Research MBA Programs

Does anyone out there know how companies tend to view part-time MBAs? Has anyone hasd experience changing career paths through a part-time MBA? I'm looking to change my career path and hoping to do so through a part-time MBA, but I'm having a hard time finding career services statistics on part-time MBA students. Georgetown tells me just to look at the full-time stats and I can't get a hold of anyone at Maryland. My biggest nightmare would be to invest at least $80,000 in an MBA that wouldn't put me in a better situation than where I started.

Let me be brutally honest. Full time MBA faces problem in changing career path unless they are much better than average and has a strong story to tell in a convincing manner.

It is not impossible to change career path through part time. Then again, it is not impossible to change without even an MBA too!!

It is not about degree, it is more about the state of economy, state of manpower, your determination, your network, and finally your luck.

Just to elaborate a bit on the previous answer. MBA degree is not a "golden ticket" it used to be before that will propel you automatically into a desired new career path. It may be still mostly true for top five or top 15 (mostly regional/specific industry/function) recognition.

Outside of those "tops" it's not so much about the degree as about you. What you personally manage to get out of it. I have a few classmates from GWSB who switched careers after part-time MBA program, moving to management consulting, finance, marketing. Their previous experience was in government, non-profit, military, sales. As far as I know, none of them got their jobs through career services, though GWSB Career Center will help you to polish your resume and make yourself more presentable if you reach out to them. They all found their new jobs either through personal networking or "brute force" job search. Georgetown boasts greatest name recognition and networking in DC area. So it might be a good bet for you.

Another advantage I came to realize in my part-time MBA program, which is true for most part-time programs, is that all your classmates are working professionals with existing networks. Many of them are already quite advanced in their current career. So you may get access to a much stronger network than you would get through the full-time program. That is if you are actively involved with your classmates not only in the classroom, but outside. Granted, it is not as easy to achieve in part-time settings as it is usually in full-time program.

A have a post in my blog about Class 2014 at GWSB part-time MBA: https://parttimembadegree.com/2013/02/22 ... ss-school/ These students are rocking the boat and I am sure they will get the most from their part-time experience for future career advancement.

Bottom line, do not over-rely on your MBA degree as a magic bullet. It could be a good "gravy" on your undergraduate degree and/or your pre-MBA work experience, but only to a degree that you personally manage to leverage, using MBA-speak, all hard and soft benefits of your MBA program.