EMTM program

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hello All, I just received a call from UPenn, informing that I have been accepted into the EMTM (Executive Masters in Technology Management) program. The classes start in August this year.
The EMTM program is a joint program offered by the engineering and the Wharton Business school.
Honestly, when I applied for the admission, I was sure I would not be selected, but I guess I was wrong… and now I have to decide whether it makes sense for me to enroll into this program.</p>

<p>Let me start with giving you some information on my academic and professional background: I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in Business from an average state school in San Diego. I graduated with my masters 4 years ago.
Since then, I have been working for reputed organizations as IT Engineer, consultant and sales/systems engineer. I am currently working as a senior systems engineer with a large security software company. My current responsibilities are to technically position products in the IT security market.
My career focus has been more technical than business until now.</p>

<p>My goal in the next few years is to move to a manager level consulting position in the IT security/risk management area. I am looking at companies like Mckinsey, PwC, E&Y, KPMG etc…
As far as I have assessed my strengths and weaknesses, I want to polish my leadership and management skills. I plan on not specializing in any of the EMTM concentrations and take more Wharton courses.</p>

<p>The few concerns/questions I have about the EMTM are:</p>

<p>1- My major concern is cost. The total tuition for the program is over $100,000. If I get my employer to sponsor the program costs, I will have to sign a sponsorship contract, which can prove counter to my career growth in future. And I am not sure paying for whole program myself would makes sense from the ROI standpoint.
I live in San Diego which means I will have to fly to Philly every other weekend. Committing time to the program is not my big concern as my employer will support me to have days off for attending classes.</p>

<p>2- A few other schools offer similar programs with substantially less cost. For example, Georgia Tech has a comparable degree that costs ~$55,000. I am not sure what difference it would make to have a MSE (EMTM) degree from UPENN or a Masters in Technology Management from GaTech or Columbia.</p>

<p>3- Is the program very renowned among the employers? Does the program have extensive connections with large companies? Do you study with people in hiring positions?</p>

<p>4- How is the overall experience of attending EMTM like… is it very competitive, career-changing, over whelming etc… ?</p>

<p>I have to decide in the next couple of weeks if I am going to enroll in the program or not; I am still confused so far.</p>

<p>Any suggestions or insights from you about the program will be helpful. Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>
[quote]
I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in Business from an average state school in San Diego. I graduated with my masters 4 years ago.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I am very unclear why you applied to this program. Not for the value of the program itself but rather your West Coast commitments and the fact that you already have an advanced degree. What do you think this degree does for you?

[quote]
I want to polish my leadership and management skills. I plan on not specializing in any of the EMTM concentrations and take more Wharton courses.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I take it you don't have an MBA or plan to get one.</p>

3

<p>I don't think committing time to the program will be a major issue for me as I have a very flexible working schedule- I usually work from home or travel. Most of the time I am in the east coast, so commuting to Philly on the weekends should not be big problem.</p>

<p>As it regards to the question of going for another masters, the focus of my MS in Business Administration degree was all on technology (I did the Information Systems concentration). That course work has really helped me in my career up to this point. But now I feel I need advanced education in management while staying focused on technology.</p>

<p>Also, most of the students in my MS program (including myself) did not have any major work experience. Now I want to study with professionals working in different industries for years. I think it makes a difference and I hope it will give me a different prospective frm a career standpoint.</p>

4

<p>I think the average years of experience is 10 years. There seems no point in discussing the Penn/Wharton name.</p>

5

<p>Are you an alumni or currently attending this program? Any experiences/insights into the program that you can share would be really helpful for me</p>

6

<p>No, sorry. I am at Penn but not that particular program.</p>

7

<p>it seems like you're more interested in networking with people in many different industries and eventually making the switch over to a MC firm like McKinsey...Am I right?</p>

<p>If this is the case then I would just apply directly to the MBA program at wharton where you will be networking with many many people in VC,PE,banking,consulting, tech., etc. and will be able to transition into consulting more easily as top firms like McKinsey recruit highly at Wharton MBA...the only problem I foresee in making the transition over into consulting is that you will not be apply to transfer directly into a manager level role but rather you'd have to take a step back work in a post-mba position (consultant at most firms) and then after a few years get promoted to manager...this is true if you do a plain MBA or the EMTM program.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for your suggestions, Bern700. You have a very good point that I will have to take a step back if I want to work for a top consulting firm after I graduate... and I think I am willing to do that.</p>

<p>The reason I am not applying to the MBA is because I already have an MS in Business Administration, and even though, it was all technical, just the degree title makes me unacceptable at many tier 1 schools. Secondly, I want to stay technology-oriented and the EMTM curriculum offers the best options if you want to do that.</p>

<p>What I am thinking right now is: (a) Should I pay the tuition myself so that I can be open to switch to a better position or should I sign a sponsorship agreement with my employer to stay with them for a period of time; (b) I know that Wharton MBA is very reputed, but is the EMTM equally good and renowned among the employers as well?</p>

9

<p>(a) What I would suggest doing is getting your current employer to pay for it...however, once in the program IF you get recruited by one of these consulting firms typically you can negotiate for them to pay for the degree and your current firm will ask you to pay them back for what they've spent which you can do with the consulting firm's money.
Example: My friend was working at PWC prior to his MBA and they offered to pay for it if he came back to work for 3 more years. In his final year he got a great offer from Bain & Co. which offered to reimburse him for his MBA. He told PWC that he would not be returning and they asked him to repay them so essentially Bain & Co. repaid PWC's share at that point and then finished payments to the school. I know many people who have done this. Worst case scenario, you don't get an offer from a consulting firm and you just go back and work for your current employer, who is already paying for your degree, for how ever long the contract is. </p>

<p>(b) To tell you the truth I had never heard of the EMTM program until now...while I had heard of masters programs such as Lauder, etc. So really I don't know how reputed it is among employers but from the companies listed on the EMTM site it seems pretty recognized. I would venture to guess that it is probably very well regarded in the tech world as it provides top notch mngt and tech skills. However, keep in mind that by going through this masters program you will be able to say that you are a graduate of Penn/Wharton and thus you are part of the global penn and wharton networks.</p>

10

<p>yeah, you are right.. getting my employer to reimburse for the degree makes sense. Thanks for your suggestions -:)</p>

11

<p>I graduated from the EMTM program in 2002. Many of my classmates at the time were sponsored by their employers. For me, the founder and president of a firm I started in 1989. I was looking for new skills to help my technology company survive and prosper in an industry that was undergoing creative destruction. I was self sponsored and feel the ROI potential is great, especially if you plan to put into practice what you learn during the program.</p>

<p>In my case, I used and continue to use many of my skills derived from the EMTM course work directly in my work. The disadvantage of flying to PA on program weekends is offset by the time gained to do the course work during the flight (assuming you have taken additional time during the week).</p>

<p>The cost of the program is higher than most but in terms of a value proposition, it is of great value. After the program I helped organize alumni activities in the Pennsylvania region. I continue to stay active with other alumni and enjoy the life long friendships forged in the program.</p>

<p>Best wishes in your decision.</p>

<p>John Fisher</p>