Anyone have current or recent experiences with this program?
I don’t have any input on Alabama’s program in particular but three close family members have engineering undergrad degrees and went on to get MBAs. My D is planning on doing that as well.
For the Industrial Engineers in the family, they did a 5 year program similar, I think, to this program. IE and MBA are a good pairing.
The more techie engineers in the family all went into the workforce for a while and then went back for their MBAs. They felt there was more value in having work experience first and that it helped them get into better MBA programs. My chem e daughter is planning on following that route.
I would ask the program you are considering specifics about career outcomes and salary data.
Almost all MBA programs are being redesigned in order to incorporate technology into the coursework.
My freshman biology major is currently in the program and has really enjoyed it. From a parent perspective, they seem to be getting very practical, real world experience through numerous presentations and projects as well as being required to engage in professional development activities like setting up a linkedin profile; getting their resume reviewed; and attending presentations by speakers in various fields. The program encourages you to stick with the same professor each year. This allows students to develop a relationship with a professor early on in their college career. This is something that can be hard to do at a larger university where freshman classes typically contain large numbers of students.
Personally, I do not think it is worth it. I currently am a senior and have had multiple friends start the program, but only two are still in it. This is not because it was too hard or anything, but rather they realized it is not worth spending full tuition for a year. A lot of companies will pay for you to get your MBA so in my opinion it is an unnecessary expense to drop $60,000 on tuition for something you can get a few years later for free. Not only is the money an issue, but after speaking to many relatives and co-workers with MBAs, they all recommended getting a few years of experience first before getting your MBA. You get a much better perspective of a business’s way of operating after being there yourself than you do straight out of college. Now if money is not an issue and you just want to get it for your resume, go ahead and do the STEM Path program as the program itself is very good. But if you are like me and want to get the best value for the best price, I would wait to get your MBA.