<p>I'm majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering for undergrad and I was considering an accelerated 5 year BS/MBA. Obviously an MBA would be more desirable with work experience and it would disqualify me for a lot of jobs that would otherwise be available with just an engineering BS. However I'm also looking at it from the other angle. I would save money since it would only be one year instead of two, plus I will have gotten it over with while I'm in my prime for learning having taken no breaks in between. </p>
<p>My question is if I did go this route will there be jobs out there for me? I don't want to totally screw myself by disqualifying myself from every job, but I'm almost certain that I will eventually want a non-engineering job, if not right out of school. It's kind of an oxymoron, but are there any entry level MBA jobs?</p>
<p>I disagree with this statement. MBA learning is very different than engineering learning. Engineering learning is about figuring out complex problems using logic and math. MBA learning is about being able to see different perspectives (contextual lenses) that people use to look at a problem. People in MBA classes learn from other people’s experiences - it’s not a lecture / textbook type of learning. If you have no real experience, you have no real contextual lens. This means that you won’t learn as much in an MBA program as someone with experience and you won’t be that value-added to your MBA classes as someone with experience.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that an MBA is really only valuable if it comes from a top school. I know we debate the value of rankings in the engineering forum, but for MBA programs, rankings really do matter. If you’re looking at Rutger’s MBA program right now, I would hold off and keep your options open.</p>
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<p>Also not necessarily true. Many employers will pay for your MBA and if you go full-time, there are plenty of employers that will reimburse you for your MBA.</p>
<p>^prestige of the school would matter if you want to use your MBA to do some fancy consulting at a top company but would it still matter if your company is reimbursing for you to give you some managerial job?</p>
<p>Not really. There are two reasons for an MBA. One is to advance an existing career and the other is to start a new career. To advance an existing career, you usually just need a check next to the box “has an MBA” (though this varies from company to company). In that case, you’re probably going to school at night, online, or on weekends.</p>
<p>In the case where you want to use the MBA to find or start a career, reputation really does matter, and not just for “fancy careers”. My general advice is to not go to an MBA program full-time unless you can get into a first tier school.</p>
<p>I agree with you banjo. I’ll probably work a couple years and then decide. I was just considering it because I know some people who regretted not taking advantage of programs like that when they had to go back to school later. This is obviously different though since it’s an MBA.</p>