MBA or Msc for 5 years work ex


pooikuan82

Dear all!

I have read with great interest coupled with good advice contributed by experienced ppl in this forum. Wonder if anyone can pitch in a word or two in my case:

Bachelor in IT from Malaysia, 30 yrds old
1 year marketing traineeship in Germany, 3 years IT risk consulting with the big 4 & 1 yr compliance with a Swiss Bank - both work ex in Singapore
Do not intend to pursue within the audit or compliance industry
Want to change in career direction (not entirely sure which - couple of thoughts: marketing, strategy, NGO)
Yet to take my GMAT, so preferably program that does not require one
Only have budget around 25k USD (tuition fee + living cost)
Having the intention of stay and work in the country where I studied (preferably English-speaking, although I speak basic German but German culture is really not my cup of tea after spending a year there)

Deciding between Msc and MBA:

Why Msc & why not?
Why MsC: My limited budget
Why not: Am apprehensive of the peers in the programs mostly be fresh out of school.

Why MBA & why not?
Why MBA: Ability to study with peers around my experience or age group without feeling being the oldest in class I guess Why not: I think it's hard to find a good accredited school with my budget. Plus scoring a high pay check after MBA is not my main goal but rather a career that is more meaningful & satisfying. Hence investing 50k in a MBA or be in debt with one is not justifiable to me.

As much as I would like to study and work in Aus & NZ, tuition fees in both are comparably high to other countries with good quality postgrad programs. So that left UK, Canada, US. Ruled out US as I do not see myself being in debt for 40-100k program(which most of the good programs in US cost). Canada is out as most MsC program are mostly research-based which led to Phd, MBA spread over two years. And so I did a research on all accredited and non-accredited in the UK on their Msc and MBA program:

I read a lot of comment that it's not worth it to do a non-accredited MBA program or not from the top school. But what if in my case that my main goal upon pursuing MBA is not a highly pay job that could justified the investment?

Non-accredited program IN UK within my budgets:
Birmingham City University
Queen Margaret University - MBA
Plymouth University
Hertfordshire University
Nottingham Trent University
Robert Gordon University

Accredited program that will be stretching my budget unless I get some scholarships or funding:
Hull University Business School
Brunel Business School
School of Management, University of Southampton
Kingston University
Bradford University School of Management
Birmingham Business School
Kent Business School

Accredited program but the program structure doesnt impress me more than the non-accredited one:
Aberystwyth University
University of Leicester School of Management

I'm open for suggestions with school around my budget in other part of Europe.
Which, among those schoos (or others that I may not aware of) do you recommend, that can provide a pretty reasonable employment rate? Of course again I'm not comparing it to the top tier which pretty much guarantee a handsome pay consulting or IB career. And what are the chances of getting work in the UK from these second tier school, with the post-grad study work visa abolished now?

Dear all!

I have read with great interest coupled with good advice contributed by experienced ppl in this forum. Wonder if anyone can pitch in a word or two in my case:

Bachelor in IT from Malaysia, 30 yrds old
1 year marketing traineeship in Germany, 3 years IT risk consulting with the big 4 & 1 yr compliance with a Swiss Bank - both work ex in Singapore
Do not intend to pursue within the audit or compliance industry
Want to change in career direction (not entirely sure which - couple of thoughts: marketing, strategy, NGO)
Yet to take my GMAT, so preferably program that does not require one
Only have budget around 25k USD (tuition fee + living cost)
Having the intention of stay and work in the country where I studied (preferably English-speaking, although I speak basic German but German culture is really not my cup of tea after spending a year there)

Deciding between Msc and MBA:

Why Msc & why not?
Why MsC: My limited budget
Why not: Am apprehensive of the peers in the programs mostly be fresh out of school.

Why MBA & why not?
Why MBA: Ability to study with peers around my experience or age group without feeling being the oldest in class I guess Why not: I think it's hard to find a good accredited school with my budget. Plus scoring a high pay check after MBA is not my main goal but rather a career that is more meaningful & satisfying. Hence investing 50k in a MBA or be in debt with one is not justifiable to me.

As much as I would like to study and work in Aus & NZ, tuition fees in both are comparably high to other countries with good quality postgrad programs. So that left UK, Canada, US. Ruled out US as I do not see myself being in debt for 40-100k program(which most of the good programs in US cost). Canada is out as most MsC program are mostly research-based which led to Phd, MBA spread over two years. And so I did a research on all accredited and non-accredited in the UK on their Msc and MBA program:

I read a lot of comment that it's not worth it to do a non-accredited MBA program or not from the top school. But what if in my case that my main goal upon pursuing MBA is not a highly pay job that could justified the investment?

Non-accredited program IN UK within my budgets:
Birmingham City University
Queen Margaret University - MBA
Plymouth University
Hertfordshire University
Nottingham Trent University
Robert Gordon University

Accredited program that will be stretching my budget unless I get some scholarships or funding:
Hull University Business School
Brunel Business School
School of Management, University of Southampton
Kingston University
Bradford University School of Management
Birmingham Business School
Kent Business School

Accredited program but the program structure doesnt impress me more than the non-accredited one:
Aberystwyth University
University of Leicester School of Management

I'm open for suggestions with school around my budget in other part of Europe.
Which, among those schoos (or others that I may not aware of) do you recommend, that can provide a pretty reasonable employment rate? Of course again I'm not comparing it to the top tier which pretty much guarantee a handsome pay consulting or IB career. And what are the chances of getting work in the UK from these second tier school, with the post-grad study work visa abolished now?
quote
ralph

And what are the chances of getting work in the UK from these second tier school, with the post-grad study work visa abolished now?

For the non-accredited schools you list, very little chance. With the accredited ones like Bradford, Birmingham, etc. you'd have better odds. Try to pick one that has a hands-on project component, and then work your ass off and impress the company enough to hire you.

With MBA programs, you pay for what you get. An accredited program doesn't necessarily have to lead to big bucks in i-banking, but as an international student, these will give you a much better shot at landing a job where you study.

You're right that the cohorts in the MSc programs will probably be at a different level than where you are at. But I'd argue that a ranked MSc program (at Warwick or Bradford, for example,) would be better than an unaccredited MBA.

<blockquote>And what are the chances of getting work in the UK from these second tier school, with the post-grad study work visa abolished now?</blockquote>
For the non-accredited schools you list, very little chance. With the accredited ones like Bradford, Birmingham, etc. you'd have better odds. Try to pick one that has a hands-on project component, and then work your ass off and impress the company enough to hire you.

With MBA programs, you pay for what you get. An accredited program doesn't necessarily have to lead to big bucks in i-banking, but as an international student, these will give you a much better shot at landing a job where you study.

You're right that the cohorts in the MSc programs will probably be at a different level than where you are at. But I'd argue that a ranked MSc program (at Warwick or Bradford, for example,) would be better than an unaccredited MBA.
quote
Duncan

This is good guidance. What didn't you like about Germany? Was Switzerland better or worse?

This is good guidance. What didn't you like about Germany? Was Switzerland better or worse?
quote
pooikuan82

And what are the chances of getting work in the UK from these second tier school, with the post-grad study work visa abolished now?

For the non-accredited schools you list, very little chance. With the accredited ones like Bradford, Birmingham, etc. you'd have better odds. Try to pick one that has a hands-on project component, and then work your ass off and impress the company enough to hire you.

With MBA programs, you pay for what you get. An accredited program doesn't necessarily have to lead to big bucks in i-banking, but as an international student, these will give you a much better shot at landing a job where you study.

You're right that the cohorts in the MSc programs will probably be at a different level than where you are at. But I'd argue that a ranked MSc program (at Warwick or Bradford, for example,) would be better than an unaccredited MBA.


Thank you both for your feedback.
Regarding the post-mba work opportunities, I did check out the schools that offer live projects or consultancy projects. (even hertfoshire has live projects). I emailed program coordinator from Birmingham and the person did mentioned that it will be quite challenging to secure an employment post-mba. With that in mind, even more reputated school post a challenge getting job after, I think in this case then it's really no point of forking 5-7k more to get into tier 2 schools, provided some of the tier-3 schools have a reasonable program structure. for instance I was looking at program structure and testimonial students from Nottingham Trent and Hertforshire and boy it is a vast difference, in terns of curriculum and student quality. Correct me if I'm wrong?

I want to change from my current career to marketing & strategy side of thing. Considering the post-mba crisis, I reckon even getting a Msc in Marketing from Manchester wouldn't make such a big diff in securing job, say having mba from Kingston?

<blockquote><blockquote>And what are the chances of getting work in the UK from these second tier school, with the post-grad study work visa abolished now?</blockquote>
For the non-accredited schools you list, very little chance. With the accredited ones like Bradford, Birmingham, etc. you'd have better odds. Try to pick one that has a hands-on project component, and then work your ass off and impress the company enough to hire you.

With MBA programs, you pay for what you get. An accredited program doesn't necessarily have to lead to big bucks in i-banking, but as an international student, these will give you a much better shot at landing a job where you study.

You're right that the cohorts in the MSc programs will probably be at a different level than where you are at. But I'd argue that a ranked MSc program (at Warwick or Bradford, for example,) would be better than an unaccredited MBA.</blockquote>

Thank you both for your feedback.
Regarding the post-mba work opportunities, I did check out the schools that offer live projects or consultancy projects. (even hertfoshire has live projects). I emailed program coordinator from Birmingham and the person did mentioned that it will be quite challenging to secure an employment post-mba. With that in mind, even more reputated school post a challenge getting job after, I think in this case then it's really no point of forking 5-7k more to get into tier 2 schools, provided some of the tier-3 schools have a reasonable program structure. for instance I was looking at program structure and testimonial students from Nottingham Trent and Hertforshire and boy it is a vast difference, in terns of curriculum and student quality. Correct me if I'm wrong?

I want to change from my current career to marketing & strategy side of thing. Considering the post-mba crisis, I reckon even getting a Msc in Marketing from Manchester wouldn't make such a big diff in securing job, say having mba from Kingston?
quote
pooikuan82

This is good guidance. What didn't you like about Germany? Was Switzerland better or worse?


I think it's really quite personal preference when it comes to liking or appreciating one's country culture. Coming from Asia, German culture to me is just a bit too 'cold' and 'harsh' for my Asian taste. I couldn't comment on Switzerland as I haven't been there.

<blockquote>This is good guidance. What didn't you like about Germany? Was Switzerland better or worse? </blockquote>

I think it's really quite personal preference when it comes to liking or appreciating one's country culture. Coming from Asia, German culture to me is just a bit too 'cold' and 'harsh' for my Asian taste. I couldn't comment on Switzerland as I haven't been there.
quote

I know it may sound strange, but why not apply for an internationally recognized MBA programme in your country (Malaysia) from the likes of Nottingham Business school or Monash? Are these programmes not worth it in Malaysia? The course structure and the quality of the education is the same. Maybe you can enlighten me otherwise?

I know it may sound strange, but why not apply for an internationally recognized MBA programme in your country (Malaysia) from the likes of Nottingham Business school or Monash? Are these programmes not worth it in Malaysia? The course structure and the quality of the education is the same. Maybe you can enlighten me otherwise?
quote
ezra

Good point, unless she was looking specifically for international experience, which it sounds like she is. There are also two great local programs in the country: U Malaya and Putra - rather than ones that are imported from other countries.

Good point, unless she was looking specifically for international experience, which it sounds like she is. There are also two great local programs in the country: U Malaya and Putra - rather than ones that are imported from other countries.
quote

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