MBA - undergraduate degree first?

[944fan]

I am wanting to complete an MBA. I currently work in senior IT management and have a view of moving up to board level positions in the next five years.

I don't have an undergraduate degree. My father in law used to be a Vice Chancellor of a big uni and he has said that I wouldn't need one as I could APEL on to most MBA courses due to my management experience.

That sounds fine, but I wonder how it would look CV wise if I only had an MBA an no undergraduate degree? Doing one now will add years and thousands to the overall cost. I don't want to do anything IT related, I have enough experience there, was thinking of maybe something like Law or Business, something that would be useful to more senior roles and to the MBA.

What do the powerfully built director types think? Should I just go straight for the MBA?

[zbc]

If you can get onto a decent course I would just go straight on to an MBA. If you have a decent level of management experience then this shouldn't be an issue. But I stress a decent course, just doing a correspondence MBA from some dodgy US college is a waste of time and money first degree or no first degree.

[944fan]

Thanks. The OU course looks good, and is triple accredited. They don't seem to accept an APEL route but there is an alternate entry where you do a management diploma first.

Looking at the league tables on the FT for online providers and a lot of the top ones still want an undergraduate degree. Bradford Management school accept entries with "significant" management experience.

[kiethton]

944fan said:

Thanks. The OU course looks good, and is triple accredited. They don't seem to accept an APEL route but there is an alternate entry where you do a management diploma first.

Looking at the league tables on the FT for online providers and a lot of the top ones still want an undergraduate degree. Bradford Management school accept entries with "significant" management experience.

Really, don't use 'Bradford Management School' would be akin to a new graduate expecting a blue chip career with a degree in Golf Course management or similar from the local poly.

[Siscar]

kiethton said:

Really, don't use 'Bradford Management School' would be akin to a new graduate expecting a blue chip career with a degree in Golf Course management or similar from the local poly.

That's the Bradford Management School that is one of the well accredited ones in the country is it? I'm not saying that it's the best but you can do far worse.

Edited by Siscar on Thursday 2nd January 15:09

[944fan]

Bradford University School of Management.

Ranked 4th on the FT list of online MBAs:

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/brad...

I appreciate it isn't HBS, but I don't have the time or funding (or background) for that. Likely to be funding this myself so somewhere less than £20K would be good.

[kiethton]

Fair point, I didn't recall seeing them when looking when I was considering it....

My thoughts were LSE/CAAS/Henley (have Henley/Reading BA)

[zbc]

944fan said:

Bradford University School of Management.

Ranked 4th on the FT list of online MBAs:

Bradford isn't a bad school but that link just takes me to an Alphabetical listing of online MBAs.

The Management Diploma from the OU might be a good starting place though if you don't have a first degree.

[944fan]

zbc said:

Bradford isn't a bad school but that link just takes me to an Alphabetical listing of online MBAs.

The Management Diploma from the OU might be a good starting place though if you don't have a first degree.

Doh, you are right. For the proper MBA schools they are ranked, with HBS at the top. The online list just has them alphabetically.

The OU course takes about a year and costs £3K. It only looks worthwhile I think if I wanted to carry on and do the OU MBA. Not sure it will satisfy the entry requirements for other schools.

[michael_JCWS]

I'm work for large IT company and have just completed an MBA at WBS, there were certainly a few without degrees, but with relevant real world experience.

I think a degree probably helps from a structuring assignments and workload perspective, but that's it.

The important thing is to get the right school

Well worth the investment if you can

Cheers

Michael

[SVS]

Whilst the OU's MBA has a good reputation, I thought Warwick had the strongest reputation for a distance learning MBA. However, The Economist did perhaps the only real evaluation of the range of distance learning and online MBA programmes. Also, michael_JCWS can obviously comment on his experience of Warwick too.

Personally, I'd strongly recommend a good part-time MBA (i.e. an 'Exec MBA') over an online MBA. This is because a large part of an MBA's value comes from face-to-face interactions: case discussions in class, corridor and coffee break conversations with tutors and class mates, building a network of your peers, etc.

OP, I wouldn't worry at all about not having an undergraduate degree. Your work experience counts far more. In addition, lots of people with degrees find it a big transition to go to business school. Some may have graduated twenty years ago and long forgotten what university was like. Others did a maths degree and struggle with writing essays. And most people, except lawyers, struggle at the start of business school to get to grips with case studies.

Edited by SVS on Thursday 2nd January 19:21

[GlenMH]

SVS said:

Personally, I'd strongly recommend a good part-time MBA (i.e. an 'Exec MBA') over an online MBA. This is because a large part of an MBA's value comes from face-to-face interactions: case discussions in class, corridor and coffee break conversations with tutors and class mates, building a network of your peers, etc.

Although I don't have an MBA, I do have a good number of friends who do. A couple have done it via the OU and others have gone down a mix of the exec or full time route.

I fully support SVS with his comment above: the difference in the networks that the exec/full timers have compared to the distance learners is quite marked.

In business, it is all about who you know...

[zbc]

I'm also ex WBS. The thing which appealed to me (though it may have changed mine was a few years ago) was that whilst you started on one method, maybe distance learning, you could choose later on to take options with the modular group or vice versa, depending on what time you had available.

[Haggleburyfinius]

michael_JCWS said:

I'm work for large IT company and have just completed an MBA at WBS, there were certainly a few without degrees, but with relevant real world experience.

I think a degree probably helps from a structuring assignments and workload perspective, but that's it.

The important thing is to get the right school

Well worth the investment if you can

Cheers

Michael

How did you find the GMAT prep work and testing?

[michael_JCWS]

Haggleburyfinius said:

How did you find the GMAT prep work and testing?

I did the WBS distance learning, which was sponsored by my company as such it was based on work experience and I did not need to take the GMAT

[STW2010]

How about Cranfield? (I am an academic at Cranfield, but not in the School of Management)

From their website-

A good degree and/or professional qualification. Applicants who do not have a degree will also be considered provided they can demonstrate high levels of achievement, exceptional career progression or evidence of leadership potential.

http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/Content.aspx?Pa...

[TVR Sagaris]

kiethton said:

Fair point, I didn't recall seeing them when looking when I was considering it....

My thoughts were LSE/CAAS/Henley (have Henley/Reading BA)

LSE doesn't offer a conventional MBA.

OP, definitely possible, but depends on your experience. Even possible at Harvard, although unusual.

[LooneyTunes]

SVS said:

And most people, except lawyers, struggle at the start of business school to get to grips with case studies.

Really?

OP: several comments/suggestions/things to think about.

1. What you think you want to do post-MBA could well change when you start the course
2. As has been said, the networking side is important
3. Not all schools are as well recognised internationally
4. Different schools have different strengths (in terms of programme, recruiters, and network)
5. The fees seem to keep going up: LBS is now £60k, Oxford/Cambridge/MBS/Cranfield £35-45k
6. It is possible to borrow the fees (whether you think they're worth is it a different matter)
7. Don't rule out US schools on cost: lots offer scholarships for UK students if they like your CV/GMAT

For GMAT: highly recommend the Kaplan GMAT prep guides (both the regular one and GMAT 800) with the trial tests (they were pretty similar to the real thing). You'll soon realise that a lot of it is about technique instead of brain power. The worst part of it is hitting the button on the final page to submit your score.

[944fan]

STW2010 said:

How about Cranfield? (I am an academic at Cranfield, but not in the School of Management)

From their website-

A good degree and/or professional qualification. Applicants who do not have a degree will also be considered provided they can demonstrate high levels of achievement, exceptional career progression or evidence of leadership potential.

http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/Content.aspx?Pa...

Cranfield is about 5 miles from me and I have heard good things about them. Only problem is their course costs mucho denirio so would only be possible if I was getting some additional support from an employer. At this stage I don't know if that will be possible or not.

[STW2010]

944fan said:

Cranfield is about 5 miles from me and I have heard good things about them. Only problem is their course costs mucho denirio so would only be possible if I was getting some additional support from an employer. At this stage I don't know if that will be possible or not.

A local PHer!

The costs of the MBA at Cranfield is very high. I can't comment on the course itself, but can certainly put you in touch with the right people if needed. There might even be some form of bursary available to those that would self-fund (I offer bursaries for outstanding UK students on my course).

Edit to add- http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/p18247/Programm...