Yes. I have committed myself to further study yet again. Some might question my sanity while others might feel sympathy for me but to me, it is the realisation of a long held desire to add three special letters to the end of my name and I am looking forward to it!
The journey thus far has been far from smooth. I have long had the desire to do an MBA but for one reason or another, I never got around to it. Then when arguably the best time for me to do it came, I decided to move to London and hence had to defer it yet again. But trying to be optimistic, I consoled myself by thinking that given the large number of top business schools in the UK, perhaps I can do my MBA there. But when I started looking into it, I was disappointed that both the timing and the cost of most programs doesn't suit me! The time they require to complete the program, taking into account the start date, does not work well with the timing of my two year visa, and the cost is usually exorbitantly high!
Gutted by this, I was more or less resolved to forgetting about doing an MBA in the UK and just enjoying my two years there. However, my desire to obtain a UK qualification to spice up my CV never went away and I found myself researching UK qualifications one day. That was when I stumbled across an article by the Economist/Economic Intelligence Unit that discussed distance learning MBAs. The article opened my eyes to the possibilities of doing an MBA through distance learning and I was sufficiently impressed to further research this possibility.
From my further research, I obtained a new found understanding and appreciation of distance learning MBAs and eventually even applied for one. The key findings that influenced my decision to apply are as follows:
1. Accreditation: There are several associations out there that accredit MBA programs and for the programs to be accredited, certain criterias has to be met. Once these criterias are met and the program has been accredited, the programs can then be seen to be equal. In other words, if a business school is accredited, then it is safe to say that their standard of MBA programs, whether they are delivered full time face to face, or through distance learning, are of the same quality and standard.
2. Top business schools: Many of the world's top business schools are providing distance learning delivery options and if they believe enough in this delivery method to offer it while knowing the risk that poor delivery will tarnish their reputation, then that's enough of an assurance for me to believe in it too.
3. Cost: While the distance learning option is cheaper than the full time option, it is still quite significant. In fact, it can be more than many well known full time programs! So if people are willing to fork out such large sums of money to do these programs, then that again adds credibility to these programs.
4. Reception: It seems from my research that many employers view these program positively, especially since they know it takes a lot of admirable qualities from people, like time management, self motivation and dedication to complete these programs.
5. Difficulty: Almost everyone who has gone through these programs talk about the difficulty of completing it. And the statistics from the Economic Intelligence Unit report shows this given the relatively low completion rates. In other words, the business schools do take these programs seriously, enough to actually make students work to earn their degrees.
Deciding on such a route to complete an MBA, the next step was to choose the business schools to apply for. After extensive research, I narrowed it down to two top business schools - the first was Warwick Business School and the second was Manchester Business School, and so I submitted an application to WBS and if that failed, I was going to apply to MBS. Fortunately, WBS made me an offer.
In choosing a business school, several considerations influenced my decision greatly. These were timinig, cost and quality of the program. Warwick Business School came out on top on all of these.
1. Timing - The Warwick MBA can be completed in two and half years. As with all accredited programs, there is a significant element of face to face teaching involved. These take the form of Warwick Weeks in the WBS program. In total there are a minimum of three Warwick Weeks in the WBS program and they all take place while I'm still in London under my Tier 5 visa so timing wise, this works out perfectly for me. Given I will only have about 17 months left on my visa by the time I start the Warwick MBA, the last couple of months of my program can be completed while I'm back in Australia, which again works out well for me.
2. Cost - Although the cost is quite hefty at about AUD$30K+, it is still cheaper than many other porgrams while at the same time, not too cheap to make it look cheap!
3. Quality - This is arguably one of the most important aspects influencing my decision. From my research, Warwick's program, especially their distance learning delivery mode, is class! The Warwick Week provides a crucial face to face element that bridges a bit of the gap between the distance learning mode and the face to face mode. The flexibility of opting into the modular classes that is taught entirely face to face is also appealing and I intend to take several of these if time and cost permits. And the fact that we graduate with simply the Warwick MBA with no mention of mode of delivery means that WBS considers all their modes of delivery are of equal quality. Furthermore, some argue that the DL mode provides an extra level of interaction that is not available in the full time option - asynchronous discussions where participants discusses issues not in real time and hence can apply more thought to their responses.
Having said all this, I must admit that I'm still stressing over whether I'm making the right decision in choosing this over a full time program. In the blogs to follow, I would outline more of my thoughts on this - stay tuned!
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