I recently graduated from a top 10 university and now currently work in healthcare consulting. I am interested in going back to grad school and getting an MBA/MPH dual degree. I’ve been doing quite a bit of research into these programs and have had trouble getting direction on how to best situate myself to get into a good program. Berkeley and Yale would probably be 2 of my top choices, but I’m still in the exploratory stage right now. With that said, I’m going to provide a list of questions, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
- Should I be taking the GMAT, GRE, or both? Berkeley states that they take both but prefer the GMAT. Wondering if there was a consensus amongst dual degree programs out there.
- What's the average work experience? I am looking to get back to school sooner rather than later. When schools list their average work experience, are they referring to at the time of application or at the time of matriculation?
- What are the best programs out there?
- What are some good resources about career opportunities after getting that dual degree. Hospital administration appears to be a natural outlet, but I want some more literature on what that sort of position would entail.
I would really appreciate any help I could get. Thank you!
Hi,
You’ve got a lot of good questions, let me try to help.
GMAT versus GRE - you have to figure out which test is better suited for your skills and personality. Most b-school will accept a GRE score instead of a GMAT. On the other hand, if you end up applying to MPH programs only you might get stuck if you don’t have a GRE score. I suggest compiling a list of schools and checking their requirements to make sure that your dreams schools take both tests.
Work experience - I’ve worked with multiple MBA/MPH students and there is a big difference between the MPH profile and the MBA profile. In general, you will need to have more work experience to get into an MBA program, whereas MPH (and MPP and MPA) programs often take younger candidates. For top MBA programs in the US, the average age is 27-28, however there is a range. The big challenge is showing schools that you are ready for an MBA, and that you have enough to contribute to the classroom. You also want to prove the schools that you will do well in recruiting. Here’s an article I wrote about whether you are too young for an MBA - http://admit1mba.com/2010/06/too-young-for-an-mba.html
Programs out there - there are many MPH/MBA programs, or, you can also consider MBA programs that have a health track program. For such programs, I recommend looking at Columbia Business School, Wharton School of Business, Berkeley (you’ve got that one already), Duke, Boston University, Vanderbilt, UNC, NYU.
Career search - you will need to do some legwork to identify the career paths, schools will help you in that since the good ones have a lot of events and networking opportunities, but if you do your own research before school you are more likely to get the most out of it. You can look at the MBA employment data for schools and see the companies that recruit from your target industry.
- There's no consensus, but while most business schools will accept the GRE, all MPH programs are going to require the GRE and probably won't take the GMAT. So the GRE might be your better bet.
- I think most schools mean time at matriculation. For MPH programs, the average work experience is about 2-3 years (depends on the program). For MBA programs I think it's a bit more - more like 3-5.
- I think the best programs are going to be ones that have excellent business schools but also excellent schools of public health. Berkeley and Yale both fall in that camp. Others would be Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Emory, UCLA, UNC, Boston U, and Michigan.
Dartmouth and Wash U are both schools that don’t have top SPHs, but do have well-reputed MPH programs and excellent MBA programs - and if you want to go back into consulting, the MBA reputation will probably be more important.
Wharton also has an MBA in health care management, and given Penn’s strong reputation in healthcare, that could be a good bet too. They have an MPH program there so you could probably take classes in public health while you earn the MBA.
NYU also has a joint MBA/MPA program; it combines Stern business with the Wagner school’s top-ranked MPA in health policy and management.
You might also consider an MBA with a focus on healthcare administration (like Wharton’s) or an MPH in health policy and management without the MBA part (although I do think an MBA would offer you more career options and higher salaries). Another option could be an MPH/MPA; Columbia offers one. A close friend did that and started at a consulting firm.
- The career services offices of any of these schools probably have those resources.