The Media MBA: Advice from a Student in the Trenches
An MBA with an emphasis in entertainment and media isn’t something you hear about often. In fact, according to GMAC’s 2016 Prospective Students Survey, a career in media is barely a consideration for most MBA candidates. But that wasn’t the case for Kristina Partsinevelos, a 2017 MBA candidate from the Oxford Saïd Business School. Kristina started her career as a journalist, producer and TV news anchor, and she plans to continue in media post-graduation. And for her, an MBA was a natural step to further her career. Continue reading…
Top MBA Recruiters: BB&T
Branch Banking and Trust, also known as BB&T, is a large, U.S.-based financial service holding company. Based in Winston-Salem, N.C., the company operates 2,196 financial centers in 15 states and Washington, D.C. As a company that offers a range of consumer and commercial banking, securities brokerage, asset management, mortgage and insurance products and services, BB&T is also a prime landing spot for recently graduating MBAs. Continue reading…
What Are The Most Affordable Boston MBA Programs?
Living in Boston isn’t cheap. According to Expatistan Cost of Living Index, Boston is the sixth most expensive city in North America. On average, people pay between $1,641 (480 sq. ft.) and $2,812 (900 sq. ft.) per month for rent, depending on location and size of the apartment. Then, by the time you add on utilities, food, transportation, personal care and entertainment, living and working in the city can look exceptionally pricey. And costs only increase when you add on an MBA education. That’s why an affordable Boston MBA program is so important.
With the average cost of a top 10 MBA tuition set around $120,000 over two years, breaking the bank may feel especially draining. So, to help you out, we’ve compiled the top five most affordable MBA programs in Boston. Continue reading…
Finding The Right Accelerated Los Angeles MBA Program
Beyond just the financial commitment, earning an MBA requires immense energy on many levels. There is, of course, working while earning a degree, studying, going to class, extensive immersion-style courses, case competitions and plenty more to consider. For those looking to earn an MBA out west, an accelerated option may alleviate some of those dilemmas. So, how can you find the best accelerated Los Angeles MBA program to fit your needs?
Continue reading…
The Top Dallas Marketing MBA Programs
With the recent growth of the “Silicon Prairie” in areas like Dallas, Texas, it’s no wonder that business students are heading south for their business education. With a low cost of living and an ever-increasing number of job opportunities, Dallas may just be a perfect place for such students to get their education and start a career.
And while most MBA degree programs provide a general foundation of business knowledge to launch such a career path, many programs also give students the opportunity to specialize within a particular field. With such tailored learning, whether in the form of a specialized MBA or MBA concentration, such graduates will have a competitive edge in the job market.
Students looking to enter the marketing field in the Dallas metro area have a number of opportunities to earn their MBA degree in the area while still focusing more specifically on their marketing education.
The Top Dallas Marketing MBA Programs
Cox School of Business – Southern Methodist University
At the SMU Cox School of Business, students have the opportunity to concentrate their MBA degree in a particular field. Selecting a concentration can better help students prepare for their future career path and demonstrate a more specialized experience for graduates entering the work force.
Marketing is among the available concentrations for students at Cox, which requires just 16 credit hours. Some classes available to fulfill the requirement include, among others:
- Customer Insights and Market Intelligence
- New Product Development
- Understanding What Customers Value
- Consumer Behavior
Commerce College of Business – Texas A&M University
Student at the Cox College of Business are able to select a minor for the MBA degree by concentrating all of their elective courses within a particular field. While the rest of the course requirements for a Commerce MBA consist of generalized business courses, students can take four marketing courses as part of their elective credits to create a marketing minor. Possible classes for a marketing minor include:
- Small Business Brand Management
- Business-to-Business Marketing
- Internet Marketing
Hankamer School of Business – Baylor University
Students at the Hankamer School of Business may add a concentrate their MBA degree by devoting nine elective hours to their chosen field, such as marketing. Typically, a full-time MBA at Hankamer consists of 12 credit hours of business foundation courses, 35 credit hours of core classes, 15 credit hours of electives (nine of which would need to be focused within marketing to constitute a concentration) and three credit hours for an internship.
McCombs School of Business – University of Texas at Austin
The McCombs School of Business at UT Austin espouses that an education in marketing can be crucial in preparing students for a number of careers in management and entrepreneurship. Students at McCombs may choose to pursue a Marketing specific MBA degree, with courses offered through the marketing department and tailored specifically to graduate marketing students. Such class offerings include, among many others:
- Marketing & Customer Insights Practicum
- Creativity & Leadership
- Integrated Marketing Communications
- Business and the Environment
Naveen Jindal School of Management – University of Texas at Dallas
At the Jindal School, students are encouraged to concentrate their MBA degree in a specific business area or specialization. In order to select one of the many concentration offerings at Jindal, students must simply take a cluster of 12 semester credit hours within their particular area of study.
In a marketing MBA concentration at Jindal, students “learn how to understand customers’ needs and purchase behaviors, how to satisfy those needs and how to make a profit in competitive industries and markets.” Within the concentration, students will learn how to develop strategy, manage various brands, conduct research and much more.
Neeley School of Business – Texas Christian University
Students in the full-time Accelerated MBA at Neeley have the chance to focus their electives in a particular area of study, such as marketing. And with the accelerated degree plan- a program developed for each individual student based on their past academic and professional experience — students can have an MBA degree in hand within just twelve months.
University of North Texas College of Business
The University of North Texas’ Department of Marketing and Logistics offers programs which give students the chance to specialize their MBA degree within the marketing field. With the combined general business knowledge of an MBA and specialized marketing education, graduates from the program can open the door to a number of career opportunities and move quickly into managerial roles.
MBAs concentrating in Marketing at UNT have a number of background and core courses that must be taken as part of the general MBA program. The six hours of required marketing courses consist of: Advanced Marketing Research and Analytics and Effective MKTG Planning in Dynamic Environments, as well as nine hours of supporting courses and three hours of an elective outside of marketing.
University of Texas at Arlington College of Business
The MBA Flexible program at at UT Arlington offers students the chance to concentrate their degree in marketing. The program helps students to appreciate the key role marketing plays in the overall strategy of an organization by providing a deeper understanding behind product strategy and staying up-to-date with trends, along with many other key aspects of marketing.
Students looking to concentrate their Flex MBA in marketing must complete at least three upper-level graduate marketing courses in addition to the required course, MARK 5311.
Financing Your MBA, Part 4
In our previous post on financing your MBA, we covered loan programs for MBA students from the United States. Today, in Financing Your MBA, Part 4, we’ll take a look at loans through the lens of international students. These applicants may face some different restrictions but are also eligible for special programs tailored to their unique requirements.
By law, federal loans can only be distributed to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. This means that international students must put extra work into finding financial aid and loan programs to support their education if they choose to pursue a U.S. MBA program.
International students should research their own countries’ options for financing studies abroad, and schools’ financial aid offices are also useful resources in this regard. For instance, MIT Sloan lists 16 scholarships or fellowships geared towards international students.
Private Lenders for International Students
International students can also consider U.S.-based private loans, but they should recognize that many of these loan programs require a U.S. co-signer. Understanding that this can prove a hardship for those without a U.S. connection, some schools offer internal options for international students. For instance, Harvard Business School has partnered with the Harvard University Employees Credit Union to offer private educational loans that do not require a U.S. co-signer. NYU Stern also features a list on its website of loan providers that don’t require international students to have a U.S. co-signer. Consulting with your target schools’ financial aid offices is a great way to learn about available loan options.
International students should keep in mind that U.S. lenders are typically not allowed to issue loans to students from countries on the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Sanctions list. The Treasury Department encourages prospective students to check this list with some regularity, as it is frequently updated.
Also addressing the need for non-co-signer loans, companies like Prodigy Finance have entered the market in recent years. Founded by INSEAD alumni who faced funding challenges themselves as international MBA students, Prodigy offers loans using an innovative community-financed model in which alumni, institutional investors and qualified private investors fund the next generation of MBA students.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
