Hey folks.
One of my old friends from quant analytics at the bank I used to work for is interested in getting an MBA and eventually heading over to a consulting firm.
He is having some trouble getting into FT MBA programs due to a really weak undergrad, but he's gotten an in at Columbia EMBA. And he's come to me for advice.
Frankly, this is a little out of my domain of expertise. I am inclined to say that this is not worth it, but I'm not sure. I wanted to ask you guys- is a Columbia EMBA worth it- worth anything for a career switch?
I know a lot of you are going to say that he should get better recs, maybe take some part time courses. I'm not sure I can convince him to do that. If you wanted to do consulting, assuming your choices were Columbia EMBA or just stay basically an IT guy at a Barclays/Deutsche/Citi and avoid paying the $170K, which would you choose?
if staying at his current role in IT and columbia EMBA are his only two choices, then he should do the emba. has he been accepted?
I honestly don't know how he is going to parlay this into a consulting gig. He wants to do econ consulting, and that's kinda a big jump from some combination of IT/Quant Development/Capital Markets.
EMBA's are really for execs or people pretty senior looking to stay in their role and get a top brand while having a flexible course load. Maybe your friend fits the bill, but it seems more like a money grab. I mean if he isn't good enough for the FT Columbia MBA program then why is the EMBA an option?
Columbia's EMBA program is a little bit different from other Executive MBA programs in terms of age/experience range. They don't just have senior executive folks in the classroom. The age ranges from late 20's to 40's and 50's.
I've met (and personally know) a few people in the program, and their reason for going for the program instead of a FT program is to continue working while getting the degree. It's still a 2 year program, but all coursework happens on weekends, so it's extremely demanding. With limited time, they have little time left for social activities and recruiting... however, the class seems to form strong bonds among themselves, and I've been told that it's not uncommon for EMBA students to find opportunities in a different industry / firm after graduation through networking and classmates.
If he wants to do economic consulting, he'd be better off getting a masters degree or doctorate in economics. Won't have much chance otherwise, though I guess some firms recruit from full-time mba programs.
While we're on the topic, is there a thread/list of good econ master's programs on WSO? I did a seach and found a few decent threads, but it stands to reason that this topic has been covered in depth at some point.
As far as Columbia eMBA goes, there is an upside outside of recruiting: he can leverage the ivy league education into doctoral programs. I forget which schools, but a professor I know did this. He had shit ugrad, got a very good eMBA, and after 6 months applied for a phd...worked in industry for a decade then said screw it, went to academia, and never looked back.
So when I visited Columbia this summer, I ended up going to a EMBA info session because that's what fit my schedule. The programs are similar enough in format that Admissions told me it would still be worthwhile. Anyway, I was pretty surprised to hear that a significant portion of the class had a new job within a year of finishing the program (sorry, don't know the percentage).
Basically, the moral of the story was that you form a really strong network and end up hearing about/getting the inside track towards great opportunities. Of course, this is most likely within industry for the people switching, but it does show you that you'll form a strong network that can help you out to switch jobs. As they said, a lot of people in the program are senior enough to be at or close to a decision-making level, so they can actually have some pull in helping you get a job.
Problem for your friend is that I can't imagine many consultants are in the EMBA program. Maybe there are, but you really don't hear about that many MBBers or even second tier sponsored consultants going to these. Could be very wrong about this, but everyone I have worked with has taken the time off (at least for J-Term or Kellogg 1-year) to go to school.
I wouldn't totally rule it out though. Would he be paying?
Edited to add disclaimer that all this info is based on the testimonials of one AdCom rep and two recent EMBA grads. Definitely could be off.
If you can get an employer to foot most or all of the bill then it's great. Otherwise without a big scholarship or some such I don't know if it's worth 100k+. You can take some interesting classes but you wouldn't get the full advantage of on-campus recruiting given the executive folks are not given the same recruiting privileges as the FT folks or so I've heard. And I'm not sure you'd really get the 'Columbia network' either given FT folks would be able to sniff out that you're not FT - and to add to that, even the networking within the program might be weak since many folks might be already established living/work/social wise and are simply commuting to the Harlem area once or twice a week to take some classes. I know some guys who did the columbia emba program - some are sharp, some are not.
Can anyone tell me how is the Columbia Sat EMBA program? In terms of reputation and networking opportunities? I am in finance (derivatives pricing+risk) and want to move to buy-side. Do you think it will be difficult to make this switch (although its not too drastic) to buy-side. Think about buy-side middle office pre EMBA to buy-side client facing (or on track to managing money) kind of roles post EMBA. Thanks.
eMBA - Columbia (Originally Posted: 10/27/2011)
I am conisdering an eMBa from Columbia and would like some feed back from people who already have one from this b-school. I am in PE back office and want to get a solid career path to a more client facing role. Also I want to get my CAIA first.
Very curious as well.
better go full time. emba will open some doors but not for the top tier jobs youd most likely want
Thnx STW but could you elaborate. I'm getting mixed responses to this question. Why would the emba not hold as much weight as the mba?
You don't get the same (or any in some cases) recruiting privileges, limited networking compared to fulltime, still working in current role so the MBA doesn't give you that 'break' to try and move elsewhere, etc.
^--- yep
friend of mine got a corpfin role @ Amex through the emba at columbia but dunno about banking etc
If you want to make a transition, part-time or executive MBA will be a waste of your time and money. You HAVE to do full-time.
You can probably skip the CAIA too.
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