4 Commonly Asked Questions Before Applying For MBA

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration. MBA has various streams for specializations. Entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, corporate social responsibility are some of the fields of specializations. MBA provides attractive pay packets and placements are offered at college-level itself, it opens doors to various corporate opportunities. MBA turns to be a milestone in career so more and more students tend to go for MBA. As a result of increasing trend of MBA, a number of questions arise in the minds of students before applying for MBA.

Let us see some of these questions and their respective answers:

·         Most schools offerfull-time and part-time MBAs. Can I choose either one?

A full-time MBA program mostly has four semesters which takes two academic years with a three- or four-months break for an internship. The first year includes core courses required of all MBAs. So the first year is common for all specializations. The second year allows you to choose functional specialization (a specification to study and elective courses).  A research shows that 80% of MBA candidates prefer the full-time MBA degree option to part-time or online offerings. Students mostly prefer full time MBA because school is considered as their first priority and it adds to academic expertise plus practical and applied knowledge. Students do not work during full time MBA. Sometimes one-year full-time programs are shortened by reducing the time in core classes, or limiting opportunities to specialize.

Part-time MBA programs are basically designed for working professionals. Most of the part-time MBA candidates work full-time during the day and attend classes in the evening. Part-time programs do NOT issue a student visa to foreign applicants. Students must hold legal residency in their designated countries

·         Can I attend an MBA program without former study in business?  Is it an advantage or disadvantage as an applicant?

MBA is a program which always emphasises on diversity. MBA has always allowed students from all former academic training as well as professional backgrounds to take admission in this program. Even candidates holding commerce degree or science degree or an engineering degree can take admission for MBA. So MBA welcomes candidates from all academic, social and cultural backgrounds. Even if your background is not from business studies it won’t affect your MBA academics. As MBA course content itself is made in such a way that it enhances your business studies in all possible aspects. Candidates having a background in business studies have no advantage as they may face fierce competition from students of different fields.

·         Is there an age ceiling in MBA application? In other words, will I be too “OLD” to apply for an MBA?

Business schools maintain class portfolios which provide the age and background information of their students. Most of the MBA programs do not put an age ceiling regarding their applications. So even if the student is young or old usually imply inadequate or excessive career experience for MBA programs, and hence MBAs would be less valuable to such applicants.

·          As a foreign student, am I at an advantage or disadvantage as an applicant?

Some unspoken agreement exists for some percentage of international students for some of MBA programs. But this does not have any ill affect on your admission to MBA program. So there is no disadvantage of being a foreign student.

MBA after Engineering

Doing MBA course after engineering has lately become a trend among the engineers in the past few years. If we look at the data, most of toppers of CAT exam are engineers from IITs.

MBA aspirants that are engineers may think, is doing MBA a must for them? More than half the students appearing for CAT are engineers. In many cases it is not needed and the decision is merely following the crowd. Job opportunities after MBA are bright and lucrative but the decision of changing the line of career depends on your personal decision.

Let us see what categories of engineers are most likely to go for MBA after engineering in India

-           Non-IT engineers with non-IT roles, like mechanical, electrical engineers

-          Computer engineering graduates

-          Non-IT specialized engineering graduates

-          Engineers who are working in business specific roles

Some reasons why engineers go for MBA:

-          Most of engineers tend to lose their identity among the crowd of professionals like them. Mid-life career crisis starts very early in their career. As opposed to usual professionals, where such crisis are noticed after 15-20 years of service.

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MBA courses give engineers a chance to break away from the crowd and get recognition for them. By and large the IT engineers can rise in rank in software industry by grabbing the managerial positions. Few people try their hands in new areas like business development, recruitment, etc.

-          In the field of engineering, many times the annual appraisals in company make engineers worry about their future growth and development.

Benefits of MBA after engineering:

-          In comparison to engineering degree, MBA provides wide exposure to business-related subjects that you cannot find in engineering studies. Job opportunities for an individual with engineering plus MBA are quite high.

-          MBA after engineering provides platform for you to build business skill teaches to develop your brand and widen the network. This professional degree course is beyond classroom learning comparative to engineering. You get to learn soft skills like communication, teamwork, leadership and ethics which can give a boost to your career. Here you also get the golden opportunity to build strong social network of faculty, alumni, community and specific field related people.

-          After obtaining a technical degree like engineering, MBA completes ideal education that covers subjects like organizational behavior, human resource management, management strategy, marketing, etc.

-          Being multi-skilled is the need of the corporate companies. The role of engineers are also changing with time, they are also expected to work as manager who puts in new practices and technology for the betterment of the organization. Thus professional degree like MBA helps.