Finally Graduated

I graduated from the UMASS Amherst PMBA program in May 2013.

Three good things about UMass Online MBA

I just finished taking my first online MBA class. Here are three things I liked about it:

• Professor - the professor who taught the online class was very responsive to students both in the online discussion forums and also via email when I had questions about the material. He finished grading exams within a few hours of submission and posted detailed feedback.

• Students - I found that quite a few of the other students are MDs. When I asked the professor about it he said that they have some sort of agreement with the AMA that doctors who enroll can count the MBA course towards their CPEs

• Ease of Use - It was fairly easy to enroll in the classes, set up my UMass email address, check grades, and handle the trivia of being enrolled.
  

Slight Correction on UMass Professional MBA

I hadn't been too clear on this previously. I received an acceptance for Spring semester 2008 for the UMass program on January 16th! Whoa! That is way after I received my other acceptances - and it was also the first program I applied to. I don't know what's going on with that. At any rate, I attempted to clarify the type of degree granted and was told that the diplomas read as follows, which contradicts what I had thought about it being a separate degree from the full time or on-site part time programs:

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Your Name

has been awarded

Master of Business Administration

Kelley Direct Announces Virtual Open Houses

The Kelley School of Business is excited to announce Virtual Open Houses for working professionals interested in the innovative Kelley Direct programs. No matter where you are located, you can meet KD staff, students, and alums and learn more about how you can earn a world-renowned Kelley MBA degree.

This is a chance to have any questions or concerns you may have answered by a staff person, student or alum.

The first Virtual Open House will be held on February 20^th.

Wednesday February 20, 2008
8:00 to 9:30 PM ET
7:00 to 8:30 PM CT
6:00 to 7:30 PM MT
5:00 to 6:30 PM PT

Please RSVP here. You will then receive a link to the open house and instructions on logging in. You must RSVP to be able to participate.

Errata

I went back and looked at the aacsb.edu web site as I was trying to make my decision and noticed that if you try to lookup distance programs at Indiana University you will be disappointed, because none show up. I notified Kelley Direct and the AACSB, I'm sure they can sort it out.

Narrowing Down the List

In my previous post, I listed what I thought were the top online MBA programs. Somewhere I saw it advised that one should apply to at least 8-10 business schools. I think that is pretty excessive. Application costs can be close to $100 per application, plus transcript costs and rounding up people to act as references for your application. I narrowed down my list to three schools and applied to those:

• Indiana University - Kelley
• Penn State - Smeal
• Thunderbird

Looking through all the rankings and program materials, I felt that Arizona State, Penn State, and Indiana have program that are somewhat similar programs to each other. Arizona State's application deadline was a little earlier than I was ready to commit to and I felt that I would get into a similar program by applying to one of the other two schools.

Brief pros and cons of each:

Penn State:
Pros: portfolio based application process, rolling admissions, rigorous curriculum, variety of payment options, distance is drivable.
Cons: Perhaps not as well known.

Indiana:
Pros: well known program, dual degrees offered, some choice as to elective coursework.
Cons: pay by the credit hour

Thunderbird:
Pros: very well known for international focus, very large and active alumni organization, program includes international coursework
Cons: less quantitative curriculum, known for international focus, expensive application fee ($120)

All of the applications were online, pretty simple to complete.

The Best Online MBA Programs I Could Find

After doing a lot of research on the various programs, I identified what I think are the top Online/Distance Education programs out there. I am excluding from this list distance education programs that require you to drive to a predetermined location and attend lectures via satellite or video conference. I also exclude distance/online EMBA programs. These are listed in no particular order. I will write up a little blurb on a subset of these later.

• Instituto de Empresa - One of the world's top business schools is in Spain. They have an online program. This school's programs rank as high or higher than some of the Ivy League schools.
  
• Indiana University - Not to dwell on rankings, but this program is offered by the Kelley School of Business, which is one of the highest nationally ranked schools to offer a distance program. This is offered via IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) although all the faculty teach in the MBA program at IU.
• Arizona State University - Offered via the W.P. Carey School of Business, which is quite well regarded.
• University of Florida - As mentioned in a previous post, you may need to make multiple visits to Gainesville. If you live in Florida maybe it's not such a big deal.
• Penn State University - The online program which is delivered through "WorldCampus" shares faculty with the full time program at the Smeal School of Business. My employer endows a chair there. Although referred to as the iMBA, it meets the requirements of my previous post.
• Thunderbird - The Thunderbird School of Global Management seems to be quite well known in the international business arena. In common with Instituto de Empresa, they are an independent business school. They don't confer undergraduate degrees, and they are not affiliated with a university.
• Babson - Well known in the entrepreneurship field, Babson offers a "Fast Track" MBA which is similar to the other programs; most can be completed in about 24 months. The residency experiences occur on campus in Massachusetts or Portland, Oregon.
  
• MIT - Offers up the Sloan School of Management curriculum for free, notes, lectures, etc. Sorry, no degrees conferred.