Hello all,

 

I am sure you have heard this story before.  I am 42 and wondering what is the best path

to get my mba considering I do not have a undergrad degree.  I've enjoyed a nice professional career thus far

and this lack of degree has never been an issue.  However, as I am getting older, not getting a degree is one of the greatest regrets of my life. I know other executives in this same situation and they were accepted into executive mba programs.  I am not in the same state now, so I do not believe I can follow their same path, unfortunately. I have quite a bit of

management and leadership training and experience, managed an $80 milllion operation, led multi million dollar projects, other professional certifications,  etc... but no formal degree.

Any suggestions out there for me? Ideally, the quickest route possible...

 Thank you in advance.

The one program where your lack of a Bachelor's is sure not to hinder you is the MBA from Heriot-Watt University's Edinburgh Business School in the UK.  They're a world class university that explicitly will provisionally admit students who do not have a first degree.

Considering your background, however, you might try seeking out online programs that otherwise interest you and contacting their admissions department to see whether they'd consider admitting you provisionally.  If you do this, don't be quick to take no for an answer -- it may be that the person who answers the phone is too low level to handle exceptions but, say, the Director of Admissions is more inclined to negotiate with you.

Hope this helps,

-=Steve=-

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

Steve's right.  That being said though HWU would be a great place to start.  Last I checked you did at least need an AS degree to enter, but you could probably earn that in less than a years time through CLEP, portfolio credit for experience and competency testing.

Even if you can enter an MBA program with no undergrad degree, I think doing so would be foolish (no offense).  It would be like jumping into the deep end of the pool wthout knowing how to swim.

...unless of course your background and experience provides you the requisite skill set....

And then there is the fact that any propsepecitve employer you meet with will likely question why you have an MBA without an undergrad degree.  I know I would if I was hiring someone for a management position.

donald11:

Even if you can enter an MBA program with no undergrad degree, I think doing so would be foolish (no offense).  It would be like jumping into the deep end of the pool wthout knowing how to swim.

The assumption there is that studying for a Bachelor's degree in Business is the only way to learn about how business works, and I completely disagree.

I'd agree, however, that if someone has no background in business, whether academic or practical, that starting with an MBA would probably be a mistake.

-=Steve=-

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

donald11:

And then there is the fact that any propsepecitve employer you meet with will likely question why you have an MBA without an undergrad degree.  I know I would if I was hiring someone for a management position.

I suppose in the interview, the guy who started this thread will say, "That's a reasonable question, and I'm glad you asked it.  I have quite a bit of management and leadership training and experience, managed an $80 million operation, led multimillion dollar projects, have other professional certifications, and so forth, but had no formal degree, so I found a program that recognized my advanced standing and allowed me to go right into an MBA."

It's not exactly a weak answer!

-=Steve=-

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

SteveFoerster:

donald11:

And then there is the fact that any propsepecitve employer you meet with will likely question why you have an MBA without an undergrad degree.  I know I would if I was hiring someone for a management position.

I suppose in the interview, the guy who started this thread will say, "That's a reasonable question, and I'm glad you asked it.  I have quite a bit of management and leadership training and experience, managed an $80 million operation, led multimillion dollar projects, have other professional certifications, and so forth, but had no formal degree, so I found a program that recognized my advanced standing and allowed me to go right into an MBA."

It's not exactly a weak answer!

-=Steve=-

Not weak in the least.