Research MBA Programs

I'll just mention that I'm new to the whole MBA thing, never even having considered one or even knowing what they really were until a month or two ago. Just took the GMAT, and don't have much direction beyond that...

My story:

Undergrad -- Attended mediocre (at best) branch of state school near where I grew. Good SAT but didn't understand the game (1st gen college) student. Dual majored in Sociology and Philosophy, Minor in English. 3.4 GPA and completed an "honors thesis". Lived abroad in Europe for a year. No other extra curricular.

Grad -- Attended another mediocre state school (sold myself short) and earned an MS. in sociology. Had a bad experience generally, not fitting in with the closed minded, Marxist, poorly run dept. During grad school worked summers teaching logic at The John's Hopkin's Center for Talented Youth (CTY) nerd camps.

Professional -- Immediately out of grad school took position at a research institute for an industry association. Essentially 1/3 research, 1/3 project management, 1/3 lobbying/schmoozing. Stayed for 3 years and moved. Took a project management position at a survey research firm within the transportation industry. I've been there 4 years now. Presented papers at conferences in both positions, finished some important projects, promoted, liked.

GMAT -- 700 (44 Qual | 42 Quant) Plan to take again and don't think I'll have much difficulty getting to 720 threshold. Took the GRE recently and received similar percentiles.

Personal -- 29 year old tall white male. Attractive, cosmopolitan, well traveled, well spoken, cultured. Cary Grant with an edge type. Currently live in Austin, TX but would be open to relocation to CA, NYC, Miami, a few other places for MBA only. Ultimately would like to find a position working abroad--southeast Asia, Europe. Married (no kids now or ever) and wife is on board with MBA, relocation, etc.

From the profiles I've read of others, I don't think my "story" is quite up to par. And, I don't really have a good sense of what I want an MBA for--a better job with more autonomy and more $$ I guess. Help?

Wow you really are in the beginning of your journey. It's great though! When are you looking to apply? This fall? Next fall?

Most importantly - Why is it that you started thinking about an MBA degree? You mentioned that you don't have a good sense, but what was it that piqued your interest?

wi11iedigital wrote:I'll just mention that I'm new to the whole MBA thing, never even having considered one or even knowing what they really were until a month or two ago. Just took the GMAT, and don't have much direction beyond that...

My story:

Undergrad -- Attended mediocre (at best) branch of state school near where I grew. Good SAT but didn't understand the game (1st gen college) student. Dual majored in Sociology and Philosophy, Minor in English. 3.4 GPA and completed an "honors thesis". Lived abroad in Europe for a year. No other extra curricular.

Grad -- Attended another mediocre state school (sold myself short) and earned an MS. in sociology. Had a bad experience generally, not fitting in with the closed minded, Marxist, poorly run dept. During grad school worked summers teaching logic at The John's Hopkin's Center for Talented Youth (CTY) nerd camps.

Professional -- Immediately out of grad school took position at a research institute for an industry association. Essentially 1/3 research, 1/3 project management, 1/3 lobbying/schmoozing. Stayed for 3 years and moved. Took a project management position at a survey research firm within the transportation industry. I've been there 4 years now. Presented papers at conferences in both positions, finished some important projects, promoted, liked.

GMAT -- 700 (44 Qual | 42 Quant) Plan to take again and don't think I'll have much difficulty getting to 720 threshold. Took the GRE recently and received similar percentiles.

Personal -- 29 year old tall white male. Attractive, cosmopolitan, well traveled, well spoken, cultured. Cary Grant with an edge type. Currently live in Austin, TX but would be open to relocation to CA, NYC, Miami, a few other places for MBA only. Ultimately would like to find a position working abroad--southeast Asia, Europe. Married (no kids now or ever) and wife is on board with MBA, relocation, etc.

From the profiles I've read of others, I don't think my "story" is quite up to par. And, I don't really have a good sense of what I want an MBA for--a better job with more autonomy and more $$ I guess. Help?

Thank you greatly for replying Mr. Money--I don't really have a network of MBA-knowledgeable peers, so it's nice to have these forums.

You're right that I'm just beginning on my journey. I only decided to take the GMAT in Jan and took it for the first time on Sat. Getting the 700 made me feel like maybe this is a viable pathway, esp. if I can take the test again and score in the 720-730 range.

I was planning to apply for enrollment in the fall of '13. I'll have just turned 31 at enrollment.

My "starter" list of programs:

Reaching
UT Austin
USC
Rice

Good Shot
AZ State
Texas A&M
UC Davis
Boston College
Boston University
UT Dallas
UC Irvine
Northeastern
GWU
U of A

Safety
Baylor
University of Miami
Thunderbird
Pepperdine
Fordham
U of Houston
CUNY

As you can tell, I'm mainly looking at programs in TX (in-state tuition), LA, NYC, Miami, Boston. It would take a knock-your-socks-off offer for me to consider a midwestern state college situation as my wife and I are pretty urban people and have a decent situation already in Austin (good jobs, low expenses).

Ultimately, the MBA appeals to me because it seems like the type of work one is engaged in afterward fits my skill set--broad analytic capabilities, resource management, understanding and presentation of data-driven outcomes. I'm a project manager at a consulting firm now, and essentially want to move into a better consulting gig or start my own independent consultancy. My "ideal" situation would be to be hired on at a big firm that does something like consulting and work from a foreign office managing in-country projects. Second ideal would be a gig in the US for a decade post-MBA then start my own consultancy abroad using the connections and rep that I've built up. I don't quite have a handle yet on the "concentration" idea within MBA programs and whether choosing a program with good international business connections would actually be helpful in that regard. As to why an MBA vs. another graduate degree--I'm not naturally interested enough in purely quantitative work to flourish at the type of programs that provide "value" (I considered an MS in Stats) and had a very negative experience with departmental unprofessionalism during my first stint in grad school studying the social sciences. I'm naturally analytic and inquisitive, but am too mature for the wankerism so common among high level studies in the humanities and social sciences--one thing I've loved thus far is the directness of the MBA process.

I'm curious, how does my school list strike you?

money9111 wrote:Wow you really are in the beginning of your journey. It's great though! When are you looking to apply? This fall? Next fall?

Most importantly - Why is it that you started thinking about an MBA degree? You mentioned that you don't have a good sense, but what was it that piqued your interest?

wi11iedigital wrote:I'll just mention that I'm new to the whole MBA thing, never even having considered one or even knowing what they really were until a month or two ago. Just took the GMAT, and don't have much direction beyond that...

My story:

Undergrad -- Attended mediocre (at best) branch of state school near where I grew. Good SAT but didn't understand the game (1st gen college) student. Dual majored in Sociology and Philosophy, Minor in English. 3.4 GPA and completed an "honors thesis". Lived abroad in Europe for a year. No other extra curricular.

Grad -- Attended another mediocre state school (sold myself short) and earned an MS. in sociology. Had a bad experience generally, not fitting in with the closed minded, Marxist, poorly run dept. During grad school worked summers teaching logic at The John's Hopkin's Center for Talented Youth (CTY) nerd camps.

Professional -- Immediately out of grad school took position at a research institute for an industry association. Essentially 1/3 research, 1/3 project management, 1/3 lobbying/schmoozing. Stayed for 3 years and moved. Took a project management position at a survey research firm within the transportation industry. I've been there 4 years now. Presented papers at conferences in both positions, finished some important projects, promoted, liked.

GMAT -- 700 (44 Qual | 42 Quant) Plan to take again and don't think I'll have much difficulty getting to 720 threshold. Took the GRE recently and received similar percentiles.

Personal -- 29 year old tall white male. Attractive, cosmopolitan, well traveled, well spoken, cultured. Cary Grant with an edge type. Currently live in Austin, TX but would be open to relocation to CA, NYC, Miami, a few other places for MBA only. Ultimately would like to find a position working abroad--southeast Asia, Europe. Married (no kids now or ever) and wife is on board with MBA, relocation, etc.

From the profiles I've read of others, I don't think my "story" is quite up to par. And, I don't really have a good sense of what I want an MBA for--a better job with more autonomy and more $$ I guess. Help?