Hello Everyone,
This is my first thread at this board as I really trust ur opinion in the MBA Choice.

Recently i started planning for my MBA in California, I have a friend who lives in san diego, therefore i decided to do my mba there and live with him.

So can you please advise me, which is the best MBA program (Finance or Accounting Conc) in san diego or in a city close to san Diego.

Thanks and best regards,
Almraya

Here's a couple to get you started. I don't don't know too much about them, but do a bit of looking, maybe post a few questions on specifics on here, and I'm sure you'll find something. I'll be happy to help as much as I can once you've narrowed things down a bit. These are just the ones in San Diego I found on find-mba.com. Otherwise it looks like you'll have a bit of a commute up the coast.

http://www.find-mba.com/university/829/california-school-of-international-management

http://www.find-mba.com/university/14/university-of-san-diego-usd-school-of-business-administration

http://www.find-mba.com/university/801/san-diego-state-university

http://www.find-mba.com/university/807/university-of-california-san-diego-the-rady-school-of-management

http://www.find-mba.com/university/846/point-loma-nazarene-university-fermanian-school-of-business

Hello Everyone,
This is my first thread at this board as I really trust ur opinion in the MBA Choice.

Almraya,

I was raised and educated in Southern California and can tell you that in terms of academic reputation and quality of instruction, there are really only two schools in San Diego that are of American/International standard: the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and the University of San Diego (USD). However, you should do your research and see what these schools might be able to offer. In my opinion, San Diego is an expensive place to live and these are the only schools worth moving to the city for.

San Diego State Univ (also known as California State University, San Diego) is a government school, intended mainly for local students.

California Institute of Management is an unaccredited business that no one I know has ever heard of.

Point Loma is a local, Christian university, also with an unaccredited MBA program.

Good analysis, Kelly. UCSD and USD are definitely the best options in the area. UCSD is an amazing campus, but I think still pretty much focused on scientific research. I just had to double-check that they even had an MBA program. I'd take a look northward to LA (Irvine, UCLA, USC, Pepperdine....), even though SD is a nicer place to live. Loads of traffic in both places. Evan

Totally agree with you.
I went to USC, so I'm a bit partial to any and all of its programs. UCLA has a slightly higher ranked MBA, but people around the world will tell you that just mentioning USC opens so many doors for you. The alumni network is incredibly organized and self-serving. Big plus and well worth the extra money. My dad and brother are Pepperdine MBA's. Very good school, great value and return on investment, and extremely beautiful campus and surroundings (Malibu). Irvine provides the best education in Orange County.

Almraya,

I was raised and educated in Southern California and can tell you that in terms of academic reputation and quality of instruction, there are really only two schools in San Diego that are of American/International standard: the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and the University of San Diego (USD). However, you should do your research and see what these schools might be able to offer. In my opinion, San Diego is an expensive place to live and these are the only schools worth moving to the city for.

San Diego State Univ (also known as California State University, San Diego) is a government school, intended mainly for local students.

California Institute of Management is an unaccredited business that no one I know has ever heard of.

Point Loma is a local, Christian university, also with an unaccredited MBA program.

Totally agree with you.
I went to USC, so I'm a bit partial to any and all of its programs. UCLA has a slightly higher ranked MBA, but people around the world will tell you that just mentioning USC opens so many doors for you. The alumni network is incredibly organized and self-serving. Big plus and well worth the extra money. My dad and brother are Pepperdine MBA's. Very good school, great value and return on investment, and extremely beautiful campus and surroundings (Malibu). Irvine provides the best education in Orange County.

Almraya,
Humphreys Hotel San Diego
I was raised and educated in Southern California and can tell you that in terms of academic reputation and quality of instruction, there are really only two schools in San Diego that are of American/International standard: the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and the University of San Diego (USD). However, you should do your research and see what these schools might be able to offer. In my opinion, San Diego is an expensive place to live and these are the only schools worth moving to the city for.

San Diego State Univ (also known as California State University, San Diego) is a government school, intended mainly for local students.

California Institute of Management is an unaccredited business that no one I know has ever heard of.

Point Loma is a local, Christian university, also with an unaccredited MBA program.

SDSU is not great for post graduate studies. You definitely want to go to UCSD or USD if you are looking at the San Diego area. However, USC, UCLA and Cal have the most reputable business schools in california I believe

Let's be honest here.

Stanford/Berkeley (Haas)/UCLA (Anderson) = CA Tier 1 (Nationally and internationally recognized programs) where you have access to top Management Consulting and Investment Banking jobs. Stanford is BY FAR THE MOST ELITE. In fact, only HBS rivals Stanford.

USC = Tier 2 (Strong Regional Programs) Known Nationally but do have the same level of recruitment that extends past the region

Davis / UCI / UCSD- Tier 3 (Solid Regional Programs (Not nationally known but well regarded in CA)

Everyone Else (SDSU/CSU - whatever) - Quality varies from solid to who knows. Best if you want to stay within the programs city limits.

Please note, the quality of your classmates will vary with tier. Tier 1 will be the best of the best from all across the US and international. The everyone else tier is mostly local and quality is typically not as strong. You learn as much from your professors as you do from your classmates in a top program. These people also become your network as well.

So what is the best MBA college in San Diego? I want to do my higher education and in search for some MBA colleges. I prefer UCSD itself as you have suggested.

http://www.howtostopsnoringpro.com

UCSD. I do agree with the comments about SDSU vs. USD. The MBA at SDSU is more selective than USD and has a slightly higher average GPA. Considering the massive difference in price, that makes SDSU very interesting.

I just wanted to say that this put things into more perspective for business schools in San Diego.

Like I mentioned in another thread, I'm considering SDSU because of its specialization in project management. It's good to know that it's seemed to be reasonably well regarded in terms of academics, and of course the price doesn't hurt.

Although I will look into UCSD as well. Does anybody else have any more current thinking about schools in San Diego?

UCSD is still the stand-out program in this region. The cohort quality, academics, and career resources all stand out above SDSU, USD, etc.

However, SDSU does have a lot going for it - the cost, as you've noted - as well as the fact that it offers a few specialized options. The Sports MBA is of particular interest - one of the best of this type of program in perhaps the nation.

However, I'm not convinced that a specialization in project management would be much of an asset in landing a job in this functional area (since it honestly doesn't require a huge range of specialized knowledge). I'd imagine that UCSD's curriculum would cover enough project management (and related skills like leadership, etc.) to adequately prepare you for a career as a project manager. I just think you'd get a much better experience with a the UCSD general program than the SDSU one.

The other option is to look for an MBA program that offers a course to PMP certification. I'm not sure which b-schools in San Diego would offer this, but you can talk to UCSD about this - I know that the school offers PMP certification through its extension programs, but I don't know Rady's policy on picking this up.

Thanks. I'm leaning towards UCSD now, just because of rankings, as well as what I've learned about its career services department. But, depending on what my GMAT score ends up being, I may aim at some of the better schools in Southern California, like UCLA or USC. We'll see though.

If you can get into UCLA, do it - it's is one of the best MBA programs in California, period: good rankings placements, post-MBA career stats, etc.

There's not really any specialized project management curriculum to speak of, but a few UCLA grads do tend to go into these kinds of roles.