Organizational Management concentration

[BCKES]

I am interested in attending an MBA program for Organizational Management - I would like to switch industries but continue working in the HR field. I currently work in a law firm in attorney development and would like to get out of the legal world.

I will be applying in 2009 for 2010 entry and am now trying to research schools. Since my desired concentration is not one of the major b-school concentrations, I am having trouble finding ways to research schools based on academic specialty. So far I know that there are concentrations or relevant classes at Cornell, Emory, Vanderbilt, and Yale, but would love to know if there are other great programs that would be within reach for me and have the Organizational Management specialty. Any tips on how to do more efficient research or thoughts on programs I should look into?

Stats:
--Lopsided 680 GMAT score (63% Quant, 92% Verbal)
--3.36 GPA from Boston College, English/Communications major - hardly any math
--6 years work experience (varied, a few years at the beginning were in an advertising job - unrelated to HR)
--Lots of EC's in college and some post college, including leadership and involvement in the green initiatives committee and the NY Cares Winter Wishes program at work.
--Plan to take a stats class this spring and if necessary will take an accounting course next spring as well to boost my quant appearance.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[MBAApply]

As a rule of thumb, for schools outside the top 16 you should really look at applying/attending schools in the region you intend on working in post-MBA, because it's the school's overall reputation in that region that will trump any sort of functional "expertise".

Most hiring companies know about overall reputation, not functional speciality. And the jobs tend to cluster around the school - so west coast schools tend to have most grads staying on the west coast, northeast schools in the northeast, and so forth.

Don't buy into the hype of "functional specialty" reputations for MBA programs. It really only matters if you're doing an PhD and looking to research a specific area (which then is more driven by the professors you hope to work with or for).

Again, the MBA is ultimately a general management degree.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[BCKES]

Hi Alex, thanks so much for the response, I appreciate your input.

I have a follow up question. It seems to me that going to a school with a specialty would increase the number of companies recruiting for those types of jobs - do you disagree? If I can just as easily apply anywhere, it would be great - I just want to be sure I'm not setting myself up for a rough job search two years down the road. I have a friend at Columbia who says she only knows one person interested in HR and that that person is having a hard time finding a summer position already.

In general, with my stats as listed above, do you think my chances of getting in at a top 10 school are slim? That Columbia friend of mine got in with a very similar GMAT score and GPA, so I feel like anything could be possible!?

Thanks again!

[MBAApply]

Not really. Again, ask most people who do the hiring at companies large and small, and they aren't going to really know the "speciality" reputations. They just know the names of the good schools. Sure, some schools are known for finance and others for general management, but overall you're giving recruiters too much credit for knowing a school's reputation in a specific speciality.

Part of the reason why your friend may be having a tough time is for one the economy (obviously) but also the fact that HR isn't exactly a feeder industry, and a lot of the work has to be done alone; most of the on-campus recruiting (and MBA recruiting in general) is geared towards financial institutions, consulting firms, and established hiring programs out of large companies (brand mgmt, product mgmt, rotational programs).

As for your chances at a top 10, it depends on the quality of your work experience, and also whether you have time to take 1-2 extension courses (something quant - calculus, algebra, stats, accounting, econ, etc.) to show that you can handle the quant aspect of an MBA program because your GMAT quant certainly will be a cause for concern. Honestly, it's hard to say what your chances are, but I would at least choose 1-2 programs to apply to, and then the remaining 2-4 schools outside the top-10 or so.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[elisewrence]

Can you suggest some universities with high reputation and quality education who offers MBA?

www.oic-academy.ch

[mili]

Hello,

There are many MBA programs to choose from. I suggest you start by figuring out what you are looking for in a school and consulting various MBA ranking lists to get a sense of the quality of education (The Economist has a ranking, US News & World Report, Business Week, The Financial Times, etc.). Hopefully this will be a good start.

Good luck,
Mili


Mili Mittal
Senior Consultant
http://www.mbamission.com

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[annaliisa782]

I think it would be much better if anyone opts for dual MBA degree or anything which helps in imparting practical skills rather than just academic knowledge. I must say Thunderbird laureate have done a commendable job by opening up new colleges which would make students industry worthy.