Hello,

I am currently preparing for the GMAT w/ the Veritas Prep on Demand. I took the GMAT 5 yrs back w/ a 650 but the score will no longer be valid.

I am confused on whether I should think about a full time MBA or an eMBA. I spoke to a rep of the LBS Dubai-London eMBA the other day and he thinks I am a good candidate.

I graduated from Indiana Univ Kelley School of Business w/ a 3.76, worked w/ GE in their leadership programs globally for 5 years and have now been working with my family business in India managing the finance and some growth strategy for 4 years. By the time I go to B-School I would have 10 yrs of work experience.

Also, your rankings don't mention LBS, but FT often rates it high, how would you rate it?

The schools I am really interested in currently are Harvard (Strategy), LBS (Int'l Location, Proximity to India & Great Finance Faculty) and INSEAD (Global Experience).

Any suggestions? I want to enroll for the Chairman's Package once I finish the GMAT but really need to figure out the full time vs. emba battle for now.

Thanks for your help!
Gunjan

Hi Gunjan,

Yes, ten years of full-time work experience will put you pretty squarely in the EMBA camp. That doesn't mean that you can't apply to traditional two-year MBA programs, but when admissions officers see someone with your amount of experience, usually they ask, "Why did you wait so long?" and "Have you thought about an EMBA?"

We think very highly of LBS, of course. The majority of our clients target U.S. schools, so we tend to talk about those more, but we have a few LBS experts on our admissions consulting team. (We also have a few EMBA experts around here.) Given where you are in your career, I'd recommend that you start your research there before you look at more full-time MBA programs.

Let me know if you have more questions!

Scott

Thanks Scott!

The reason I waited so long was I was continuously part of GE's leadership programs and GE has a culture of promoting its internal management training vs. the traditional MBA. Post GE, I joined the family business and I feel I have a good grip on it now and the MBA would help me with further growth strategy to take the business whole new levels.

I also think that if I relocate outside India for some reason and need to join the corporate workforce, an MBA would be useful. Do you think then the EMBA has the same value as the traditional MBA?

Once, I am done w/ the GMAT, when I add the Chairman's Package, do I add EMBA and few schools on there?

I've been looking at the Columbia Global EMBA too along w/ LBS. Do you know if Harvard has an EMBA as well?

Thanks again!
Gunjan

In terms of whether or not an EMBA has the same value, it all depends on what you're looking to get out of the program. If you want the brand name of a school like Columbia behind you, then either is fine. If networking opportunities are what you're after, a full-time two-year MBA will give you more opportunities there (simply because it's a more involved program). Overall, in your case, I think you'd still get the benefit you want from an EMBA program.

Harvard does offer executive management training, but it doesn't offer a straight executive MBA. It's more of "a class here, a class there" kind of thing. But Columbia's program could be a good one for you... Definitely should look into that one more.

When you upgrade to a Chairman Package, you can add any school, whether it's MBA, EMBA, part-time, etc.!

Scott