MBA

Get some work experience first and then apply in 2-4 years. Go to the best school you can get into as prestige is everything in the MBA game.

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was getting excellent greats

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did you mean to say "grades"?

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did you mean to say "grades"?

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Yeah, originally intended "great grades" or something, went back to edit, and then got distracted when my partner came in to review our latest deal and simultaneously the redheaded secretary let a tooth scrape just a touch down there.

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Depending on the schools involved

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LSU vs Tulane

40K vs 80K

Worth it????

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What industry do you want to focus in

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I am an engineer in the oil/gas industry. I want to stick with the energy sector.

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and where do you want to live?

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Houston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge. I have no interest in leaving this region.

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And why specifically do you want to get an MBA?

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Job Security, Growth Potential, More interesting work, More Opportunities, etc...

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I am an engineer in the oil/gas industry. I want to stick with the energy sector.

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I am also an engineer in the energy industry. I got my MBA at night school while working full-time. The advantage is that with each class I attended, I could immediately apply the principles.

My degree was by no means from a prestigious institute, but I worked at the classes as if it were. Thus I got a lot of knowledge out of it that has helped me in my career. Mostly, I am a career engineer. I have had leadership opportunities, but people problems are not my cup of tea. Plus, the technical side can be pretty fun and just as lucrative.

Here are a few topics that were helpful - accounting concepts, cash flow analysis and metrics, organizational structure and strategy, marketing (core concepts as applied to securing project funding), IT systems and MS Access skills, statistical analysis. There are plenty more concepts that have helped, but those are just off the top of my head.

Now, if I would have done MBA before starting work, only about 15% of that info would have been retained and applied (versus ~85%). But again, I was aiming for the concepts, not the diploma. Either way, I think you should work a few years in the energy sector, and you will get much more out of the MBA, even if you go to school part time. A friend of mine was a petroleum engineer for a few years and started Harvard MBA in the fall. I guarantee you he is getting much more out of it than if he had gone right out of undergrad.

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LSU vs Tulane

40K vs 80K

Worth it????

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LSU is only about 20K.

Also, to be completely honest, I don't know if a Tulane MBA has that much more prestige in Louisiana, especially outside of finance.

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I am an engineer in the oil/gas industry. I want to stick with the energy sector.

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In that case I probably can't help much. My bankground is finance/accounting/IT.

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I have no interest in leaving this region.

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Well, I'll say something anyway. I don't know how Tulane compares with LSU in your industry, but if you are staying local LSU won't be a bad choice. Whether Tulane is worth the extra $$ I have no idea.

There. You just saw someone post here that he has no clue. That should be someone's sig.

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Job Security, Growth Potential, More interesting work, More Opportunities, etc...

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Yep, if you hook into the right MBA network you should get that. This is the biggest difference between an MBA and undergrad IMO.

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I'm trying to guage the value of schools in the 10-25 range. Are Texas, UNC and UCLA worth leaving work for 18 months to pursue a full-time MBA? Would it depend on scholarship money or are they worth full tuition?

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1) It depends on the field of study.

Some fields will give better returns than others.

2) It depends on how smart you are.

If you aren't smart enough to back up the MBA that you are getting, it means nothing. the top schools don't have the highest paid graduates because the school is that much better, it's because they take a higher quality student and provide them with the tools and network to succeed.

An impressive MBA might get you a job out of the gate, but it won't keep that job for you.

3) It depends on how hard you are willing to work

The harder you are willing to work while you are in school, and, more importantly, after you graduate, the more the education is worth. See the above for the reasoning.

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LSU is only about 20K.

Also, to be completely honest, I don't know if a Tulane MBA has that much more prestige in Louisiana, especially outside of finance.

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if you'd ever like to leave Louisiana, I'd go to Tulane. LSU MBA is fairly worthess in my opinion. that program needs vast improvement to ever be relevant outside of Louisiana and certain part of Houston