<p>hey psuKinger, I know this is an older thread but I just stumbled on it. </p>
<p>I’m in the same situation as you (except I’m ECE), and I share many of the same aspirations/concerns. I would like to be in a technical management position later. So I chose to go for a MS first, then a MBA after. Let me tell you my reasons:</p>
<p>1) After undergrad, I felt that I didn’t get into the areas that interest me as well as I liked. So the natural progression would be a MS.
2) While recent movements in engineering education have moved toward more communication and interpersonal skills, the curriculums are still highly technical. So I feel that a MBA would be useful to learn aspects of business operations not taught in engineering schools but useful in everyday workplace.</p>
<p>I’m in the progress of completing my MS, but MBA at this point is anticpated, but not absolute. I have considered an online program, but there seems to be a strong negative stigma associated with it. If you cannot go full time, and there is a reputable b-school near where you live, then I would go that route. If no decent b-school is available, I know Penn State and NYU both offer online MBAs, and both have reputable brick&motar b-schools. That is actually my plan.</p>