How to decide if an MBA Program is right for you?

The MBA is not for everyone. Many successful people don't have it. Georgia State is a respected school, and you should have no trouble getting a good job. I plan to get an MBA soon, but if you are satisfied with the education you have, use it to get a good job. By the way, I am looking for my MBA program in the Official MBA Guide referenced in the previous answer. It's really great. It shows that MBA programs are offering a huge variety of concentrations besides finance, accounting, and marketing. So they offer much more than investment banking. There is no such MBA. There is also no "simple" MBA. Universities don't grant MBA in information systems, or MBA in finance, or MBA in biotech. MBA means Master in Business Administration. The MBA is a general degree preparing students for management positions in any level of a business, up to CEO. MBA students study accounting, finance, marketing, management, statistics, economics, strategy, policy, and other courses. Many MBA programs offer concentrations in these and many other fields, but that amounts to only 2-3 courses in your chosen field in the second year of study. Many students avoid a concentration and take a variety of elective subjects to gain a broader background. By the time you finish the first year you'll be able to decide which concentration interests you. You don't become a specialist in a field with 2-3 courses. It generally takes a year of concentrated study. The MBA is not like an MS degree that concentrates study in a single field and prepares students for high level staff or research positions. The MS typically requires an undergraduate education in the field in which you want the MS, or a closely related field. A finance major does not get an MS in chemistry, and a biology major does not get an MS in accounting. If you want to specialize in a particular field other than business administration, such as finance, marketing, operations management, human resource management, or a non-business field such as public health, or public administration, you should get an MS degree in that specialization. MBA programs accept students in any undergraduate field. They prefer students who do not have a business background because they give you the business training but they cannot provide the broad background that managers should have. I have taught MBA students with degrees in Music, Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Psychology, Political Science, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering, and many other fields. Most MBA programs prefer students with 2-3 years work experience after the first degree, but many accept students right out of college if they have good grades and a high GMAT score. Some MBA programs are designed specifically for new college graduates without work experience. The Official MBA Guide provides a lot of information about the MBA degree and MBA schools and programs. It's a comprehensive free public service with more than 2,000 MBA programs listed worldwide. It allows you to search for programs by location (US, Europe, Far East, etc.), by concentration (finance, marketing, aviation management, health management, accounting, etc.), by type of program (full-time, distance learning, part-time, executive, and accelerated), and by listing your own criteria and preferences to get a list of universities that satisfy your needs. Schools report their accreditation status, tuition cost, number of students, class sizes, program length, and a lot of other data. Schools provide data on entrance requirements, program costs, program characteristics, joint degrees, and much more. You can use the Guide to contact schools of your choice, examine their data, visit their web site, and send them pre applications. You can see lists of top 40 schools ranked by starting salaries of graduates, GMAT scores, and other criteria. It's the best service available at http://officialmbaguide.org.

I think MBA programs gives you the skill to jump the corporate ladder fast and along with that give the management skill that is prominent in every area of life. There are myriad number of MBA programs available these days. So one should choose pretty prudently as per their future plans. If one has inclination towards IT then one should choose MBA with specialization in it.