Hello all,

Please advice on good/worthy emba programs available for people who cannot afford to commit to a particular location; a pure online course; a single 1-4 week stint at a particular location (ex. in campus) is ok.

Hi Ravi,

You could start by having a look at this from find-mba.com: http://www.find-mba.com/search/q/distance+learning

Please accept my sincere apologies if I'm making a very grave presumption, but I'm wondering whether - going solely on your name, I admit - you're in India. If so, I notice the British Council in New Delhi runs a programm which combines distance learning with occasional campus-based stuff. If you go to the link I've given above its easy to find.

Lukeh,
Thanks a lot...Yes I am based out of India but am in a profession that would require me to travel

Can you reccomend any specific course that is worth the investment ..time, money & efforts...

Hi Ravi,

First off, I'm afraid I have no first hand experience of doing an MBA in India, so I hesitate to recommend one or another. There are, however, a number of India-based posters on the board who are better qualified to make such judgments. I suggest you track them down and ask them directly; I'll sure they'll be glad to help, especially if you narrow your enquiry down to particular places.

Obviously there are a few key things you want to look out for in forming a view on any particular school or course. Accreditation is a big one - see my response to Sarah_A and the entry which follows it on the discussion board for a brief overview. Similarly, there's no point doing a course which is either too general or too specific re. what you want to be doing at the end of it. It's always worth spending some time looking at the alumni section of a school's website - both to see what graduates are up to and to get a feel for how actively engaged a place is with its alumni community and vice versa. As I'm sure you already know, regardless of what degree one does or where one does it, having contacts in an industry after graduation can be hugely advantageous. Location is another factor, but you'll know better than anyone what will work for you and what won't - as is the cost. In the latter case, most people are of the view that MBAs are themselves an investment in one's future. How much one is prepared to pay depends on a) one's means, and b) what use one can put it to afterwards and what financial gains one will make as a result of doing it which would otherwise be unlikey. These can be measured (perhaps), against loss of earnings during your period of study.

So....Identify what exactly you want to study and what you can realistically expect to result from doing so, have a look at the listings find-mba.com has, talk to the people on here who appear to be in the know, and I'm sure you'll be able to narrow it down. And of course you can always drop me a line if you need to.

If you want a Distance MBA that will recognized and respected throughout this hemisphere, consider one that is listed amongst 45 programs featured in Latin Trade Magazine. Latin America?s Fortune Magazine equivalent, which is published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

There is a very helpful list in the FT page about online mba:

http://www.ft.com/cms/cdb1eee8-f4e9-11dc-a21b-000077b07658.pdf

lots of interesting infos there(Like intakes per year, avr. Nr of people per class ect)

and also here, lots of infos and articles about distant learning:

http://www.ft.com/cms/976ed3c0-f40b-11dc-aaad-0000779fd2ac.html

Hope it helps,

Andy

Not to bow my own trumpet or anything, but I also posted on this topic yesterday:

http://www.find-mba.com/board/7506/last/#last

C'mon people! Take a few seconds just to look around at some of the things people are talking about on here - past and present - and you're bound to find something helpful.

Also check http://www.economist.com/markets/rankings/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10590282

Several things to consider about an MBA Online Program -- a good option for those who want to "stay put" while they do their MBA rather than moving to the school's campus location:

* Accrediation? AACSB accreditation is quite important for a US based school. The Suffolk University MBA Online Program (campus is in Boston, MA) has AACSB accreditation.

* Is there any interaction? An Online or Distance program that simply has you listening and watching an ipod for example, is very "divorced" from the real business world. It really is similar to the very old-fashioned correspondance schools where you completely do the work on your own with no interaction among other students. How many students are in each online course? If there are many many students in each course, again, it is a sign there may be no interaction meaning you are not forming a professional network -- which is one of the benefits of an MBA Program. The Suffolk MBA has a required weekly 90-minute live chat (using keyboard and auido) for each course and, each course is limited to 18 students. This insures maximum interaction between classmates (your professional network) and faculty. In addition, there are the standard ppt slides with audio, threaded discussion, whiteboard etc that you do on your own time....and there are also group projects done in "virtual space".

* If you start in a school's MBA Online Program and circumstances change, can you simply change to taking the school's campus courses? If the answer is no and that you must apply over again to the campus program, it seems to me that's a sign that the Online Program is "different" from the campus program. In the Suffolk MBA Online Program, at any time, you may also register for a campus course or you may decide to come to Boston for a summer vacation and register for one of our intensive on-campus summer courses - for example Conflict and Negotiation meets two full Fridays and two full Saturdays. Or, you may decide to come and spend one semester in Boston. It is entirely up to you. Once you are admitted to the Suffolk MBA Online Program, you may also register for campus MBA classes at any time. The reverse is true -- our part-time MBAs and Global MBAs have the option of taking a maximum of five of their courses online. Many many take advantage of this opportunity.

* I would also ask, is the diploma different from your campus MBA diploma. The answer at Suffok University is no. You earn the same diploma as the campus student. This is because it is the same faculty, same courses and same high expectations.

Hope these suggestions help. They can be applied to any number of online programs as you explore your options.

and as monty python used to sing:

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam lovely spam, wonderful spam!

Andy

Although you have to admit, they've tried fractionally harder to conceal the fact than most. But then if I were/were at Suffolk University, I'd be pretty desperate to hide it too.

Hi

ICFAI MBA looks good if you somebody keeps moving from one place to another as you can write your exams from about 145 centers in India and 80 countries all over the world. They have opened study centers in Dubai and Australia also.

Manoj Pachouri
Bangalore, India
[email protected]
98862 88806

Are you working in ICFAI's PR team? If so, you should reveal it...

http://www.google.co.in/search?q=icfai+%22Manoj+Pachouri&btnG=Search&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_deDE314DE314&sa=2