I recently received a comment/question from a reader regarding my decision making and thoughts about my future MBA. This post addresses the questions. Here is the comment:

“Your web page is quite informative and helpful for MBA aspirants. I would like to ask one thing. What were the criterion you kept while choosing the three schools. Can you put some light on why the ASU MBA?”

A Little Background

For those of you who don’t know, I took the GMAT back in August of last year because I wanted to get MBA. And since my employer would pretty much pay for it, I figured it would be a good time. Long story short, I ended up getting a 750 on the test (out of a possible 800), which is considered a really good score, and decided to rethink my options. Originally I was going to take a part-time program and have my employer pay for everything, but I decided to put out a few applications to full-time programs since that was what I really wanted to do in the back of mind all along. The high score just gave me a mental push because I knew that I had a great chance of getting in most places.

Why An MBA and Why Full-Time

If you’ve read my recently updated About page, you’ll know that I’m currently an Electrical Engineer. However, I have a strong interest in business and most things financial, as evidenced by this blog. I’ve known for a while that I don’t want to be a career engineer and would like to transition into more of a business role, so now is as good a time as any to get the ball rolling.

As far as my decision to attend a full-time program versus a part-time, there were a couple of factors that went into it. First of all was the cost of the program. Part-time would have been free because my company would have picked up the tab. I would obviously have to shoulder the cost of a full-time program since the company wouldn’t back me in this case. On the other hand, the part-time degree would most probably have made me an engineer with a supporting business degree. Participating in a full-time program will make the MBA my functional degree supported by an analytical/technical background. The main difference for me was choosing which degree I wanted to be the functional one in the forefront. As far as the costs were concerned, I was hoping the high GMAT score would help with some scholarship money.

Choosing The Schools

Once I decided to apply to full-time programs, I had to pick which ones I was interested in. For a couple of days I considered the likes of Harvard, Stanford or MIT, but decided against them for the same reasons I chose the other schools. Even though many will tell you that you can get a job anywhere in the country once you graduate, most of a schools placement is relatively close to their geographic region. I didn’t want to be in the Northeast or the West Coast and this ruled out a lot of great schools. The cost of living was also a big consideration. Looking over different schools’ data you have to realize that an average salary after graduation of $110K in the Northeast from Harvard may not be as attractive as $95K in the Southwest where the cost of living is significantly lower.

I ultimately chose three different schools which were the University of Texas (being that I’m from Texas it was almost a given), Arizona State University, and Ohio State University (yes I left “the” off intentionally). Ohio State doesn’t really fit the mold of the Southwest, but it’s a small, intimate program that’s ranked well and somewhat in the Midwest where I am currently. I applied to all of these schools and then just waited for the acceptance letters and financial aid offers.

Making The Final Decision

I was accepted at all three of my choices, so the decision basically came down to the program offerings and the financial assistance. Arizona State got back to me first with their offer, and the tuition costs would basically be covered for me through a tuition reduction and a cash award scholarship. The Ohio State offer was similar except it would have cost me about eight grand per year. Texas took the longest to get back to me (showing their size and slow processes) and it would have cost me about $18,000 per year.

Looking at all of these different offers, I finally made the decision to go to Arizona State where I’ll be starting in the fall. The program is pretty small as far as entering class size which means more personalized attention that was very evident through the application process (in comparison with Texas). Aside from their overall program ranking, they’re ranked third in the nation for Supply Chain. I could also easily see myself enjoying life in Arizona since it won’t be cold and I’ll be in the Southwest.

Hopefully this has shed some light on my reasoning for getting an MBA and where. As always, if you have any other questions about this or anything else, let me know in the comments or via email.

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