Any SJSU MBA / MPA graduates? (San Jose, San Francisco: credit, how much, employment)

[jmw1]

How useful was your MBA or MPA from San Jose State (SJSU)?

I currently work for a local government agency in San Jose in a lower management position. I used to work for a well-funded VC startup and a major Silicon Valley employer. I hope to stay in Silicon Valley until I retire.

I'm specifically looking for:
* How useful are the connections you gained from fellow classmates and alumni?
* How is the academic rigor of the program?
* How well respected is the MBA or MPA with public agencies and local high tech companies when it comes to employment and promotions to upper management?

The big positive for SJSU is that it's cheap and my local government employer can foot a large proportion of the tuition. Of course if money was no object I would pick Haas or Stanford instead.

Basically, how is the ROI of either a MBA or MPA from SJSU?

[LexusNexus]

Originally Posted by jmw1

How useful was your MBA or MPA from San Jose State (SJSU)?

I currently work for a local government agency in San Jose in a lower management position. I used to work for a well-funded VC startup and a major Silicon Valley employer. I hope to stay in Silicon Valley until I retire.

I'm specifically looking for:
* How useful are the connections you gained from fellow classmates and alumni?
* How is the academic rigor of the program?
* How well respected is the MBA or MPA with public agencies and local high tech companies when it comes to employment and promotions to upper management?

The big positive for SJSU is that it's cheap and my local government employer can foot a large proportion of the tuition. Of course if money was no object I would pick Haas or Stanford instead.

Basically, how is the ROI of either a MBA or MPA from SJSU?

I didn't know that SJSU had an MBA program and I don't know of anyone who has obtained their degree from that school. I've lived in the bay area since 1989. You know, there are certainly organizations who place a great deal of emphasis on WHERE you went to school, and there is usually a high degree of competition to get into these places. Not having an MBA, I'm not familiar enough with the market to get specific. However, my opinion has been that simply having the MBA is an achievement in and of itself and obtaining that degree from a school known locally but not nationally, may open some doors for you locally. Because in the final analysis, potential employers who don't emphasize the name of your school want people who can do the work. The totality of your background is important is convincing them that you bring enough to the table to to be of help to an organization.

My advice woould be to determine WHO you want to work for, then explore their receptiveness to your obtaining your degree from various schools. Each potential employer may indicate preferences, and collectively you can assess how realistic of a chance you have to flourish if you did get your MBA from SJSU. You may even want to contact SJSU directly and see if they can provide with more information about people who have already graduated and are out working in the field. These people are invaluable in giving your the real scoop. Don't be afraid to go the source to get information to help you make a well-informed decision.

Sorry I don't have more specifics, but I'm not that familiar with the market for MBAs. Good luck.

[kushu1994]

Originally Posted by LexusNexus

I didn't know that SJSU had an MBA program and I don't know of anyone who has obtained their degree from that school. I've lived in the bay area since 1989. You know, there are certainly organizations who place a great deal of emphasis on WHERE you went to school, and there is usually a high degree of competition to get into these places. Not having an MBA, I'm not familiar enough with the market to get specific. However, my opinion has been that simply having the MBA is an achievement in and of itself and obtaining that degree from a school known locally but not nationally, may open some doors for you locally. Because in the final analysis, potential employers who don't emphasize the name of your school want people who can do the work. The totality of your background is important is convincing them that you bring enough to the table to to be of help to an organization.

My advice woould be to determine WHO you want to work for, then explore their receptiveness to your obtaining your degree from various schools. Each potential employer may indicate preferences, and collectively you can assess how realistic of a chance you have to flourish if you did get your MBA from SJSU. You may even want to contact SJSU directly and see if they can provide with more information about people who have already graduated and are out working in the field. These people are invaluable in giving your the real scoop. Don't be afraid to go the source to get information to help you make a well-informed decision.

Sorry I don't have more specifics, but I'm not that familiar with the market for MBAs. Good luck.

Dear Sir,

I am currently residing in new delhi, India having done my graduation(BCom Honours) and I am eager to do an mba finance course which can provide me a H1B US Work visa.

I am looking to do my mba from San Francisco and the nearby areas.

Any Top shot university like Stanford or Haas will not take me for an mba as I have only 2 yers of full time work Experience.So I am looking out for SJSU MBA Program.

I want to do job for a big company like Business development for google, IBM or Investment Banking for Goldman, Morgan, etc, not just after completing my mba, but i can take experience of 2-3 years in a small company and then can I move to bigger Companies.

I am a little confused as I have no idea of how good a SJSU MBA is????

Will it be enough to get me a starting job of more than $50K P.A. or not???

And if i get a job of around $50K P.A. in starting, What are the average chances that after 2-3 years I can move to Google, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, J P Morgan and other top shot investment banks and Companies???????

Regards

[jk88cal]

You can forget investment banking if you cannot get into top tier MBA schools like Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, etc.

Unless you go top tier MBA school, your work experience prior to your MBA is much more important than your MBA degree. But to get into top tier MBA school, you work experience matters. So bottomline, your work experience dictates what happens.

Most MBAs I know have work experience in engineering field. They get MBA to help them develop or possibly change career path. They usually stay in the same industry, but they might go for jobs more related to business and marketing. The typical pre-MBA pay for engineering is already around $100k per year. Their post-MBA pay is likely similar; again, not dependent on their MBA degree but based on their past work experience. Then in long run, if they advance to business development in future, their pay can go up.

[dogandcat]

What I know about SJSU MBA, is that they offer a several months internship for all full-time students (2 years program), and it counts as as 3 college credits or something. It is very good option for people with no or low experience in business field.

Of course it is not a fantastic business school, but it is cheap (about $35,000 in tuitions, compare to $75,000 or even more in Santa Clara University), and valid for LOCAL market. IT companies in SF Bay area know that school, and OK with it.

[dburbs1975]

I would suggest doing a certificate program at Stanford, and those credits may be applied to the MBA if you wish at a later time. For MBA, these are a dime a dozen and the name of the school matters. I know that it sucks, but it is true.

[dogandcat]

I would add that it depends on what a person wants from completion MBA program. For example, in many (local) companies having *just any* MBA degree is enough criteria to get a managerial position or position in business development department or something similar. It is like a stupid formal requirement, and I personally know one developer who took SJSU MBA program just to be promoted to managerial position (and he got it). For that particular developer, it was no difference to apply to Stanford or SCU or SJCU because his goal achievement required just any MBA. Also I heard from my other friend, that for instance in CISCO it is difficult to get managerial position without MBA, and even if you have SJSU degree, than you application will have much more points compare to applicants without any MBA.

For people who want to make a real career in business, name of school is a totally different story. But please do not forget that it could be extremely difficult to be chosen at the best schools even if you can afford to pay for it (experience, very high GMAT results). I'm very agree with dburbs1975 who suggests to obtain a certificate first.

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by dburbs1975

For MBA, these are a dime a dozen and the name of the school matters. I know that it sucks, but it is true.

Maybe, though your answer oversimplifies the situation unfairly. If a higher tier school is worth it depends how much risk the OP can reasonably take on, ie, would a heavy debt load matter. For a lot of top-tier MBA school grads, it doesn't matter much, as their income on exit might be quite high or they may have a very low debt load going in. But if someone is the kind of person for whom $60-120k of MBA cost doesn't matter, then they wouldn't be asking the question anyway. For everyone else, the name is less important than the RoI; it's not just a question of earning back the cost of the MBA, but what is foregone by going to and paying for a top-tier school. That additional $30-90k spent on a "better" MBA school can be a huge burden, especially in the near term after graduation.