What to do?

[student]

Hi everybody!

I see that the forum here consists of many intelligent and experienced people, all of them mostly in the IT field.

I am planning to go for further studies(Masters, to be precise) in the USA and I am in a dilemma. Could all of you please share your invaluable experience with me and help me in making a decision.

The question that I wanted to ask all of you people was

Should I go for a MS in Information Systems ?

or

Should I go for a MBA with MIS concentration ?


My background is as follows:

I have a baccalaureate in Industrial Engg. (1991), India.

I am working in the USA since last 3 years as Systems Analyst / Systems Administrator for a company that has implemented an ERP solution.

What would benefit me more in the short term(3 years) and the long term(more than 10 years)?

Please help me in reaching a decision. I have been having sleepless nights on this one question - after all it is a matter of 35,000$.

[teju]

See MS in information system is not gonna help u great deal in terms of career prospects, as u will learn what probably u know. Which school u r planning to join, in case it is among top 10 in US, it might benefit u, but not below that. The only + point I see , may be ur green card thing gets hastened up

MBA is good , but u have to be very careful , I am also an MBA from top Indian B school & believe me if u do not find a better job after two years, life becomes quite miserable. If you get into sloan, michigan, hbs & likes of that, it makes sense , otherwise u might land up in a soup, becoz u r a desi & one has to do lotsa show off if one is MBA. So do analyse everything, whats the investment? , how it will affect ur family & other things

If I were u , I would have gone for a generic MBA from any one of top ten schools only....

Hope this note helps u out

[khopdi]

gone are the days when a piece of paper meant more $$$ or better career path. Save yourself time and money. look around and see if a degree really means more money. Not that i know of. Check desis who did MBA 10 yrs. back.
In this era, it's what you know now, not what u did in ur diapers that counts.
good luck !!

[khopdi]

invest $ 20.00 and grab a copy of "rich dad, poor dad"...read it at least 4 times. it's a great eye-opener.

[aryaputra]

hmmm....

if you are working as a consultant, I guess it does not make much of a difference.

But if you are employed with a company having a typical organization structure, you need a master's degree to move up the ladder....since there is so much influx of undergraduates. you NEED to stand out.

Which one?

I guess the MBA with MIS might be more helpful in the mid-term when you are looking for a position in middle management. For upper management, a MBA in finance would be more useful.