MS in CIS vs. MBA in CIS

As I'm approaching 30, I decided to go to grad school to improve my chances of going into management. The more I read about it, the less I'm able to decide between the following 2 choices (both are average city schools of NYC's CUNY):

1) MS in Computer Information Systems at Brooklyn College (my Bachelor's is from there). Classes are very focused: mostly IT, quite advanced, a couple of them are about project management. Produces DEPTH of knowledge in CIS + something in management.

Pluses: 36 credits over 3 years PT (vs 57+ over 5 years for MBA PT) $310/credit (vs $490/credit for MBA) means my company covers pretty much all my part-time tuition (up to $3,500/year), DEPTH of knowledge, NO ENTRY EXAMS (my undergrad GPA is 2.56 since I had heard a million times that GPA in IT doesn't matter, so my GMAT has to be in the 700+ range if I go MBA), no potential "catch up" undergrad classes to satisfy some prereq's; since Master programs do not participate in National Rankings (as opposed to MBA) and both schools are only average, there is very little discrimination about where I got it from (MBA, on the other hand, looks like is only superior if obtained from Top50 or even Top25 school; Baruch, if even present, is in the 60s or 70s, I think)

2) MBA in Computer Information Systems at Baruch College. Classes are not focused on one particular area: there's business, finance, management in various fields, several classes are in IT. Produces BREADTH (a little of everything) of knowledge in Business/Management + some in IT.

Pluses: [questionable in my case] prestige, BREADTH of knowledge and ... I don't know what else.

Bottom line: Since tuition is pretty low and mostly covered by my employer, I don't care about the difference I have to pay. I'm more inclined to go MBA, but if, after spending a year perfecting my GMAT, it won't be enough due to my low GPA of 2.56, it would suck big time. I'll talk to the school's MBA adviser about my GPA, but I'm pretty sure he/she will laugh at it.

What do you think?
Sorry for a long post.

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GAngel

1MeanAdmin wrote: »

As I'm approaching 30, I decided to go to grad school to improve my chances of going into management. The more I read about it, the less I'm able to decide between the following 2 choices (both are average city schools of NYC's CUNY):

1) MS in Computer Information Systems at Brooklyn College (my Bachelor's is from there). Classes are very focused: mostly IT, quite advanced, a couple of them are about project management. Produces DEPTH of knowledge in CIS + something in management.

Pluses: 36 credits over 3 years PT (vs 57+ over 5 years for MBA PT) $310/credit (vs $490/credit for MBA) means my company covers pretty much all my part-time tuition (up to $3,500/year), DEPTH of knowledge, NO ENTRY EXAMS (my undergrad GPA is 2.56 since I had heard a million times that GPA in IT doesn't matter, so my GMAT has to be in the 700+ range if I go MBA), no potential "catch up" undergrad classes to satisfy some prereq's; since Master programs do not participate in National Rankings (as opposed to MBA) and both schools are only average, there is very little discrimination about where I got it from (MBA, on the other hand, looks like is only superior if obtained from Top50 or even Top25 school; Baruch, if even present, is in the 60s or 70s, I think)

2) MBA in Computer Information Systems at Baruch College. Classes are not focused on one particular area: there's business, finance, management in various fields, several classes are in IT. Produces BREADTH (a little of everything) of knowledge in Business/Management + some in IT.

Pluses: [questionable in my case] prestige, BREADTH of knowledge and ... I don't know what else.

Bottom line: Since tuition is pretty low and mostly covered by my employer, I don't care about the difference I have to pay. I'm more inclined to go MBA, but if, after spending a year perfecting my GMAT, it won't be enough due to my low GPA of 2.56, it would suck big time. I'll talk to the school's MBA adviser about my GPA, but I'm pretty sure he/she will laugh at it.

What do you think?
Sorry for a long post.

If you want to improve your chances to move into management you should be talking to your manager and other managers in your company about there experience.

Pick the one you want based on the courses that interest you. You need a 700 gmat for a top 10 school only. With that gpa it would probably soley depend on baruch's own policy.

veritas_libertas

I guess my thinking is:

MBA = Management
MS = Proving your superior knowledge in an area. Maybe teaching at a college.

Just my thoughts...

GAngel

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I guess my thinking is:

MBA = Management
MS = Proving your superior knowledge in an area. Maybe teaching at a college.

Just my thoughts...

MBA is high level. How do you go into a 1/10/100 million dollar company budget and only had one course that briefly covered budgeting, stats and micro/macro econ. It should round off your education. If you feel you're well versed enough in all the categories then this should be your choice.

Your definition of MS is correct which is why they have a master of management.

msteinhilber

I would shoot for the MBA since you desire management. That's on my list of goals, hopefully once I transition to an employer that offers some form of tuition reimbursement.

My motives for a Master's degree are two-fold. First, I don't expect to be working in a pure technical role forever - I would like to transition over into a management role at some point. The other motive for me is the various popular for-profit schools nearby my area that offer evening classes (University of Phoenix, Herzing University, Globe University, Upper Iowa, etc) all require a Master's degree to be able to teach. That would be a great way to help supplement income as well as to help others.

I would schedule an appointment with the school's MBA advisor, if you really show that you have the drive to succeed I'm sure they will help you down the right direction.

1MeanAdmin

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll give it a year to perfect my GMAT and if I don't get into an MBA program, I'll do MS.

pipemajor

I earned my MBA degree from a fully accredited AACSB private school without having to take the GMAT. It was waived because I was on active duty as a commissioned officer. They used my AFOQT (Officer Qualification Test) scores to get me into the program. My SAT score out of HS was only a 1066.

I doubt I would have ever been able to complete a graduate program without being in the military - which I still consider one of the best options for training/education out there today.

The MBA program was off campus - classes right on our base near Boston. The Assistant Program Manager of the off-campus program was a Harvard School of Business MBA and several of the professors who came in to teach the evening classes were FT Harvard B-School faculty.

My undergraduate degree was also business - a BBA from a well-regarded private university. 128 semester hours for the BBA, 36 semester hours for the MBA.

I started working right out of HS and didn't drop back into college until I was 25 years old. Like yourself, my GPA wasn't sterling (~2.6). My undergrad business school had a minimum 2.5GPA just to graduate. Likewise, graduate programs don't accept a "C" grade but I did graduate with my MBA with a 3.0GPA.

It was difficult holding down a full time job and earning my own way through school but I have NEVER regretted passing on the party life to buckle down and "get with it".

Good luck.

GAngel

1MeanAdmin wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll give it a year to perfect my GMAT and if I don't get into an MBA program, I'll do MS.

There are dozens of schools that don't require the GMAT its mainly for first tier and some second tier because there is such high demand (mainly international candidates).
Its just a basic indicator if you can do the program and most schools second tier and below will take 550-600 which isn't that hard to score.

I've got two MS's and i've never had a problem getting highered over any candidates no matter how stellar there resume.

joey74055

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I guess my thinking is:

MBA = Management
MS = Proving your superior knowledge in an area. Maybe teaching at a college.

Just my thoughts...

Yes, I would agree with this. For mgmt you will need those business classes under the MBA. You already have the "tech" degree......

eMeS

GAngel wrote: »

I've got two MS's and i've never had a problem getting highered over any candidates no matter how stellar there resume.

My friend who smokes a lot of pot also has never had a problem getting "highered" than everyone else.

MS

GAngel

eMeS wrote: »

My friend who smokes a lot of pot also has never had a problem getting "highered" than everyone else.

MS

Are you supposed to be the internet spelling police

veritas_libertas

eMeS wrote: »

My friend who smokes a lot of pot also has never had a problem getting "highered"

That was, "highlarious"

eMeS

1MeanAdmin wrote: »

As I'm approaching 30, I decided to go to grad school to improve my chances of going into management. The more I read about it, the less I'm able to decide between the following 2 choices (both are average city schools of NYC's CUNY):

1) MS in Computer Information Systems at Brooklyn College (my Bachelor's is from there). Classes are very focused: mostly IT, quite advanced, a couple of them are about project management. Produces DEPTH of knowledge in CIS + something in management.

Pluses: 36 credits over 3 years PT (vs 57+ over 5 years for MBA PT) $310/credit (vs $490/credit for MBA) means my company covers pretty much all my part-time tuition (up to $3,500/year), DEPTH of knowledge, NO ENTRY EXAMS (my undergrad GPA is 2.56 since I had heard a million times that GPA in IT doesn't matter, so my GMAT has to be in the 700+ range if I go MBA), no potential "catch up" undergrad classes to satisfy some prereq's; since Master programs do not participate in National Rankings (as opposed to MBA) and both schools are only average, there is very little discrimination about where I got it from (MBA, on the other hand, looks like is only superior if obtained from Top50 or even Top25 school; Baruch, if even present, is in the 60s or 70s, I think)

2) MBA in Computer Information Systems at Baruch College. Classes are not focused on one particular area: there's business, finance, management in various fields, several classes are in IT. Produces BREADTH (a little of everything) of knowledge in Business/Management + some in IT.

Pluses: [questionable in my case] prestige, BREADTH of knowledge and ... I don't know what else.

Bottom line: Since tuition is pretty low and mostly covered by my employer, I don't care about the difference I have to pay. I'm more inclined to go MBA, but if, after spending a year perfecting my GMAT, it won't be enough due to my low GPA of 2.56, it would suck big time. I'll talk to the school's MBA adviser about my GPA, but I'm pretty sure he/she will laugh at it.

What do you think?
Sorry for a long post.

My advice is to not waste time on any graduate program (MBA or otherwise) that isn't highly ranked. Baruch is highly regarded and tends to show up in national rankings, so I think you'll do ok with that choice...

MS

pipemajor

GAngel wrote: »

Are you supposed to be the internet spelling police

I also questioned that. Two MS degrees yet some basic grammatical/spelling errors exhibited...

My apologies though, if English is not your native language.

GAngel

pipemajor wrote: »

I also questioned that. Two MS degrees yet some basic grammatical/spelling errors exhibited...

My apologies though, if English is not your native language.

English is my native language although I speak french and spanish as well.
Sorry i don't take the time to spell check every word I write here during the middle of the day when i'm at work. Its not a bother I'll just go back to reading the forums only. **** matches are for 12 year olds and i'm not interested.

eMeS

GAngel wrote: »

Are you supposed to be the internet spelling police

No, and I'm really not into nitpicking people's spelling and grammar.

I simply thought it was funny that someone with as much education as yourself and making the statement that you made chose the word "highered".

No offense intended. Obviously I've offended you, and that's not your fault. My intent was humor.

MS

networker050184

Jokes must use

, or

in their post.

Offensive posts must use

can go either way.

shednik

networker050184 wrote: »

Jokes must use , , or in their post.

Offensive posts must use , or

can go either way.

Nice networker...now that we have that all cleared up

. To the original question is in my experience it all depends on what your career plans are down the line. If you plan to stay in the same city you live in now you can go by how employeers rank the schools locally, but if you think you may end up branching out at some point I would look for the larger schools with a better rep accross the nation.
I had the same choice you have about a year and half ago, and I ended up choosing out of the 3 options I had the #2 school for my city. I wanted to try for Carnegie Mellon but I wasn't accepted into their program unfortunatley and they one I was accepted there you couldn't do part time

. I ended up at the University of Pittsburgh which isn't the same level as CMU but is still a well known school. The 3rd choice I had was the place I did my undergrad at and while they are a good school they are really only known in the local region while Pitt and CMU would be known accross the nation for various programs. Best of luck to you, from my guess however I think the MBA is the way to go for your goals.

AlexMR

Another thing to consider is the relevance of an advance degree in IT 10 years after getting the degree.

I am sure an MBA from a good b-school is going to be a solid credential 20 years after finishing the degree...

I know a guy with a M.S. in IT from nothing else than Stanford. He was commenting once that in an interview with some funny manager from Intel the guy refered to his diploma as "the most expensive piece of paper you can use to wipe your ass 10 years from now". My friend told me he had the right to that comment because he was a Stanford and CalTech graduate.

I would go for the MBA. Advanced IT degrees come with an expiration date. The only thing they say about you after several years is that you are disciplined enough to commit to hard and long goals.

billscott92787

I actually asked this same question to a Graduate School, because I am thinking about going next year when I finish my bachelors. I got the following response:

MBA is more management based. You get the management courses, but then you get a "intro" or a concentration in that specific field.

MS -> is specializing in area, you are going to get some management courses, but you will do more specialization of that particular area of study.