Hello all, I wonder if anybody could offer me guidance.

I am European and have been working in IT roles for about 5 years now and feel like I am at a dead end. I would like to do an MBA from a US business school to build my business skills and get some international experience, but I am not sure if I should specialize in something, to transition to another type of role, or just do a general MBA. I was considering Penn State, a co-worker of mine said that his brother is doing an MBA there now and he is planning on trying to get a job in supply chain after he graduates. I have also heard that the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is good for IT professionals who want to change career paths (I understand that many people go into business analytics roles after the MBA.)

Does anybody have any advice for me? Like many other people, I am on a budget, so I don't know if I can afford top schools like Stanford.

Read http://www.find-mba.com/specializations/7/information-technology-it

Thanks for that, Duncan - but that list seems to be for people who want to have a career in IT, but more and more I'd like to transition away from it. Any thoughts?

Sorry, I misread your post.

What would you like to transition into?

Well, what is it that you would like to do?

IT backgrounds can often be leveraged to get into analytical roles: providing a good understanding of financial information, say, or strategic analysis. As you mentioned, IT professionals tend to fit well in business analytics-type roles, especially when combined with a more strategic understanding of how data can be collected and used to make better decisions. If you are interested in business analytics-type roles post-MBA, you might want to look at the following schools, which either offer specializations in analytics, or at the least, relevant coursework:

SMU Cox
Drexel Lebow
Indian University Kelley
Notre Dame Mendoza
Rutgers
IU Kelley

Sounds good - do you recommend any schools in the Penn State or Knoxville range (in terms of price and selectivity, mainly) that would allow me to go into finance, into maybe an analyst-type position?

Tippie, maybe?

Good schools for finance will usually want good GMAT scores, and many of them will be more expensive. Depending on your price flexibility and GMAT score you might also look at:

Rice Jones
Rochester Simon
Tulane Freeman

The top tier would of course be Columbia, Booth, NYU Stern, etc.

Thanks for this. Honestly I haven't yet taken the GMAT, that's the next step for me. I've heard that Notre Dame is a good school in general, what kind of GMAT score would I need for this MBA??

I think the average GMAT at Mendoza tends to be around 690. Although your competitiveness will also be based on other factors, including work experience (the cohort average this year is five years of work experience.)

Hopefully, I will be able to get a score in that range, it seems doable. I only have about 3.5 years of work experience, do you think that I should wait to apply?

Generally, if you are under the median work experience, you'll want to have a higher GMAT score or something else interesting about your profile which sets you apart from the pack.

That said, the lower end of the middle 80 percent of work experience in recent years is around 2.5 years, so it's within the realm of possibility - although it is by no means a sure bet. Talk to the admissions team there, they should be frank about your chances at this point.

SMU Cox
Drexel Lebow
Indian University Kelley
Notre Dame Mendoza
Rutgers
IU Kelley

Businessweek ranks them in this order:

Kelley
Notre Dame
SMU Cox
Rutgers

Drexel isn't in the 2012 ranking, and Cox dropped precariously from its previous position.

I suppose which school is best for you would depend on your career goals and expectations. Even though Drexel isn't currently ranked, its Business Analytics concentration is one of the best available, so your career goals included some kind of analytics training, that could be a consideration.

Also, your choice would depend on how much work experience you have and how high your GMAT score is.

Sure you will get Good job once you have IT+MBA certificate.You enter in both field else you can find the job in marketing in IT field.

Sure you will get Good job once you have IT+MBA certificate.You enter in both field else you can find the job in marketing in IT field.

Wow. He should really get someone to edit that website. It's like a concentration camp for misbehaving commas.

Businessweek ranks them in this order:

Kelley
Notre Dame
SMU Cox
Rutgers

Drexel isn't in the 2012 ranking, and Cox dropped precariously from its previous position.

I suppose which school is best for you would depend on your career goals and expectations. Even though Drexel isn't currently ranked, its Business Analytics concentration is one of the best available, so your career goals included some kind of analytics training, that could be a consideration.

Also, your choice would depend on how much work experience you have and how high your GMAT score is.

I think those schools are in your range if you score 680 (although the average GMAT at Mendoza is closer to 690, so you'll be a bit less competitive there but not by much.)

Just to be clear, are you looking to switch out of IT into something else? Because there might be other options you could consider, depending on what your career goals were.

Just to be clear, are you looking to switch out of IT into something else? Because there might be other options you could consider, depending on what your career goals were.

Personally, I would suggest that instead of thinking about what you're already good at, consider what it is that you actually want to do after graduation and make your decision based on that. I don't really think that many management level jobs require that much technical understanding, it's more about leadership and other soft skills.