Graduate school, what to do?

July 22, 2005 11:47 AM

Graduate school, Mechanical Engineering or MBA, what to do?

I graduated about a year ago with a Mechanical Engineering degree. Since then I have been working in an entry level engineering position. I love what I do, and couldn’t have asked for more right out of school. My game plan was to work for a couple years and then go back to school (in what I would decide when the time came.) So now the time is approaching. I am trying to decide whether to go for a masters in Mechanical Engineering (or related field) or an MBA. I have a very interesting job, but long term there is not much growth with my current qualifications. I would go back to school and work full time. If I can apply my classes to work, it most likely would be paid for.

Mechanical Engineering route: a little more growth in current job, than without. No problem getting it paid for. I would really enjoy learning more in this field.

MBA route: I see as more growth potential, but growth would take place outside of current job. I think a ME bachelors and MBA would equal an killer combination. Might be a little bit harder to get it paid for, but probably doable, according to my manager who I have already talked to about this.

For the time, I would like to stay with the same company, I would like to take both routes but need to pick one for now.

Do you have any insight on this as far as good career moves, how hard is it to go back to school and work full time, other things I might not be considering?

posted by retro88 to education (10 comments total)

I would do mechanical engineering while the college courses are still somewhat fresh in your head. Also, you will be able to go back to the mindset of problem sets and exams more easily than you would if you took five years off engineering classes.

From talking to several friends who are doing/considering MBAs, it seems it is a lot of case studies and discussion. Rather different from an engineering degree. It seems you get more out of the MBA if you have more experience in the industry before going into it. So, if you are going for both, do engineering master's first, then do an MBA a few years after.

Working full time and being at school leaves little spare time for hobbies/activities. It helps a lot of you take classes with people you know/work with - makes it difficult to skip homework in favor of work.
posted by copperbleu at 11:57 AM on July 22, 2005

The market for MBAs is apparently really soft right now, so unless your company will keep you and (hopefully even) pay for the program, it might not be the best time. Also, the more work experience, the more you can put into and get out of the MBA. A lot of them involve using your experiences/your own business in assignements.

You're right that a bachelor's in engineering can have low growth potential - most companies just don't have a technical ladder. If you're interested in ending up in management anyway, you'll get there with an engineering degree alone simply because there's no other route up in most companies.

One other thing - depending on where you're looking to go, you may not have to choose. There are programs that allow you to do both at once (e.g., Leaders for Manufacturing). They're rigorous but highly rewarding and get you good connections in business and engineering
posted by whatzit at 12:24 PM on July 22, 2005

Another thing to consider (as someone who just finished, finally, the MBA), what do you want to do with it? If you want to manage other engineers, OK... otherwise, you're probably better off with the MS in Engineering. You can always go back, or just take individual management courses that you think would be helpful, without having to take a full MBA course load.
posted by blackkar at 12:31 PM on July 22, 2005

A masters in engineering isn't worth much in the job market. If you are interested and want the knowledge go for it. Long run I doubt it will pay for itself. Even if your company pays there is still the time invested.

Do you want to manage engineers? If not, engineering can be a tough career. I have seen a lot of engineers who were not managers laid off in their fifties with difficult prospects of getting a job. Most of the new jobs go to the young ones, like yourself. If you seek a job in management you do not need another degree, but if you are going to get one the MBA will surely be better than a Masters in Engineering.

As you probably know, most of the best MBA programs require three years of business experience.
posted by caddis at 1:15 PM on July 22, 2005

I'm an Engineer in a technical position (managing people). My advice is similar to copperbleu's if you want more education now, stick with the technical courses. Get a few years of experience and then hit the MBA. I think it's also reasonable to get a job now, get a year of two of technical experience, get an MS. A couple more years and then hit the MBA.
It's my observation that an MBA really doesn't matter much until 5-10+ years into your career, and even then it really only opens the door an extra inch.
But most important is to choose the path that best aligns with your goals ...
good luck
posted by forforf at 3:22 PM on July 22, 2005

How far the door opens really depends upon the school. If you get an MBA from a really good school (Wharton, Harvard, etc.) it will open the door incredibly more than an extra inch. Anything in the top ten or twenty will vastly change your options from where you sit with an engineering degree. If you get an MBA from a lesser ranked school it will be less able to open doors on its own, but the knowledge you gain will still hopefully allow you to open them on your own.
posted by caddis at 4:01 PM on July 22, 2005

It sounds like you plan on doing this degree in evenings, part time. If that is the case I can't really help.

On the off chance that you are thinking of going back to school full time, aim for the PhD! You don't want to go into it thinking masters only, the education is great regardless of what the degree is called, but you might as well make the most you can out of it.
posted by Chuckles at 4:45 PM on July 22, 2005

If you're not planning on doing school and work at the same time, why wouldn't you be able to get assorted fellowships and grants as an engineering grad student? In chem. E at least, no one is paying for higher education, and they're making a stipend that easily covers housing (that is, if you're single, sans family). Also, will ME schools let you actually go for just a masters degree? Most chem. E schools only give you a masters if you flunk out of the latter part of a Ph.D. program.

I'd go for the engineering now, as the coursework will be fresher--Copperbleu's response is dead on. If there's any way you could do both though...whatzit's suggestion would be my first choice...
posted by hototogisu at 5:21 PM on July 22, 2005

You might also consider law or medicine, both are proven routes to financial success and interesting careers intellectually. Engineers tend to do well in both law and medical schools, the logic helping in law and the science in med school. If you go into law, patent law is a field with pretty decent job prospects and is open to you because of your engineering degree.
posted by caddis at 12:33 AM on July 23, 2005

My own father had several opportunities - "one at every company I ever worked at," he said - to move from technical to management/administration. He turned them all down immediately because he preferred doing technical work. If you look at the salaries over the years, he turned down several million extra dollars - but he enjoyed his work.

Sounds like this is more or less the choice you're looking at here. My personal thought is that if the company will pay for your MBA, they'll then expect you to naturally proceed up the management ladder, which is lucrative. And managers benefit incalculably from a technical background; it's not everyone who has the skillset to speak with both an engineer and a suit-y type. If you are able to lead a team containing engineers and keep the flow of communication robust between your team and higher echelons, you will quickly become indispensable and will probably advance very quickly.

I'm crappy at this kind of thing, as was my father, so we both picked highly technical jobs.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:24 PM on July 23, 2005