Pennsylvania State University World Campus

The IMBA seems like a good program. Some major hiccups. The chair does not respond to emails or phone calls. If you call his assistant, then you get routed to the main office, where there is a office assistant. You probably will not get all the information you need. It is a very tough process to understand what is required. The application process also has problems. I submitted the fee (there was no problem collecting that). Then I submitted my documentation. There is an online screen which tells you what was recieved or not. That is just a placebo, it doesnt get updated. After several calls to make sure they have everything and sending several copies of the same document did they confirm. I recieved an email notification that I was accepted and need to pay $500. It didnt say where to send the payment or anything. Again, had to follow up. Course descriptions not available, professors who are teaching the courses not available. There are too many whatifs with the program. It seems like they are looking to collect $$. You can not decipher the real value of the program. Not to mention you are always looking for a reliable point of contact for information. You dont seem to have that here.

The Penn State iMBA program is a very demanding hybrid-online program involving two graduate residencies. Having spent 9 months in the program, I can say that the foundation courses I have taken have impressed me, especially in the subjects of business statistics and management theory. The first residency takes place in two weeks, as our cohort heads to Greenville, South Carolina to function as impromptu consultants for the Michelin Group. This should prove very enlightening, and will help us as we complete a demanding financial analysis of this company. My team consists of an accountant, two engineers and a Naval Academy graduate. All of my teammates are doing well in their chosen professions and easily match my drive and ambition in their quest for higher levels of management success. They are great, and we have formed a strong work bond (which was tested this week with two 6-10 page papers). Overall, I am loving my PSU experience. While it is costly, every time I mention my MBA program it has gotten a good reaction, both from good friends and complete strangers. PSU's iMBA has taken the best of its graduate business programs (including professors from the world-renowned Smeal program) and fused it into something truly dynamic and worthwhile for students whose work/life balance mandates that they cannot attend brick and mortar classes.