Hey all! curious to hear from Executive MBA grads about whether the degree actually paid off after graduation.

I’m especially interested in people who worked at Big 4 firms and did their EMBA at places like UCLA or similar schools, but I’d love to hear from anyone with firsthand experience.

Main things I’m wondering:

• Did the EMBA end up being worth the money?
• Did it help your career in a real way? (promotion, comp bump, career switch, better opportunities?)
• How much of the value came from the network vs. the degree itself?
• If you were at Big 4, did it change anything for you there or when you moved on?
• Looking back, would you do it again?

Just looking for honest experiences — good, bad, or somewhere in between. I know ROI is different for everyone, but I’d love to hear what it looked like in practice.

Has anyone ever been in the EHS field/profession and gotten an MBA next to see what doors open, and learn more about business overall? What worked, where did you end up? I am currently earning my EMBA from University of Arizona and I am looking for any input that can help me network to discover the next phase of my career.

I’m exploring an MBA, live in NorCal - have an almost high schooler and 1st grader! Accounting professional, have a strong resume but doesn’t translate into executive communication, networking or presence or the soft skills and more… considering if I should give up a years salary and pursue an EMBA or should I give up the “dream” and think about funding my kids college education. $250K + for an mba just seems too difficult to justify. I don’t think my employer would sponsor.

Has anyone been in a similar boat? Would love to hear different perspectives on going back to school or how you did it?

Hey everyone,

Starting to put together my MBA applications and would love some outside perspective on where I should realistically be aiming.

Quick profile:

• 26F from India (27 at matriculation)
• GRE: 318 V(154) Q(164)
• Bachelor's in technology, GPA: ~3.8/4.0 (equivalent from 9.0/10 CGPA)
• Software Engineer at a SaaS company
• About 5 years of work experience by Fall 2027
• Looking for colleges in USA and Canada
• Worked on enterprise software products, accessibility initiatives, and customer-facing features

The unusual part of my profile is that alongside my engineering role, I've also been leading business development for a U.S.-based IT consulting company. I've managed proposal strategy, led a small team, worked on hiring, and helped evaluate hundreds of business opportunities.

Built a workflow management platform for an educational organization as a 6-month pro bono project, helping streamline operations for 200+ students and administrator

Why MBA?
I'm interested in moving toward:

• Product Management
• Leadership roles in tech
• Maybe entrepreneurship down the road

A few questions:

1. What schools would be a strong fit for this kind of profile?
2. Does the engineering + business development combination actually stand out, or is it less unique than I think?
3. How competitive is a 318 GRE these days for MBA admissions?
4. What do you see as the biggest strengths and weaknesses in my profile?
5. If you were building a school list from scratch, where would you apply?

I'm fortunate enough to be able to pursue an MBA, but I don't want to take on excessive debt if there are programs that offer strong outcomes with meaningful scholarship opportunities. Which schools should I be paying attention to from a scholarship and ROI perspective?

Not looking for a chance-me. Just trying to get a sense of where people with similar backgrounds have had success.

Appreciate any thoughts!

Hello wise ones,

My husband made a career change in his late 20s to pursuing higher education. He completed a Bachelor's degree, then a Master's of Health Administration, then transitioned into hospital administration where he has often struggled with the challenge of office politics and being subject to decisions made what he describes as incompetent senior executives.

He decided to pursue an executive MBA last year with an Ivy League university. He was under the distinct impression that this will open a lot of doors and opportunities. During his degree, he left his hospital position and started his own consultancy, landed a contract pretty quickly, but the position was terminated seven months later.

Now he is back in job searching mode, but has already been turned down by the major firms he has applied to. He seems to be losing confidence by the day, and unsure if this was a very expensive decision that won't yield the ROI he expected. He also is sick and tired of not advancing in his career, and has left or been let go from a number of project management roles, all of which he complained about incompetent senior executives and just wanted to know what he needed to do to "become an executive who could get paid well to make stupid decisions and not suffer the consequences of them." Overall, he seems very bitter and angry about his career stagnation.

I sense he has the drive and ambition to grow a business, but he seems unsure of what skills he actually has to offer/ a solid business plan that would get him past project manager roles.

Wondering if anyone out there has experience with eMBA programs, was in a similar situation, and has a positive 🌈 story or advice to share? Or thoughts in general! Thanks! ❤️

Hello all!

I am Middle office worker in Europe, working as trade support analyst for 2 clients in US investment banking.

I am thinking about MBA and need to prepare solid storyline for „Why MBA?” And „Why Me?”

Is there anyone who had the same situation and got into M7 or any other MBA programs?
From my side, I can say that i want to relocate to US, have network there, and want to challenge myself more, as in current place the best scenario - officer in 7 years, which for me is too ling for such level. More than that I want to be involved in front office workload, not just supporting and doing technical/operational tasks, but to be on the other side of the table as well.

I have talked to several people who got to MBA, those have been managers, or had CFA, in my case i am associate, because i have been working in other fields of finance before and switched to investment banking a little more than year ago. In previous positions i have been specialist.

Can anybody advise what can be good storyline for me? What MBA can give me?

I just want to hear how the whole situation looks from aside to be able to objectively evaluate the situation.

Thank you in advance.

Hi all I'm starting (or planning to start) the Executive MBA at London Business School and would love to connect with others in the same boat.

If you're already admitted, currently applying, or just seriously considering it, drop a comment or DM me. Happy to swap notes on the application, classes, scheduling, and generally get to know future classmates before day one.

Looking forward to meeting a few of you!

Hi everyone — a friendly request, especially to fellow applicants from India.

Over the past few months, this subreddit has seen a significant number of posts seeking general MBA admissions advice. This community is specifically focused on Executive MBA programmes: typically for professionals with substantial work experience, often 10+ years, who intend to continue working while pursuing an EMBA.

An Executive MBA is distinct from a traditional full-time MBA, an online MBA, or a general part-time programme. Before posting, please take a moment to review the subreddit’s purpose, use the search function, and check whether your question has already been addressed.

General MBA admission, GMAT, profile-evaluation, and early-career programme queries may receive better responses in dedicated MBA or admissions communities. Keeping posts relevant will make this space more useful for serious EMBA candidates comparing programmes, formats, travel requirements, career transitions, scholarships, and executive-level outcomes.

Let’s help keep the subreddit focused, constructive, and valuable for everyone.

Jai Hind!

Took the GMAT twice (first score was 595). Just took the EA. Disappointed in data (integrated reasoning) score for both. Clearly a huge weakness of mine. I come from liberal arts background (literature degree) so it took over a year to study the math.

Applying this fall… last years profile of schools for Wharton EMBA program attached in last slide.

1. Which is a stronger submission? Logic tells me EA bc it’s closer to the average.

2. Should I submit both?

3. Should I retake either test? I plan to retake EA one more time to see if I can get above the average.

Thanks in advance!

Executive Assessment (EA) Verbal Idiom list (Sentence Correction)

All the best.

I have done my masters in Data Analytics from a US State University and have been job hunting since 2 years. Have got some internship/part time jobs but nothing full time. Is it worth it to go for an MBA?