WGU MSISA then MBA from Brick and Mortar: Overkill or Good Combo?

JoJoCal19

So I'm finishing up my BS in Business Administration from the University of Florida in May next year. For the longest time I had planned on going straight through my MBA at UF (I'm 30 with almost 8 years of IT experience), however with my current life situation and the fact that my wife will be starting back on her Bachelors after a 6 month hiatus, I feel the MBA at UF will be too much for me to start next fall. I have a two year old and we are expecting our second child in 3 weeks. After having worked on my Bachelors since May 2010 I'm kind of burnt out with juggling work, school and family (UF B school is TOUGH).

I really want to get a Masters level degree though as with my experience and certifications I'm working on, it will be a huge lift to my resume, even above the degree I'm finishing now. I really like the WGU MSISA and the fact that I can do school work on my own schedule. I've done a TON of reading about the MSISA here and elsewhere and it's something I really want to pursue. Then in the fall of 2014 I could start on an MBA.

Thoughts, opinions? I know there are some folks here who have multiple degrees, including Masters and above level, so I'd appreciate any input and experiences.

Whiteout

I struggled with figuring out what to do after my undergrad as well. What I came down to for me was time and money. Those were the main reasons why I choose WGU instead of another brick and mortar. I am happy with my decision and who knows maybe I will get back to UW for law school or something some day.

That being said if you want to get into management I wouldn't think the WGU MSISA would mean much if you had you also went on to get your MBA from Florida. But if you are wanting the MSISA to improve your technical skills and to learn about security, then hell go for it.

So I guess it really depends on what you ultimately want to do and how much you like school

Cheers.

NotHackingYou

This is the same combo I'm thinking really hard about.

ptilsen

Total overkill, IMO. I mean, I won't say multiple graduate degrees in different, but related disciplines is by any means a bad thing. I just don't see it as necessary or likely to be worth the effort. I have no data whatsoever to back that up, but that's my gut reaction. On the other hand, if you want to have both for the education itself, then I say go for it.

My other reaction is that I'm not sure sure the WGU MSISA is the best move in general. I'm not saying it won't help, or that it's bad education, or that the reputation is bad. But, I feel that it won't help as much as some other grad degrees, it's not as good of an education as some other grad degrees, and the the reputation is not as good as some other grad degrees. In other words; it's not bad, but there are better options. There are traditional B&Ms that will have a better reputation that still offer online classes for roughly the same degree.

Not everyone will agree with me on that, and it's not my intent to knock WGU. But, for the reasons I described, it doesn't seem like an ideal choice to me.

higherho

Three pillars to IT, education, Certifications, and Experience. I honestly think if you have that much IT experience, you already have a degree, just build up high end certifications. You won’t need a Masters at all if you want to stay technical (in some cases you don’t need a masters if you want a lead / management role within IT).

However, if it is your goal to get a Master’s degree then I would get a Master’s degree in IT rather than business because you already have an undergrad in business. I think going this route would make you more valuable in the long term.

powerfool

Unless the MBA program is from a top 25 MBA school, I wouldn't go to the same university for the MBA as the undergrad unless you really had few opportunities, but that is just me (and what I have seen as beneficial for others). I understand that many schools offer incentives if you were a business undergrad with them, but they typically offer those same benefits to others. My alma mater, for instance, advertises that they allow undergrad alums to waive 5 equivalent grad courses if they had a grade of B or better... but they extend that to anyone from a regionally accredited school. It was tempting, and still is, but I am just not sure I see the benefit.

The big thing is that there are TONS of folks with MBAs, now and they are all complaining that they cannot find work, etc... well, they likely couldn't find work before they had an MBA, too. They decided to go to the closest most convenient school and are not seeing value from it. That is why, especially for an MBA (and it applies to law schools, as well) is that you should go to the absolute best school that you can afford (affording respective to money, time, and any other factor that limits your ability to go to a school). There are a lot of geographies that don't have top 25 schools... they are centered in the mid-east/northeast, California, Chicago, one in Texas, and two in Indiana... so that does make things difficult.

Many of these top schools are offering some online programs and executive MBA programs that meet on a limited schedule (usually one extended weekend per month and a couple of two weeks stints).

demonfurbie

if i were you id look into getting a mba from a distance learning over wgu

the degrees at wgu are more along the tech side not management side,

you could always get a pmp in the mean time, alot of management deals with project management

JoJoCal19

powerfool wrote: »

Unless the MBA program is from a top 25 MBA school, I wouldn't go to the same university for the MBA as the undergrad unless you really had few opportunities, but that is just me (and what I have seen as beneficial for others). I understand that many schools offer incentives if you were a business undergrad with them, but they typically offer those same benefits to others. My alma mater, for instance, advertises that they allow undergrad alums to waive 5 equivalent grad courses if they had a grade of B or better... but they extend that to anyone from a regionally accredited school. It was tempting, and still is, but I am just not sure I see the benefit.

The big thing is that there are TONS of folks with MBAs, now and they are all complaining that they cannot find work, etc... well, they likely couldn't find work before they had an MBA, too. They decided to go to the closest most convenient school and are not seeing value from it. That is why, especially for an MBA (and it applies to law schools, as well) is that you should go to the absolute best school that you can afford (affording respective to money, time, and any other factor that limits your ability to go to a school). There are a lot of geographies that don't have top 25 schools... they are centered in the mid-east/northeast, California, Chicago, one in Texas, and two in Indiana... so that does make things difficult.

Many of these top schools are offering some online programs and executive MBA programs that meet on a limited schedule (usually one extended weekend per month and a couple of two weeks stints).

I actually agree with this for the most part and it's the sentiment I usually have. UF's MBA is ranked somewhere near 40, and really rankings don't tell the whole story. Down here in FL, where I intend to stay, UF's MBA is highly regarded and the Alumni network is unbelievable. I wouldn't interrupt my life to travel to MA, PA, or anywhere else to attend a top 10 FT MBA. In the case of benefits, I can do UF's 1 year program rather than 2 years.

I think I am leaning towards not pursuing a technical oriented MS degree, and just doing my MBA. With already having 8 years of IT experience (6 in InfoSec) by the time I finish my bachelors in May, I'll have a much better chance of going into IT/InfoSec management, which is my ultimate goal, by pursuing my MBA. I've done some more thinking and I think that instead of doing a InfoSec MS degree first, my time and money would be better spent on getting CISM/CISA combo and CAPM. Thanks to all who gave input.