<p>I know it’s been a month…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Part-time (often either night or weekend) degrees are very good options for many students, but there’s some sort of stigma against them on here. I’m not quite sure why. You’re correct in your argument that it allows you to earn a degree and experience simultaneously; in addition your employer will often pay for the degree.</p>
<p>There are two minor negatives to a night MBA: first, students do not network as much. In an MBA program, the real value is creating relationships and meeting people that can help your career eventually. Fulltime MBA students often work very closely, spend all day on campus together, and get to know each other in and outside of class. Part-time MBA students still work together and get to know each other outside of class, but not to the same extent.</p>
<p>Second, part-time MBA’s often require you to attend lower ranked schools (MBA rankings are important, and that’s been discussed in this thread already). Usually, the way a part-time MBA works is that you work in a certain city, then attend the best school with a part-time program in that city, regardless of qualifications. For instance, let’s say you happen to work in Orlando. Even if you had the stats for admission to HBS, Stanford, Wharton, etc., your options are Rollins College and UCF. Maybe you’re lucky and happen to work in a city next to a top ranked business program, but most people do not. More and more this is becoming less of an issue, though. Up until about 10 years ago, in Houston the best part-time MBA option was the University of Houston, and most people went there. Now Tulane, Rice, UT, and TAMU have added programs in Houston. Also, several top schools are offering distance MBA’s, like Cornell and Duke. Those programs are usually EMBA’s (which are much more expensive and require more work experience) but they are options for some.</p>