What is the Beat The GMAT community's view on the UCI FEMBA as a regional degree? I am local to Southern California and intend on staying in SoCal for at least the next 5-7 years. My employer offers tuition reimbursement, and I have been looking at UCLA, USC, and UCI's part-time MBA programs. I've had several promotions in my line of work in a very short amount of time, but further advancements/promotions based on the traditional career path for what I do are limited. I'm looking to stay in the same industry, but feel I need an MBA to make the jump to the next level (management role) and make sure my career continues moving forward.
I'm crossing USC off my list as I have doubts as to whether my employer will approve it for tuition reimbursement, and I can't afford to spend the time and energy with submitting an application with a low probability of it getting approved for tuition coverage. It's unfortunate, because it's within my GPA and GMAT range (I have a 3.1 undergrad GPA and a 640 GMAT).
UCLA seems to be a bit of a reach for me given my academic profile. I would also be on the lower range of their mid-80% as far as age range, work experience, salary, etc. so I have my doubts as to my fit with the program and whether I would be able to get much out of it if my peers are, by comparison, already working at elite firms with many more years of experience than I. (By comparison, I am in my mid-20's, with 4 years of work experience, at a mid-sized credit union. Hardly anything one could consider "elite".)
UCI seems to be my best choice and I am trying to determine how best to manage my time and energy when it comes to MBA apps. Obviously, I don't want to go to a no-name MBA program, but most here seem to consider UCI as a second-tier business school. I'd like to revisit that topic and see what your thoughts are.
Are my concerns about my potential "fit" with UCLA unfounded? Should I take the leap of faith by going for UCLA and delaying my other business school apps? Would you take the time and energy and risk having to fight the uphill battle for tuition reimbursement at USC? Would UCI still be worth it?
I'm crossing USC off my list as I have doubts as to whether my employer will approve it for tuition reimbursement, and I can't afford to spend the time and energy with submitting an application with a low probability of it getting approved for tuition coverage. It's unfortunate, because it's within my GPA and GMAT range (I have a 3.1 undergrad GPA and a 640 GMAT).
UCLA seems to be a bit of a reach for me given my academic profile. I would also be on the lower range of their mid-80% as far as age range, work experience, salary, etc. so I have my doubts as to my fit with the program and whether I would be able to get much out of it if my peers are, by comparison, already working at elite firms with many more years of experience than I. (By comparison, I am in my mid-20's, with 4 years of work experience, at a mid-sized credit union. Hardly anything one could consider "elite".)
UCI seems to be my best choice and I am trying to determine how best to manage my time and energy when it comes to MBA apps. Obviously, I don't want to go to a no-name MBA program, but most here seem to consider UCI as a second-tier business school. I'd like to revisit that topic and see what your thoughts are.
Are my concerns about my potential "fit" with UCLA unfounded? Should I take the leap of faith by going for UCLA and delaying my other business school apps? Would you take the time and energy and risk having to fight the uphill battle for tuition reimbursement at USC? Would UCI still be worth it?
