My grad school list - help me decide

Graduate School
1

<p>I've been trying to decide between these programs for the past few months so I would greatly appreciate any input. My undergrad is a BS in Computer Science from Florida State University with a 3.7 GPA. I currently work in an Operations Research group and I have 5 years of professional experience. I'm looking to further my career through education since my company will cover a large portion of the cost. I am looking for programs that can be completed mostly or all by distance learning. My main goals are to become a better technical leader and build credentials to move into technical management. School name and program recognition are important to me so I weight those heavily in my consideration. Here is my list along with my perceived positives (+) and negatives (-) of each.</p>

<p>University of Florida - MS Industrial and Systems Engineering / MBA Dual Degree
Program Link: <a href="http://www.ise.ufl.edu/oemp/conc/"&gt;http://www.ise.ufl.edu/oemp/conc/&lt;/a>
+ Strong school influence in my area (although I may not want to stay here forever)
+ Great educational breadth. Nice mix of technical / business to complement my current expertise
+ Weekend classes that I can attend and build a network
- Not top ranked programs
- 4 year commitment
- Regional recognition and not so much national?</p>

<p>Georgia Tech - MS Computational Science and Engineering
Program Link: <a href="http://www.cseprograms.gatech.edu/csems"&gt;http://www.cseprograms.gatech.edu/csems&lt;/a>
+ Top ranked program with strong school recognition in my area
+ Research oriented - provides a better chance of admission to PhD program if I decide to pursue
- Probably the most difficult and time-consuming on my list (I have work and family commitments)
- No business focus</p>

<p>Duke - Engineering Management
Program Link: <a href="http://memp.pratt.duke.edu/distance"&gt;http://memp.pratt.duke.edu/distance&lt;/a>
+ Top ranked school
+ Campus visits required to help build network
+ Curriculum covers technical and business areas
+ 2 year degree
- Are EM degrees sought after?
- Too broad of a degree without enough technical or business</p>

<p>Which school and program would be the most beneficial to my career? MBAs are becoming more common but they can also be viewed as the standard to move into upper management. I prefer technical skills over business but I know business is important to career advancement. At this time I am more concerned with choosing the right program and not if I can get admitted so I am looking for input on deciding which to shoot for. I am also open to other suggestions since there has been an explosion in distance learning from top schools.</p>

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<li>Thanks</li>
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2

<p>I am not in engineering, so I can’t tell you what would be objectively better from that perspective. First, I just want to say that if you have not been admitted to these 3 schools, it is too early to be agonizing over this. Just apply to all 3 of them. Your decision may be made easier if you only get into 1, or 1 may be eliminated from consideration.</p>

<p>That said - look at the people who do what you want to do, re: technical management. Do they have MBAs or technical master’s degrees? If most of your managers, and managers within the field, have MBAs - than the UF program might be the way to go. But if they mostly have technical master’s - or there’s an even mix of the two - then it seems more practical to go with a shorter program.</p>

<p>What are the actual chances of you going to a PhD program? Do you want one at all? Do you want to do research? If you don’t want to do research as a career and just want to do industry management - in other words, if the PhD is really just a hazy and distant consideration - I wouldn’t consider that as a plus. I’m also not sure that the GTech program would absolutely provide better chances of doctoral admissions; online programs aren’t really the best for someone who absolutely wants to go to a PhD program later anyway, but there are other things you can do regardless of which degree you choose to beef your prospects in that area.</p>

<p>So right now, the only thing that seems to recommend GTech is the fact that it’s prestigious. For that reason I’d put it lower on the list.</p>

<p>From there it would be about whether you really feel like you need the MBA or not. I feel like you probably wouldn’t, and so I’d lean towards the Duke program - it’s from a recognized institution; it’s only 2 years; it’s a distance program but has some residency requirements to help you get connected to a network and professors. Your cons seem pretty weak for that one too. The UF program also seems pretty good with the one caveat that it’s a 4-year commitment. That also means that you’d have to stay in your current position for 4 more years at least, if they are paying for it.</p>