Hi

I'm in the process of applying for an SLA with two options. The first is through Alliance MBS which will ultimately lead to an MSc in Senior Leadership, the second is through Aston and will lead to an MBA.

I'm over 40, and want to make a choice that will lead to the best career progression. Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks in advance
Dan

My brother just completed the MSc at AMBS. The cohort was pretty good. His feedback was pretty similar to what most people in an executive MSc at any European state university would say: the modules felt quite stand-alone, without much co-ordination about how they fit together in terms of deadline and content. The administration was a bit uneven, with limited resources and the academics have rather different levels if engagement. I'm sure these issues would be rather similar at Aston. The design of the Aston programme seems better to me. 

The first difference is between the AMBA dissertation and the Aston business project. You will know which of these approaches suits you. 

The second is the alumni network. 

Thanks @Duncan I appreciate the reply. If this was Top Trumps, would an MSc at a better university beat an MBA at a lesser university for job opportunities?

No, what matters more is the relevance of each school to your career goal. See my post on LinkedIn,  listed on my profile page

Hi Dan,

I was in similar situation few months back when I was considering whether an MBA (via apprenticeship route) or MSc ( via apprenticeship) at a better school. A couple of parameters I used to decide was:
1. Time commitment ( I could not afford 3 days each month) so had to rule out few good programs such as Cranfield EMBA.
2. Content (Does the program cover the skills I want to acquire / improve).
3. Alumni from the program. (Sort of role they had gone into following completion of the program)
4. Cohort (Profile of people attending the cohort)

I am from Energy Industry in technical role where MBA is not essential for career progression. However I have identified few areas where I needed to develop my skills to target the roles I wanted to reach in next 5-7 years. That way I was able to narrow down my choices. I hope this helps you.

Thanks @Digant2022, that's really useful advice. Where/what course did you opt for in the end? 

Hi Dan,

I ended up selecting an MBA program from Strathclyde University called Sustainable Energy Futures which is partly funded by Apprenticeship scheme (18k). The program seemed more structured than some of the SLA programs where there was option to transfer to MBA upon completion of SLA. The content of the program met my requirements more than other programs.So far my experience has been good and the cohort is small and from various disciplines within Energy Industry.

[Edited by Digant2022 on Apr 26, 2023]