Cross Continent Duke MBA - Good for me?

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Cross Continent Duke MBA - Good for me?

by rtr44 » Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:26 am
If at all possible, could I have some advice? I am trying to change careers (from sales to environmental consulting) and I understand that a two year, full-time program is ideal however, I am strongly considering a part-time mba or an online mba because:

My wife and I have a young child, and I am the only one earning money, and I have family split across three different countries.

The Cross Continent MBA is an attractive option for me. Here is my basic profile:

- Male, U.S. Minority, 31 years old
- Double major from a public ivy: 3.2 GPA
- 620 gmat, heavily leaning towards quant.
- Management experience both in America (psychiatry) and overseas (Sales)

I understand that retaking the GMAT would be a good idea, considering my young child (I took the GMAT on 3 hours of sleep), it is not realistic.

Any advice is appreciated.
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by Jon@Admissionado » Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:11 am
Hmmm. tough situation my friend, but I think that the utility of an online MBA is minimal, because it's about SO much more than just the "facts".. it's the network, the clubs, the professors, the internship which allows you to make your change. A part time MBA on the other hand CAN make sense. No it's not IDEAL for a career changer, but we all have other obligations and necessities, and I understand that we can't always do the ideal.
That having been said, if you believe you can really do better on the GMAT with 8 hours of sleep, do your best to MAKE it an option. The difference between a 620 and a 690 can translate into a better school and a difference of thousands of dollars a YEAR in salary, so think about it again before you totally eliminate this option.

and I wish you the best of luck dude!
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by rtr44 » Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:56 am
Thank you!

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by CCMBAr » Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:03 pm
I am a current CCMBA student about half way done with the CCMBA program. I would advise you to reach out to an admissions counselor to discuss your profile and your qualifications for admission. They are great about advising prospective students about their prospects for admission before you have to complete the entire applications process.

As for career switching, I will tell you that we have full access to Fuqua Career Management Services and can even participate in on-campus recruiting. Our whole class in in Durham during peak interviewing season. We have had many career switchers in previous classes and have many prospective switchers in the current class. Several students have had success moving to consulting. That said, a full time program is still your best bet to make a major career switch. The main reason is that with the CCMBA program, it is like having 2 full time jobs. Daytime students have way more time to dedicate to campus networking events and preparing for the rigorous interview process at consulting firms. Also, like Jon mentioned, the ability to internship is a big advantage.

I do have to disagree with Jon that you miss out on "the network and professors (with this program anyway). Our class meets face-to-face for 1-2 weeks every 3 months in residencies around the world. My classmates are top notch (several from top consulting firms, too). We may not see each other face-to-face every day, but being in diverse locations around the world really intensifies the bonding experience. We also have many of the same faculty members as the daytime program. One other big advantage of this type of program is that you can immediately apply what you learn in the classroom to your full time job. Business school education is based around experiential case learning. There is no better way to cement and expand upon that learning than to apply it immediately in your real world job.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you!

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by rtr44 » Tue May 01, 2012 6:27 am
Thank you very much for your perspective!

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by jonathan123456 » Sun Nov 04, 2012 1:13 pm
Thanks for some comments on this program.
I have close to 7 yrs work ex in Tech consulting and Innovation champion in my company.
GMAT is 600.
Any chances of getting thru with this GMAT. Does your colleagues have similar GMAT scores?
Would love to hear from you.

Again, thanks a lot!

CCMBAr wrote:I am a current CCMBA student about half way done with the CCMBA program. I would advise you to reach out to an admissions counselor to discuss your profile and your qualifications for admission. They are great about advising prospective students about their prospects for admission before you have to complete the entire applications process.

As for career switching, I will tell you that we have full access to Fuqua Career Management Services and can even participate in on-campus recruiting. Our whole class in in Durham during peak interviewing season. We have had many career switchers in previous classes and have many prospective switchers in the current class. Several students have had success moving to consulting. That said, a full time program is still your best bet to make a major career switch. The main reason is that with the CCMBA program, it is like having 2 full time jobs. Daytime students have way more time to dedicate to campus networking events and preparing for the rigorous interview process at consulting firms. Also, like Jon mentioned, the ability to internship is a big advantage.

I do have to disagree with Jon that you miss out on "the network and professors (with this program anyway). Our class meets face-to-face for 1-2 weeks every 3 months in residencies around the world. My classmates are top notch (several from top consulting firms, too). We may not see each other face-to-face every day, but being in diverse locations around the world really intensifies the bonding experience. We also have many of the same faculty members as the daytime program. One other big advantage of this type of program is that you can immediately apply what you learn in the classroom to your full time job. Business school education is based around experiential case learning. There is no better way to cement and expand upon that learning than to apply it immediately in your real world job.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you!
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by ccmbagrad » Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:23 am
OMG...CCMBAr, be careful what you said to the public. As a CCMBA grad, the "full access to career service center" is such a scam from my personal experience. Yes, we have full access to career service. However, trust me, you will get filtered out for some unspecified reasons for interviews if employer knows that you are not on campus. I also have NOT mentioned the fact that we were being restricted to attend trips for building networks (even we offered to pay on our own expenses). The answer was that "These trips are for internships, and this is ONLY for daytime students."

The conclusion is that, if you are satisfy with your current career and want an advancement - Yes CCMBA is perfect for you. If you are a career switcher, you have to be careful what the staff tells you. They would try to trick you into the program, and NO, CCMBA is NOT for career switcher. You will have a hard time. Email me if you want a personal discussion

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by tranquil43 » Mon May 20, 2013 7:35 pm
I was actually part of the CCMBA program and I can tell you from first hand experience that the program did not meet my expectations, which is precisely the reason for dropping out. I had my reservations about doing an online program, but a current student at the time whom I knew assured me that the online component did not take away from the program. Also, being that this was Duke, I figured that it had to be an amazing program, online or not. Alas that was not the case. I understand that it's completely subjective, but I did not enjoy my time in the program. The program felt mismanaged and disorganized. The curriculum certainly left a lot to be desired.

From a student body stand point, I felt a lot of the students in the CCMBA program were extremely full of themselves (not the majority but certainly an amount that makes it worth mentioning). I actually encountered a former CCMBA alum (after the fact of removing myself from the program) who was extremely unhappy with his experience in the CCMBA program, just as I was. His reasons for being unhappy with the program pertained to the lack of career services (as mentioned in the post above), as well as the poor quality of instructors that they send on the program.

Another thing that really disturbed me was the fact that gainful employment is a requirement to be part of the program, yet I encountered a number of students who were not working. Not because they had lost their jobs, but because they chose to drop their jobs in order to focus on the program. Now normally I would not care what anyone does in their personal lives, as long as it does not affect me. However in this case it did. As we all know grades in an MBA program are generated on a curve. Well how fair was it that I had to compete with students who had a lot more free time to devote to their studies while I was working a full time job? And the fact that the staff didn't investigate these types of students really leaves me to believe that they just don't care about the program, despite saying they do. I feel the program is an after thought and just a revenue generator.

Again, these are my thoughts and opinions, take them for what they are worth. But if you do decide to go the executive MBA route, I suggest a different school.