Will a MiM hurt my MBA Chances

sayandarula

Betsy Massar

futurectdocI'm considering apply to Duke and Wake Forest for their Masters in Management, will it hurt me when I apply for an MBA?

Why would it hurt your chances?

i'll bite Betsy. wouldn't it make the "why MBA?" story a more difficult sell? after all, if OP already has one masters in business, then why get another?

The MiM programs have marketed themselves as "junior" programs, that is, programs for people who don't really have a strong background in business and want to get more training. Think of it as a one-year Tuck business bridge program.

I once saw something on Dealbreaker about some (very self-serving) Fuqua MMS guy who complained that he was the only one who got a McKinsey offer, and it would have been better if he had applied straight from college. I guess he was implying that this in-between program didn't serve anyone at all.

So if, after getting the MiM or MMS, or whatever, someone works for 2-3 years and then wants to go back and get an MBA, why not?

So the real question is not, will the program hurt the OPs chances to get an MBA, but will it be a waste of money if he or she could get a business job with a lot of learning potential without it?

But having said all that, there's some confusion about whether the junior program is a substitute for an MBA. I asked that question myself when I was at Fuqua last year, and an admissions officer implied that they anticipated a portion of their students would go on to get MBAs eventually.