(Photo- iMBA January 2008 New Semester Reception. That's me at the food bar. "Food before you schmooze," that's my motto.)
I received a comment on the iMBA posting-
"Hi there-- I came across your site looking for information on Syracuse's iMBA program, as somebody who has decided to do an online MBA. Right now I’m seriously considering this program as my top choice, so I would love to hear about your views on the school's program as well as distance learning. If you have time to blog about this, it would be much appreciated! Thanks, Terry"
Terry,
Glad to be of help.
First of all the practical matters-
Time and Expenses- The tuition is going to run about $6,000 per semester (for two classes), plus books, plus airfare to the residency, plus hotel expenses, plus time away from work. The residencies are at the start of the semester and last about a week. You return to take your final exams and to start the following semester.
You’re looking at about three weeks of residencies per year; one in January (spring), one in May (summer), and one in August (fall). If you don’t want to attend the summer semester, you still have to go back for one day to take your final exams (usually on a Saturday).
The school recommends taking no more than two classes per semester (including summer sessions) which puts completion of the iMBA at three years. There is an open door policy between the iMBA and the full time MBA program, so students can transfer back and forth between the programs.
At present there are about 250 students in the iMBA program, and the Whitman School has decided to keep that number steady for now, which may mean admittance just got a little harder. At a reception this January, I asked an administrator what they were looking for as they tighten up admittance and she said diversity. She said they were looking for people from different parts of the country, and from different professions, in order to add value to student interaction with cohorts.
Most classes have group projects along with your individual assignments, and you’ll spend time coordinating these projects with your cohorts via email and conference calls. Some people are very active in expanding their networks via the iMBA program, others aren’t. On the first day back, the school normally holds a reception at the Sheraton for iMBA, and throughout the week there are additional chances to socialize with your peers.
For the most part, people in the iMBA are open and friendly.
The first semester, a new student is required to take Strategic Management and Financial Accounting. These two courses provide a foundation for the rest of the program.
Of the two, I found Financial Accounting to be the most helpful. In it, you cover how to read a balance sheet, and associated financial statements, with an emphasis on the cash flow statement for the final. With all the scandals today, the course emphasis is on compliance, and how to determine if a company is really making money and healthy. The course doesn’t really dwell on debits and credits, but on how to make sense of all the information and how the data can be manipulated by ethically challenged managers.
Strategic Management covers different business strategies common in business and the vocabulary required to discuss them. It involves case studies and group papers.
After these two initial courses, you are free to choose your courses based on availability.
Caveats-
The biggest caveat is the time commitment-
The residencies are time consuming and expensive. Not only do you fact the explicit cost of travel, but the implicit cost of time away from work. Make sure you have support from your company and direct report on this.
Then there's the change in your weekly schedule to accomodate study.
The best way to manage your study time is to knock it out first thing in the morning on a consistent basis, which means you should be prepared to log 5 hours minimum per week. And then plan to have concentrated time on the weekends, particularly just before assignments are due. I also catch reading time on airplane flights or lunches.
The last thing I'll mention is in the area of course enrollment. The courses fill up very quickly (enrollment is online). Fortunately the administrative staff is willing to work with you, and tries to juggle stuff around after the fact. The school is aware of it, and is working on issue. This enrollment issue is one of the main reasons they’re looking to keep the iMBA at its present student level.
On the plus side, there are different residency locations offered like London, France or the Bahamas. For example this May, there will be a residency in London which will cover the London Stock Exchange and Lloyd’s of London.
I hope this info helps.
John P.
(PS- For additional questions, a good point of contact at the school is Pamela Suzadail, Assistant Director of External Programs who can be reached at pjsuzada@syr.edu . The school's iMBA site is- http://whitman.syr.edu/MBA/iMBA/ .)
I received a comment on the iMBA posting-
"Hi there-- I came across your site looking for information on Syracuse's iMBA program, as somebody who has decided to do an online MBA. Right now I’m seriously considering this program as my top choice, so I would love to hear about your views on the school's program as well as distance learning. If you have time to blog about this, it would be much appreciated! Thanks, Terry"
Terry,
Glad to be of help.
First of all the practical matters-
Time and Expenses- The tuition is going to run about $6,000 per semester (for two classes), plus books, plus airfare to the residency, plus hotel expenses, plus time away from work. The residencies are at the start of the semester and last about a week. You return to take your final exams and to start the following semester.
You’re looking at about three weeks of residencies per year; one in January (spring), one in May (summer), and one in August (fall). If you don’t want to attend the summer semester, you still have to go back for one day to take your final exams (usually on a Saturday).
The school recommends taking no more than two classes per semester (including summer sessions) which puts completion of the iMBA at three years. There is an open door policy between the iMBA and the full time MBA program, so students can transfer back and forth between the programs.
At present there are about 250 students in the iMBA program, and the Whitman School has decided to keep that number steady for now, which may mean admittance just got a little harder. At a reception this January, I asked an administrator what they were looking for as they tighten up admittance and she said diversity. She said they were looking for people from different parts of the country, and from different professions, in order to add value to student interaction with cohorts.
Most classes have group projects along with your individual assignments, and you’ll spend time coordinating these projects with your cohorts via email and conference calls. Some people are very active in expanding their networks via the iMBA program, others aren’t. On the first day back, the school normally holds a reception at the Sheraton for iMBA, and throughout the week there are additional chances to socialize with your peers.
For the most part, people in the iMBA are open and friendly.
The first semester, a new student is required to take Strategic Management and Financial Accounting. These two courses provide a foundation for the rest of the program.
Of the two, I found Financial Accounting to be the most helpful. In it, you cover how to read a balance sheet, and associated financial statements, with an emphasis on the cash flow statement for the final. With all the scandals today, the course emphasis is on compliance, and how to determine if a company is really making money and healthy. The course doesn’t really dwell on debits and credits, but on how to make sense of all the information and how the data can be manipulated by ethically challenged managers.
Strategic Management covers different business strategies common in business and the vocabulary required to discuss them. It involves case studies and group papers.
After these two initial courses, you are free to choose your courses based on availability.
Caveats-
The biggest caveat is the time commitment-
The residencies are time consuming and expensive. Not only do you fact the explicit cost of travel, but the implicit cost of time away from work. Make sure you have support from your company and direct report on this.
Then there's the change in your weekly schedule to accomodate study.
The best way to manage your study time is to knock it out first thing in the morning on a consistent basis, which means you should be prepared to log 5 hours minimum per week. And then plan to have concentrated time on the weekends, particularly just before assignments are due. I also catch reading time on airplane flights or lunches.
The last thing I'll mention is in the area of course enrollment. The courses fill up very quickly (enrollment is online). Fortunately the administrative staff is willing to work with you, and tries to juggle stuff around after the fact. The school is aware of it, and is working on issue. This enrollment issue is one of the main reasons they’re looking to keep the iMBA at its present student level.
On the plus side, there are different residency locations offered like London, France or the Bahamas. For example this May, there will be a residency in London which will cover the London Stock Exchange and Lloyd’s of London.
I hope this info helps.
John P.
(PS- For additional questions, a good point of contact at the school is Pamela Suzadail, Assistant Director of External Programs who can be reached at pjsuzada@syr.edu . The school's iMBA site is- http://whitman.syr.edu/MBA/iMBA/ .)
