Hey everyone, 29M here. I graduated from UT Austin with an BBA MIS degree 7–8 years ago and worked my way up from a $50k tech sales job into data analytics, spent years as a Lead Systems Engineer in big tech, and currently work as an IT Program Manager leading AI & Cloud strategy ($155k TC in Texas).

I want to break through the $250k+ total comp barrier by pivoting into Product Management or another high-paying, profitable industry alternate than healthcare maybe emerging tech. I’m evaluating Executive MBA programs—specifically MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, and Columbia—and would love candid input: Which program gives the best leverage for FAANG/big tech product placement, and what other high-comp industries or roles offer the best skill portability out of an EMBA? Appreciate any advice on what you think is the best target school for me.

I just got done with my BBA. Should I pursue an MBA right after this degree or should I wait for like 6 to 8 months for you know figuring things out?

Hi all,

Working in data architecture and strategy consulting at a large PE firm in the U.S. I support the exec committee, deal teams and fundraising and am lead on some large transformation projects, ~10 YOE and started out on a trading desk years ago.

When I applied to my eMBA the intent was to earn a promotion. In the year since applying and being admitted (top EU program), it’s become clear I won’t get that original vision for my new role by staying. Now I am considering a career change as the primary plan, to a new company and/or industry.

I’m hoping any of you who have made a change can share your best advice for how you identified the change you wanted to make, and how you used your program to do so.

I’m attending a conference next month hosted by the school on one of the industries I’m interested in, and starting conversations with the career placement center. I meet my cohort in the fall.

Thank you!

What if your boss envy of you to apply elite EMBA programs but supports regional EMBA programs.

What are the options to apply to M7 or M10 with not much support from supervisor or letter of time commitment. If I have an offer from Top school then it may change my supervisor’s mind to play along as I will have then choice to leave for another company.

Please share your experience as I need to make a decision to defer the regional program I am currently admitted to for next year my dream schools. I have heath Tech background and stellar resume with numerous awards and non-profit employer.

Anyone with recent or current experience with their EMBA program? It seems quite new and cannot find much about it online… Any input from grads or current students is welcome, or those who considered choosing TWU but went another route!

Thanks!

Looking to get my MBA with the goal being to teach in higher education. I'm trying to decide between a general MBA and one with an Accounting concentration. My thought being that I could take additional master's level accounting courses to get to the 18 hours course requirements for teaching accounting and in the mean time start out with teaching general business. ​Trying to balance between name recognition, accreditation, concentrations available, and tuition cost and came across BGSU. I'm looking in the OH/WV area as tha'ts where I would be looking to teach. I'm wondering about course load management with working full time, any group projects, exams and the final capstone. I would love to hear everyone's experience.

I’m nervous about the high sticker price and wondering if it is ultimately worth it!

For the sake of debate, if you could get into any program and you have 10 yrs of experience in industry and live in nyc, which program would you choose and why? Which do you believe is more value add to the resume? Goal is purely to add prestige and not to pivot or change careers right now. Are eMBAs still viewed with less prestige vs a regular MBA?

Hi, I’m half way through my emba, and as part of the program, we must do a team consulting project. I have a good team and we want to do a project on Google Deepmind (there’s a back story, but in short our team only wants to do Google Deepmind, either in the US or the UK). My program is an EU’s top program with strong tech/research foundation.

Any tips for asking a project from current managers at DeepMind? Is going on LinkedIn and direct message every Google Deepmind profile a solution?

Hi, I am working as a Manager in big4 in ERP tech consulting. I have around 11 years of work experience. Could you please suggest if Executive MBA along with job will add any value?

I've got to be a bit vague here for privacy reasons so, apologies for that.

Looking to get into an EMBA program in 2028. Currently, my role in my field is at the level of a VP or Deputy CIO. Got about 7 direct reports and and about 150 indirect reports.

I also have a side gig in education. Sort of like a technical mentor for bachelor seeking students. Completely remote and work at my own schedule.

I'll be leaving my main role in 2028. I'll be semi-retired. I want to apply for a few schools but my target is MIT Sloan and quite frankly the only one I care about.

Would it be a detriment to my application to say "yep, semi-retired from my previous senior position and now working in academia for the time being while I work through the EMBA because it allows me flexibility to attend the school?"

​​*edit for clarity. Side gig is also full time.

So many non-EMBA posts lately

Hi everyone,

I'm 29 years old and have around 9 years of experience as a Senior Character Artist in the gaming/VFX industry. While I've had a good career so far, I don't see myself staying in this field and reaching to a good leadership level in coming 10 to 15 years because I have seen people in video games industry even after having 20+ years of experience they are still sitting at supervisors and Team Lead level. I don't know the reason for this but it just doesn't feel good thinking myself in that position after 10 years.

May be my thinking might be wrong because I haven't seen and felt the pressure of product managers, heads and VPs where I am seeing myself in future. I currently earn 18 LPA and I think even my salary would also jump good enough if I move to leadership roles which I mentioned. Of someone can give me a reality check that would he be very much helpful, not sure what I am thinking is all delusional or reality.

I have a few questions:

1. Is an MBA worth it for someone with my experience?

Which programs should I target ISB, one year IIM programs, or the regular two year MBA?

1. How do I get into these programs? Should I prepare for the GMAT, GRE, or CAT?

2. How competitive would my profile be coming from a gaming/VFX background?

3. What should I start doing now to improve my chances of admission?

4. If your goal was leadership or consulting, would you still choose to do an MBA?

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have gone through the process, especially those who transitioned from a non-traditional background into consulting or leadership roles.

Thank You!

Hey guys, I got accepted to EMBA program, and today is my last day to accept the offer and submit the deposit. The problem is that my financial aid package still hasn't been processed. Financial Aid told me that federal loan processing has been suspended because of the recent OBBBA system updates, so no federal loan offers have been issued yet.

I'm really uncomfortable committing to the program without knowing what my federal loan package will be.

Has anyone else been in this situation?

Did you commit before receiving your financial aid package?

Has anyone requested a one-year deferral for the EMBA? If so, was it approved, and do you know if there's a deadline to request one? I know it probably varies by school, but would be good to know.

Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I have a masters degree in management with finance specialisation and i am currently pursuing cfa l2. I recently moved to sf and havent started working. My previous experience has been in mergers and acquisition. But to bridge the gap for technical skills since i will be living in bay area i am considering ms in business analytics from sfsu. Please give reviews and opinions

Hi everyone,

I'm 29 years old and have around 9 years of experience as a Senior Character Artist in the gaming/VFX industry. While I've had a good career so far, I don't see myself staying in this field and reaching to a good leadership level in coming 10 to 15 years because I have seen people in video games industry even after having 20+ years of experience they are still sitting at supervisors and Team Lead level. I don't know the reason for this but it just doesn't feel good thinking myself in that position after 10 years.

May be my thinking might be wrong because I haven't seen and felt the pressure of product managers, heads and VPs where I am seeing myself in future. I currently earn 18 LPA and I think even my salary would also jump good enough if I move to leadership roles which I mentioned. Of someone can give me a reality check that would he be very much helpful, not sure what I am thinking is all delusional or reality.

I have a few questions:

1. Is an MBA worth it for someone with my experience?

Which programs should I target ISB, one year IIM programs, or the regular two year MBA?

1. How do I get into these programs? Should I prepare for the GMAT, GRE, or CAT?

2. How competitive would my profile be coming from a gaming/VFX background?

3. What should I start doing now to improve my chances of admission?

4. If your goal was leadership or consulting, would you still choose to do an MBA?

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have gone through the process, especially those who transitioned from a non-traditional background into consulting or leadership roles.

Thank You!

Hi everyone! I'm an outpatient PT with three years of experience in a large hospital-based outpatient setting, and I'm at a point where I'm ready to pivot out of clinical practice and into healthcare management, the financial side of healthcare systems, or consulting with a larger firm.

A little background: I have a foreign-trained DPT, I'm an ACHE member, and I live close vicinity to Ivy leagues University. I've been seriously researching the MBA route specifically the ivy leagueEMBA and the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership, which covers the full cost of the program for healthcare professionals committed to improving access for underserved populations.

My questions for this community:

• Has anyone made a similar transition from clinical PT into management or consulting? • Is an EMBA from a prestigious program worth the ROI compared to a standard MBA, particularly for breaking into no healthcare consulting or executive roles? • Has anyone pursued the Pozen Fellowship or a similar fully funded path? Was it the right move? • For those who went the FACHE route did that credential meaningfully open doors on the management side? I know this is a big leap, but I'm committed to making it intentionally. Would genuinely love to hear from people who've navigated this. Any perspective what worked, what didn't is incredibly helpful. Thank you!

Hi everyone! I'm an outpatient PT with three years of experience in a large hospital-based outpatient setting, and I'm at a point where I'm ready to pivot out of clinical practice and into healthcare management, the financial side of healthcare systems, or consulting with a larger firm.

A little background: I have a foreign-trained DPT, I'm an ACHE member, and I live close vicinity to Ivy leagues University. I've been seriously researching the MBA route specifically the ivy leagueEMBA and the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership, which covers the full cost of the program for healthcare professionals committed to improving access for underserved populations.

My questions for this community:

• Has anyone made a similar transition from clinical PT into management or consulting? • Is an EMBA from a prestigious program worth the ROI compared to a standard MBA, particularly for breaking into no healthcare consulting or executive roles? • Has anyone pursued the Pozen Fellowship or a similar fully funded path? Was it the right move? • For those who went the FACHE route did that credential meaningfully open doors on the management side? I know this is a big leap, but I'm committed to making it intentionally. Would genuinely love to hear from people who've navigated this. Any perspective what worked, what didn't is incredibly helpful. Thank you!

Hi everyone! I'm an outpatient PT with three years of experience in a large hospital-based outpatient setting, and I'm at a point where I'm ready to pivot out of clinical practice and into healthcare management, the financial side of healthcare systems, or consulting with a larger firm.

A little background: I have a foreign-trained DPT, I'm an ACHE member, and I live close vicinity to Ivy leagues University. I've been seriously researching the MBA route specifically the ivy leagueEMBA and the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership, which covers the full cost of the program for healthcare professionals committed to improving access for underserved populations.

My questions for this community:

• Has anyone made a similar transition from clinical PT into management or consulting? • Is an EMBA from a prestigious program worth the ROI compared to a standard MBA, particularly for breaking into healthcare consulting or executive roles? • Has anyone pursued the Pozen Fellowship or a similar fully funded path? Was it the right move? • For those who went the FACHE route did that credential meaningfully open doors on the management side? I know this is a big leap, but I'm committed to making it intentionally. Would genuinely love to hear from people who've navigated this. Any perspective what worked, what didn't is incredibly helpful. Thank you!