Accelerate the Path to a Graduate Degree With a BBA-MBA Program
Jacob Guise has long had an interest in business and wanted to get his MBA. When the Loyola University Chicago student found out that he could get his MBA without having to work for a few years after college -- as is the requirement of many MBA programs -- he jumped at the chance.
"There are a lot of perks to it," says Guise, who is a junior studying finance and accounting information systems.
Undergrads like Guise in Loyola's Quinlan School of Business can be admitted into the accelerated BBA-MBA degree track, which could save them a year or more in tuition and fees. And in Guise's case, there are other benefits.
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A few of the classes that he takes as an undergrad may allow him to waive some MBA courses, he says.
Quinlan is one of a number of schools that offer undergraduates who are studying business an accelerated path for getting an MBA, though schools that have this option tend to be less competitive. University of West Georgia's Richards College of Business is in the second year of a BBA-MBA program, and Mercer University's Stetson School of Business and Economics, also in Georgia, has had its program in place for years.
These programs tend to graduate MBAs who are much younger than other business school graduates, which some business school experts believe can be a plus.
"They see a benefit in if you go directly from your BBA to your master's you're already in the lifestyle of a student," says Terry Long, director of the MBA program and a professor of economics at Marymount University, which also offers an accelerated track.
And if students are worried that their age may hurt their efforts in the job market, getting an MBA early can be a solution. "They see that as something that's going to differentiate them at a younger age, and get them the type of career path that they're looking for," Long says.
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For aspiring college students who are interested in a career in business and definitely want an MBA, these programs can be a great fit. But before students plan on pursuing one, experts encourage them to weigh certain aspects of these programs.
Many programs ask students to apply around their junior year of college, which would allow them to start working on their MBA while a senior undergrad. This gives students extra time to decide if this option is the one that they want to do. Some schools, though, such as the Richards College of Business, will require students to enter the program as freshmen.
No matter when students are able to apply, many schools expect their academic records to be stellar.
"For entering freshmen they have to have a 3.8 high school GPA," says Faye McIntyre, dean of the Richards College of Business. At Marymount University, where students don't apply for their MBA until around junior year, they need to have a GPA of 3.4 in their business school classes and for their overall transcript.
Some schools, such as Quinlan, also require students to submit letters of recommendation and an essay.
The GMAT, while usually a requirement for MBA programs, is often not required for students on an accelerated track.
Aside from how to get in, experts also encourage students to think about what this MBA experience is like.
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Long believes one drawback for students who get a BBA and then an MBA at the same school is having the same professors for both. "You're not getting as diverse of an experience with faculty," she says, but students often see this as a benefit because they will already know their professors when they become MBA candidates.
What can be less familiar, though, is hearing their classmates talk about work experiences that many of them will not have. In many of these programs, students are required to complete an internship, but an internship may not be comparable to the years at work many MBA students have under their belts.
"They are not bringing the depth and breadth of work experience that some of their colleagues are going to have," Long says.
Katherine Acles, the assistant dean of graduate programs at Quinlan, believes a lack of work experience might actually enrich the class dynamics. "Sometimes the individuals with less work experience, they don't have a preconceived notion about the possible solutions," she says.
Limited work experience, though, may influence an MBA student's potential job prospects.
"Often times, when someone's looking for an MBA as part of a job requirement, it typically relates to management experience," says Matt Brosseau, who is the director of IT and oversees recruiters for Instant Alliance, a human capital consulting firm.
Other employers may place less weight on having work experience prior to starting an MBA program. At Kalypso, an innovation consulting firm that serves the retail industry, among others, a student's involvement in school programs that relate to innovation consulting may be highly valued.
"If we find schools that are having programs that are catered to the kind of work that our employees are doing, that kind of crosses a few things off our list," says Roxy Wolfe, a recruiting manager at Kalypso. "It isn't a qualifier, for us, for someone to have worked previously."
While many say students can get all of the work experience they want after completing this kind of accelerated path, experts agree that the BBA-MBA option is not for everyone.
Some students will think they have to do it because if they take off time from school they may never come back, Quinlan's Acles says. Others may want experience in a few different jobs before deciding to get an MBA, she says.
"It is a personal choice," Acles says.
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Delece Smith-Barrow is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering graduate schools. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dsmithbarrow@usnews.com.
