Choosing an engineering MS school to get into top MBA

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I've done a thorough amount of reading on this forum as well as elsewhere but have not been able to come up with solid conclusions to the following questions. I'm going to be posting this thread in both the business and engineering sections.</p>

<p>About me: I just graduated with a BS in bioengineering from a top 5 engineering school with a 3.35 GPA (but 3.9 the last three semesters). My set path is to apply for an MS in bioengineering -> work for a few years -> apply to a top 10 MBA program. I have already made my mind on this path so let's not waste time discussing whether this is good/bad. </p>

<p>My goal is to manage or consult for a biotech/medical device company, or possibly go in a completely separate path into finance. Regardless of the path, I am certain that I want an MBA.</p>

<p>Questions:</p>

<p>1) Do top 10 MBA programs greatly favor recruiting their own BS/MS students?</p>

<p>2) Are top 10 MBA programs lenient to accepting <em>slightly</em> lower GPAs from engineering applicants or do they not care that engineering coursework is harder. </p>

<p>3) If my goal is engineering management, should I be looking at a Management MBA or an Executive MBA?</p>

<p>4) If my goal is finance, is it clear that I should be pursuing a Finance MBA?</p>

<p>5) Given my goals, should I be applying to a top tier bioengineering program for a MS or a top name brand university? (ie. UCSD, UMich, Georgia Tech, JHU, and even Duke don't have as resounding of a name as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.; However, they have far superior bioengineering programs. HYP are barely top 50.)</p>

<p>Note: For the goal of engineering management, although I am interested in meshing the technical side with business, I am primarily interested in management jobs and not senior R&D type jobs.</p>

2

<p>Just what others have said before:

  1. No
  2. Yes, but not that much.
  3. Normal MBA if you want to switch careers. Executive is for… mid-career managers.
  4. Get into a top 10 MBA. Then decide whether you want to concentrate on finance.
  5. Don’t know</p>
3

<p>Here’s a stat I heard: A disproportionate number of Georgia Tech engineering grads get into Harvard business school.
In my opinion, a less branded university with a top engineering program will be better than an ivy league that mostly spits liberal arts degrees.</p>

4

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<p>Not really true, because those Ivy liberal arts majors will likely go for business jobs where leadership opportunities are more available and where they can gain more impressive business-related work experience, whereas an engineer at a “less branded university” is likely to go for a normal entry level engineering job, which, even if the pay is the same, does not foster leadership/communication/organizational skills to the same degree.</p>

5

<p>So when I’m applying for MBA schools, I’m only applying for a “general” MBA? I don’t specify whether I want to focus in management, finance, executive, etc. until after I’m admitted?</p>

<p>Anyone have a good answer to my question #5? That question is actually the most pressing.</p>

6

<p>^Why don’t you look up several MBA program websites and see what they say?</p>

<p>I don’t get why you don’t think schools like Duke and Michigan don’t have good reputations. Duke and Michigan are top schools for business</p>

<p>What matters most is what job you get after your MS, anyway.</p>