a little WGU MBA review....

[rebel100]

Thank You rebel for starting and keeping this thread alive! This is a very big deal for folks like me. After being in the field health care for over 20 years I'm going for my MBA. now accepted at WGU. Dang, I wish that I've bumped into his thread a bit earlier for the great info, and possibly $65 waiver. But...it's done now. I was really debating myself (LOL) over WGU vs Amberton or A&M Texas, or UT program or something that basically has more name recognition, and is not completely cost-prohibitive. Now that you've almost done w/ WGU MBA what kind of feed back do you get from folks (who matter) at your work, or may be outside of you work field? I've heard nothing but great things about WGU, provided students really follow through on what they've signed up for. But doe WGU give you any connections, which all of these expensive programs are known for. Not that it will matter to me much, as long as I remain employed God willing. In retrospect, given the choice, time it takes to colmplete MBA and the cost factor....would you do this program at WGU or you woul have gone w/ some other place?

Thank You very much.

Hmmm, interesting questions....

If I were 23 instead of 43 I would skip WGU and opt for the cheapest big name school that would accept me, likely that would mean whatever State school held sway in my region. In my case the University of Florida has both one and two year options at around the 20K mark, double WGU but I think the 10K in name recognition could pay off for someone with essentially their whole career in front of them. Since I'm 43 not 23, WGU made a lot more sense for me and I feel fortunate to be in the program. I'm still meeting folks and networking. The MBA pursuit has already led to hints of advanced job offers and new opportunities...I just need to get it finished up and try to reap the rewards! My work in particular has been stellar in both their assistance with my MBA (they paid for about 95% of it), and in the reception to the new credential. I really believe that if I finish in February that by the summer I will be in a better place, in part due to the MBA (actually I hope this pays off before the end of the year, but I don't want to start counting chickens just yet). The hospital I work for sees the WGU MBA as completely on par with any other regionally accredited MBA. The C-Suite here has sheepskin from a diverse and often obscure collection of schools so WGU doesn't stick out at all. The CEO went to Xavier (I've heard of it, but its not super well known), The CNO went to St Catherine's for some masters degree, My own Administrator has an MBA from some Catholic school in Miami...he got it for free when he worked for the associated hospital down there. Point is WGU isn't a disadvantage and it was essentially free for me...so it was without a doubt a good choice.

I'm severely disappointed in WGU's career services. It amounts to some personality quizzes and a hot link to indeed.com ... nearly worthless, actually it IS worthless! When you are considering WGU they quickly point to all these great companies like AT&T as having contributed to the formation of the WGU MBA program. They use this association to "sell" you the program...then as I near the finish line all the in house job leads are for year old entry level jobs I don't really need a Bachelors for much less an MBA....WGU should close their career services department and just make students throw together a linked in account as a graduation pre-req, that would be of more use. I HAVE found some good connections through the Facebook pages, fellow students toughing it out just like me. Perhaps one of them will lead to something one day only time will tell. Many of my fellow students seem to be folks like me who for whatever reason haven't found a lot of career success despite their apparent competence. WGU's price point makes it an attractive option for those that think an MBA will finally be their ticket out of career obscurity...I hope it works, I think with a little hard work it can help.

Time, effort, money considered WGU would still be my pick hands down. But, if I suddenly came into a small inheritance and could afford to take 1-2 years off for studies? In that case I would opt for another school, the one with the most popular football team or the most ivy covered wall I could weasel into. I might one day augment my MBA with a grad cert like this Rinker School - Distance Education - Emergency Services / Disaster Management or this Strategic Management Certificate | Strategic Management Training at Harvard I think these would be a relatively cheap way to enhance the MBA and make me a bit more marketable...besides I'm such an online education junky! Trick will be getting someone else to pay for it!

Your WGU experience should be worthwhile. My writing ability and depth of management understanding has really increased. I've become the go to guy for writing policy and procedure and routinely get called upon to brief senior staff on events and issues. WGU has helped with that, like most of my education opportunities you can make something of it by applying yourself and soaking up the material, or you can choose to apply the minimal amount of work and short change yourself in the end. But there is an underlying quality and palpable worth to the structure and content of each course.

I do wholeheartedly endorse and recommend WGU...just know what to expect and have a plan for how your going to use it.