<p>Hello everyone. After getting my bachelors degree in computer science, I can pursue an MBA degree for free if I would like. This is because my father is a professor at Pfeiffer University, an institution that offers the degree. I plan to go to back to school to get my masters and doctorate in computer science as well; however, the MBA would only be free until I turn 26, and the CS degrees won't be free, so I plan to pursue the MBA before getting my graduate degrees in CS. This MBA program only requires a few accounting and math classes prior to matriculation, therefore my computer science bachelors degree will suffice as the prerequisite. Is an MBA something that will go well with my computer science degree, or would pursuit of this degree be a waste of one to two years' time and income?</p>
<p>Please offer your opinions. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Here are my thoughts. I am a professor in a business school. My kids could also get their MBA for free, and an accredited and competitive one at that, along with a number of other degree options at our university. But it would never occur to us that they would get an MBA or any other degree from our school just because its free. In their case, it doesn’t factor into their career goals. I don’t see how this fits with your goals (as currently described) so I don’t see the point.</p>
<p>Depends on what you want to do long term - a PhD in comp sci has traditionally been an academic track where I question how much an MBA would be worth. And if you’re going for an advanced CS degree, you should try for an assistantship or fellowship to pick up tuition and even pay a small stipend. </p>
<p>As far as the MBA, for a career in industry, I believe it is more effective after you’ve held a job for a few years rather than right after a degree. Is your age such that you can do it this way?</p>
<p>Several of my coworkers took advantage of the company’s tuition program to get (evening) MBA’s. It did not help their career much :-). If it’s free and you’re living at home it’s not bad, but whether it will add value to a CS degree, that I don’t know. If the MBA had an MIS type track, or operations/math based management, I could see some entertaining synergies for a Comp Sci PhD (Operations Research has fascinated me for decades) but if it’s the usual case studies and etcetera MBA, not as much. </p>
<p>On the other hand, you could use the time while doing a straightforward and probably not difficult MBA to study for GRE and improve your chances for assistantship or fellowship or any other -ship when you go for PhD in Comp Sci.</p>
<p>I had a CS minor as an undergrad, and have an MBA (earned in my mid-twenties after I had worked for a couple of years). I have found it to be a very powerful combination for my career, which is in project management. I can move very comfortably between the business and the IT departments; lots of people can do one or the other, but that “seam” is not as heavily populated. I have built a very nice and profitable consulting practice with many satisfied clients, and my billing rate has held up well even in the current economy. Much better than most other project managers I know, and I attribute that to having one foot in both worlds.</p>
<p>That said, if you have no ambitions toward management and want to stay deep in the technical side of the CS world, you probably wouldn’t get much out of it. But even software and hardware companies need managers who understand business and the core technical side of CS. So there is good opportunity there, too.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what I was thinking I’d do with the MBA; thank you intparent! However, I’m a bit worried that an MBA from Pfeiffer University would be almost meaningless to employers. Everyone else on this forum seems to think that if I don’t get the MBA from a top school, it’s not worth getting. Agree or disagree?</p>
<p>The opinion that an MBA from an also-ran school may not be as useful to an engineer has been expressed many a time in my circles, and tends to hold some truth. Thanks to generous tuition reimbursements in the workplace back in the good old days, lots of people have MBA’s for their trophy walls but without much practical use.</p>
<p>Do you need to be an MBA to be a good manager? Mrs. Turbo and I have a combined 50 years in Corporate USA, in highly technical fields. Few, if any, of our managers have been MBA’s, and for the most part, the reasons good managers are good have more to do with personality and honesty rather than with formal education.</p>
<p>However, in many cases, managers of technical groups were moved there from previously being individual contributors in the technical groups – no MBA needed.</p>
<p>sorghum - LOL, I almost typed the same thing yesterday. Something like: “Well, you’re certainly a very fine degree, sir.” “Why thank you, and I must say you’re looking quite impressive yourself …”</p>
<p>Don’t know how I resisted the urge, honestly.</p>
<p>The business world needs people who understand both disciplines. I graduated with an MBA about 3 years ago after getting a bs in computer science. I am on track to earn 6 figures. 30.00 an hour job + 30k from my own website business.</p>