I have been looking into getting a management/business degree to go along with my Engineering background ... but dont know alot of people who have gone alternative routes regarding management degrees.

Of course there is the MBA, and lots of great MBA programs around locally. But they can be super pricey and I wonder if the education I get would really warrant the price.

I stumbled upon an alternative, the MEM program at Duke ... masters in engineering management.

About half the classes you would take would be from the Fuqua school, and the others are really wide open elective classes (which include the option to take more classes from the MBA track at duke).

Has anyone gone the alternative management degree route, or can anyone speak to the value that each would bring. There is a huge price difference (duke MBA 106k vs duke MEM $38,440).

So, that brings up another question ... Duke MEM vs NCSU MBA ... at the end of the day, I am looking to get the most out of the education that I can, but not go into a huge amount of debt to get there.

5/12/2010 6:03:06 AM

A few years ago (probably less) Forbes or a similar publication ran a story on if getting an MBA paid off and where to go for the best ROI. Also, it depends on what you want to do. If the type of career you want requires it then go with the best suited to that career.

5/12/2010 7:44:01 AM

Quote :

"Duke MEM vs NCSU MBA"

To me, there really is no comparison. No disrespect to NCSU, they're the shit when it comes to engineering in this state, but as far as management degrees go, comparing Duke to NCSU is like comparing Harvard to ECU. Duke is a Tier 1 Business School, NCSU is like a Tier 4. Sure with Duke you pay more, but with a Duke degree you also get more. Their website has all the stats.

Why not do both, the Duke MBA and the Duke MEM. I looked at both of these when trying to decide on a school for MBA, and originally was going to do the MEM, but decided to go for the MBA.

Anyway, there is more information at the following link in Old School:
message_topic.aspx?topic=594589

5/12/2010 9:29:19 AM

MBA and Management rankings at NCSU


Public Accounting Report MAC: 20
U.S.News & World Report MBA: 74
U.S.News & World Report Graduate Economics: 48

its not really like comparing Harvard to ECU, i get your point, but its not that extreme

5/12/2010 1:23:03 PM

I wouldn't get a weird degree. Go with letters that people recognize. MEM is something you will probably have to explain in an interview even to people in the field. Neither one is going to teach you something you didn't know if you were a competent person to start with, but it'll get you to approach things in a different way.

NCSU is a good program, especially considering how long it's been around. We haven't had a business school for many years, much less a MBA program. The alumni base is small and it takes a while for the program to learn the ranking systems, but with superstars like me out there a NCSU MBA has a lot of credibility.

NCSU is also a FAR better value than Duke and for engineers who are probably going to stay regional after graduation due to the job pool it is a better fit. If you want to go be an "analyst" in a soon to be highly regulated investment bank where nobody cares if you burn out in 6 months then Duke is the ticket. Or if you really just want to go to Duke - but I chose NCSU over schools like that because it made more sense for me and it's worked out very well.

5/12/2010 1:33:53 PM

I've been thinking about getting my MBA to go along with my engineering background too. I have starting managing people now and I think an MBA may help me one day get to that next level in my company. It'll at least give me a leg up on competition that does not have an MBA on their resume. My main concerns are cost, which schools, and time. Got a young daughter and time is already at a premium.

A lot of upper managers in my company down here in SC have Duke MBAs. The cost is outrageous though.

5/12/2010 3:40:27 PM

^^ what he said

5/12/2010 5:34:41 PM

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/95/best-business-schools-09_Duke-(Fuqua)_950027.html

Median starting salary in the 100-120k range. Curious what mid-career salary is. I would certainly give pause to taking on 110k+ in debt if I wasn't guaranteed a job in the 115k> range.

5/12/2010 8:57:58 PM

Yeah, part of it is the Duke name... Just simply saying you have a masters from Duke in anything would be more credible to the other people in the management ranks at my company who have MBAs from the likes of Duke/Stanford/etc. Comparing that to an MBA at NCSU doesn't exactly bring a "wow" factor the conversation. I will probably try to get some feedback from some big wigs a couple levels above me to see what they think about it.

Admittedly, NCSU has done well to move up with the young program that we have ... but at the same time, moving from 150 to 75 is tons easier than moving up from 75 to 40. When it comes to getting a real leadership oriented Gig ... I would bet money that a duke degree in Either MBA or MEM would be a better sell than an MBA from NCSU.

5/12/2010 8:59:04 PM

A couple of my friends are talking about getting out of science and into management consulting. However, they all have degrees from "name" schools but I'm curious as to whether someplace like McKinsey would even pick up someone with a professional or PhD degree from NCSU.

5/12/2010 9:07:24 PM