congratulations, I've been following your posts...

I am vascilating wildly between the programs.

Indiana (Kelley) is the higher ranked program. There are electives, so you can tailor the program a bit more. You need to register and determine which classes you are going to take and to order class materials, etc.

Penn State is more cohort focused - the whole group stays together and takes the same courses. You don't need to register or purchase any course materials, that is all taken care of for you.

Indiana's residencies are at the beginning of each year on the Bloomington campus.

Penn State's residencies are at the end of term 3 and then end of term 8 (end of the program). The one at the end of term 3 is held at a corporation somewhere with real-world case study.

i have attended Penn State's online open house and liked what I heard. Indiana's online open house is tonight, so I should learn more there.

Any thougts?

-Carrie

I did get my third acceptance to Arizona State University.

And I have also made my decision to attend the Penn State iMBA program.

-Carrie

Congratulations on your acceptance into the penn state program. I recently got accepted into the same program and will be starting Fall 09. Just wanted to connect !

thanks

Great. Look forward to being part of the cohort with you. It seems that this is your first post, so tell us something about yourself.

-Carrie

Hi Carrie,

I am going to be applying to both the Penn State and Kelley program as well. Can you share how you ended up deciding on Penn over Kelley?

Thanks,
*FF

It was a tough decision. I felt that the Penn State program was a better fit for me because:
-The 'real-world' experience of the first residency. I like how it is at a real corporation. I have 20 years work experience and I am a big proponent of real world experiences.
-At Penn State, the cohort stays together for the full two years and the program is a set program where you progress through a set of courses. There is no registration for classes or buying textbooks. I want to get this done in 2 years and I have 3 kids and a busy life so having it all set was an advantage to me. Also, what I am looking for is a general MBA, so the lack of electives is not an issue for me. The Kelley Direct program can be 2-5 years (they say about 70% of the students complete it in 2 years), you need to register for classes and buy your own textbooks and there are a few electives you need to chose. Because of this, I felt the cohort at Kelley Direct would be less 'connected' and the program might feel a bit more isolated.

However, I did like a number of things about the Kelley Direct program:
-You get the same diploma as the Kelly business school MBA and that diploma is higher ranked than Penn State.
-The electives were inciting some.
-Kelley Direct program seemed to have some scholarship opportunities from IU after 13 credits where Penn State does not have any direct iMBA scholarship opportunities, just loans.

They both use the same software (Angel) to deliver the courses and provide the bulk of the student-student and teacher-student interaction.

and the intangible, I just got a better feeling from Penn State that it would fit me.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your applications.

-Carrie

As a soon to be graduating Alum from Penn State's iMBA program I have to say you made a great decision. The teachers are extremely knowledgeable and the program offers a challenging experience that you will never forget. I can tell you my cohort experience was excellent, they don't just pair you randomly, they take a look at your background and your experience to develop the right mix of group members that makes it a challenging, rewarding experience. It was an honor and privilege to work with my group members. Overall I had a blast, I hope anybody who is looking for an alternative from the traditional classroom setting, please have a look at Penn State's iMBA program. I will admit it is not for everyone but overall a rewarding experience.

Paul - I appreciate your comments about the iMBA program. I found a lack of first-person accounts on ANY of the online programs that made it very difficult to determine which program to attend. Because of this, I am thinking of blogging my iMBA experience.

Thanks for all the comments. I am likely to be in the cohort also. Good to make contact with you guys, I will see you there.