I have been facing a dilemma for the last few weeks. I have had a nagging feeling that I want to do something more than what I am doing now. An obvious path is to go back to school. But what would I go back to school for? To get an M.S. in Chemical Engineering?
Currently, I don’t use much of my ChemE degree. So getting an M.S. in that wouldn’t really do much. So I thought about maybe pursuing a different engineering degree. What degree, I don’t know. Maybe an EE degree.
I could also get an MBA. UNCG has an MBA program. I’m only about 15 minutes away, and I can get a tuition reimbursement from work. The only downside is that it would take about four years, taking a couple classes at a time.
The only problem with that? I’m not really planning on being here another four years, especially four years, starting August 2007. Then again, I wasn’t really planning on being here five and a half years, either.
What do you think? Is getting an MBA really worth it?
bastone.org 
3 replies on “Should I Get an MBA?”
YES! even if you don’t get an MBA, use the tuition reimbursement to get something. a free degree (or free credits) is always worth it. even if you aren’t there long enough to finish the program, you still have the credits, which you could transfer somewhere else to finish up. in my opinon, an advanced degree never hurts. now, whether an MBA is the best thing to get, i can’t say. i don’t know what you’d do with it, and it wouldn’t really make you much different from a zillion other MBA holders out there. but still, it doesn’t hurt you. i say go for it.
I agree with Susan. If they’re going to pay for it, take advantage of the opportunity. An MBA probably would broaden the field a little more than ChemE, but to tell the truth I think if companies are looking for someone with an advanced degree, it doesn’t always matter what it’s in (within reason, anyway.) Have you looked through any job specs for something you might be interested in to see what they’re looking for? Also, I asked Richard in my office, who has an MBA, what he thought. He said go for the MBA. His thought was that a Masters in ChemE would be more useful if you were planning to go into teaching or for a PE, which I’ve never heard you mention.
I’m now thinking of getting a Masters in Computer Science from NC State. That would fit in pretty well with what I’m doing now. I had also heard that having a ChemE degree and a CompSci degree is a great combination.
One of my concerns with getting an MBA (as Susan points out) is that they are so common. I would just be another engineer with an MBA.
I can also go online through NC State, which works out very well. It might take a few years to get it, but at least I can work from home.