud) is next to impossible. I started looking at Forensic Accounting and found a school. I had not "considered" the school because my very first question was why the lack of the GMAT requirement. I figured it was a mistake on their site, it turns out it's not. Here is the explanation I received...
"We are a private University that will hire more staff and open more classes as needed in order to accommodate more students. The GMAT is just a test that allows Universities to weed out students because they are only allowed to accept so many students in each program. They can set the standard of getting say 980 on the GRE [which is some random example from her] and then say no to anyone under that score."

That is basically it. Now I asked another school and they said they do require a GMAT or GRE but on a case-by-case basis.

So in all honesty, I am not at all worried about the exam. I could care less about the test and I know I'll do very well. But when a school offers a degree in something that no other school has and holds the appropriate accreditation (that was thoroughly researched) for both the school and the degree program it would be hard not to even consider it. I did not actually consider it until today after speaking to senior management at my work. I have yet to really decide and I really have more research to do, but for now that's it.

 

[GroundLoop]

What was doing Information Systems like @ Masters level? I hope to do that after i finish my degree

It wasn't all that different from my undergrad work. My program included classes on system modeling, data architecture, networking, project management, etc. My concentration was in human-system integration. So, I had quite a few classes on usability testing, computer supported cooperative work, industrial design, and cognitive psychology.

All in all, I loved the program at Drexel (but they do vary greatly from uni to uni).

Hickman

 

[Baron58]

I was wondering if anyone here has a Master's degree and if so in what and where did you get it?

also, does anyone have an opinion on schools that offer MBAs and are fully accredited that don't require a GMAT to be taken?

I'm going to be getting some sort of advanced degree to get out of IT hell. I'm taking MCAT pre-requisites (organic chem, this semester), and am considering an MBA to be a fallback position.

University of Delaware requires a GMAT for their 'traditional' MBA, but does not require one for their executive MBA. The reasoning is that if you're fresh out of undergrad school with no real-world experience, the GMAT helps evaluate how you will do in the MBA curriculum. If you have 10 years of real-world experience that you can discuss with them and bring recommendations from, that says a lot more about you than the GMAT does, so the GMAT is irrelevant.

The GMAT is also diluted in importance by test-prep places (like Kaplan) which can drill any half-wit enough to pass the test, but that doesn't mean that they'll be any good in the MBA program or afterwards.

 

[macartistkel]

University of Delaware requires a GMAT for their 'traditional' MBA, but does not require one for their executive MBA. The reasoning is that if you're fresh out of undergrad school with no real-world experience, the GMAT helps evaluate how you will do in the MBA curriculum. If you have 10 years of real-world experience that you can discuss with them and bring recommendations from, that says a lot more about you than the GMAT does, so the GMAT is irrelevant.

The GMAT is also diluted in importance by test-prep places (like Kaplan) which can drill any half-wit enough to pass the test, but that doesn't mean that they'll be any good in the MBA program or afterwards.

[/QUOTE]

Thank you Baron---I think you had one of the best responses to this question! I am in a MBA program and I did not take the GMAT's---I had 7 years working experience before I even decided to go back to school. There is no way I could have quit my job and go back to school so I opted to do a online MBA program. Many schools offer MBA's online now but I chose University of Phoenix when searching for a school. I have loved UoP so far and the program has been very intense. I would have LOVED to be at a top business school like Darden at UVA, but like I said there is no way I could quit my job. But even one of the top B schools will not take you unless you have work experience as well as taking the GMATs---they are weeding out the best because they are top rated so they pick the very best.

Go to this link to see what schools require the GMAT and it also lists the top business schools. http://www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT

 

[jefhatfield]

I was wondering if anyone here has a Master's degree and if so in what and where did you get it?

also, does anyone have an opinion on schools that offer MBAs and are fully accredited that don't require a GMAT to be taken?

make sure your mba program is regionally accredited, wasc, middle states, southern, etc...and don't pay too much attention to other types of accredidations though they may be hard to achieve...right now, one of the six accrediting agencies in each region of the us are what counts

in the end the employer wants you to be an mba from a regionally accredited institution... and lowly and mid ranked programs will play about the same to them...but great programs like mit and harvard will of course greatly help you while getting a foot in the door

once there, however, job performance and contacts are the whole enchilada...and you will see many a senior manager without an mba, but if you have the time and money to get an mba, it can't hurt you

while the degree is called master of business administration and it's good to have, it won't make you a "master" in business or anything else

anyway, good luck

 

[jefhatfield]

also, magazines like fortune and usnews and world report like to slam the mba and its students/graduates when economic times are bad, and i remember us news and world report to comparing the credential to confederate currency

but when times are good and business is booming, suddenly the mba is a good thing

jessica, don't fall victim to the great ups and downs of the controversial mba degree (and you won't find any degree more controversial (no master's thesis) and more villified)

getting any master's degree, mba or otherwise, and beyond is a good thing for anybody, you can:

1) get further in your job
2) but if it doesn't get you further in your job, at least you are more educated and enlightened
3) and even if you don't get promotions and what you think was either worthless, erroneous, or a waste of time, you still got a two year vacation from the grind that is work for many of us

go for the mba for what it is and don't think it is designed to make you a better business person or academic quant-jock, because it won't do those either...realistic expectations for the mba experience will make you enjoy it to its fullest and not let you down

many a young person, and i am not saying this is you, finish their bachelor's degree and end up feeling empty at the end of the experience pummeled with low self esteem, so they embark on gradaute education to improve their self esteem (which is a mistake and a warning put in the introduction of the the graudate testing council brochure, that administers the standardized tests)

some say today's master's degree, in content and commonality, is like yesterday's bachelor's degree so if you really want to go deep, get into a phd program (which you can do in some schools if your undergrad degree's last 60 units was a 3.5 or better...that and a great gmat score, of course and a willingness to work like a dog for the next 4-5 years)

 

[macartistkel]

also, magazines like fortune and usnews and world report like to slam the mba and its students/graduates when economic times are bad, and i remember us news and world report to comparing the credential to confederate currency

but when times are good and business is booming, suddenly the mba is a good thing

Your are right, here is a good article about the MBA demand from this past May....it does seem change from year to year, but it is always a great thing to have especially for the reasons you listed!! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7996639

Pursuing my MBA is the best decision I have made in a long time

 

[jefhatfield]

Your are right, here is a good article about the MBA demand from this past May....it does seem change from year to year, but it is always a great thing to have especially for the reasons you listed!! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7996639

Pursuing my MBA is the best decision I have made in a long time

while reading about getting a law degree and all the reasons to do it but still not practice law, going into business was one of them

while most people who think about starting a business may think of an M.B.A. with a focus on entrepreneurship, instead one might want to look into getting a law degree and taking as many business related electives as possible en route to an LL.B or J.D.

starting a business has so many legal rules and loopholes and it has been and always will be smart to get the most education possible, including a law degree

when i was working towards my bachelor's in personnel/human resources, one professor told me that if i ever reach a vp position in hr at a corporation, the work will be 75% percent law which supports the reason half of the fortune 500s vp and senior vp posts in hr possessed a law degree

 

[Kobushi]

same as jsw, different school.

Some schools will allow you to just shoot for the MBA after you are accepted into another (sometimes completely unrelated) field thus, bypassing the GMAT. Still had to take the GRE, though.

 

[Bern]

Having a Masters doesn't necessarily mean you're more knowledgeable.

oh boy now I'm in trouble

 

[jefhatfield]

A few things...
The fact that I questioned the validity of a school that did not require a GMAT merely means that I have come across a few. For one, in my profession finding a degree that pertains directly to what I do (fraud) is next to impossible. I started looking at Forensic Accounting and found a school. I had not "considered" the school because my very first question was why the lack of the GMAT requirement. I figured it was a mistake on their site, it turns out it's not. Here is the explanation I received...
"We are a private University that will hire more staff and open more classes as needed in order to accommodate more students. The GMAT is just a test that allows Universities to weed out students because they are only allowed to accept so many students in each program. They can set the standard of getting say 980 on the GRE [which is some random example from her] and then say no to anyone under that score."

That is basically it. Now I asked another school and they said they do require a GMAT or GRE but on a case-by-case basis.

So in all honesty, I am not at all worried about the exam. I could care less about the test and I know I'll do very well. But when a school offers a degree in something that no other school has and holds the appropriate accreditation (that was thoroughly researched) for both the school and the degree program it would be hard not to even consider it. I did not actually consider it until today after speaking to senior management at my work. I have yet to really decide and I really have more research to do, but for now that's it.

i hope you do well looking for a school...my wife has considered going into forensic accounting for a mid life career change (after decades of being a graphic designer) and the master's programs in forensic accounting out there seem to be online, but from accredited schools...she did have an in between job many years ago at one of the mega accounting firms double checking uncle sam's irs activities and books

at least you don't have to do the other forensic field like csi or anything

 

[micvog]

MBA, Anderson School at UCLA

When I was researching schools in southern California, Pepperdine did not require a GMAT. They allowed the "Miller Analogies Test" to be taken instead.

 

[jefhatfield]

MBA, Anderson School at UCLA

When I was researching schools in southern California, Pepperdine did not require a GMAT. They allowed the "Miller Analogies Test" to be taken instead.

both are excellent mba programs, and i had a friend who got accepted to usc's mba program but he chose hayward state university to save money in the short run...many years later he totally regrets that decision

but he has little room to complain since he started one of america's most prominent software companies and made 14 million in his first year

 

[Aaon]

Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame. Go Irish!

 

[Ja Di ksw]

Currently about to start in Kinesiology / Community health at the University of Illinois studying Taiji (T'ai Chi)