Which one of these masters programs...

Wow, I'd love the UAE as much as you do too if I were a citizen.

My brother is actually learning Arabic at UT Austin (he's in Damascus for a year right now), and is looking into getting some sort of job in the UAE next year. With an economics degree from UT, and fluency in Urdu and Arabic, what do you think his chances are?

 

I'm guessing easiest are the Public Policy programs at non-marquee schools; than the Hopkins International, than all the Business schools except for Columbia and Wharton, which are top-3 or top-5 depending upon what list you read.

 

I have a BBA in finance from UT, and have pretty much dropped the idea of getting an MBA. I understand when someone from say an engineering background gets an MBA, but I really don't see it being worth my while with a BBA in finance already. I know they say an MBA is all about networking, but still. I'm looking to public policy/IR/foreign relations masters programs, but am trying to determine future job prospects before finally applying.

 

The competition to get into the best schools is brutal. GPA is one of the metrics they use to weed out the applicants. Still, you won't know unless you try, and good luck.

 

Competition to get into grad schools is also marginally tougher nowadays. With all the job cuts, a lot more people are all applying to go to grad school at the same time.

I've been at my current job (which I started right after undergrad) for almost 3 years now. When I graduated UT in 2007, I always imagined I'd be working for 2 years tops and then move on to something else, but in this economy I don't think I'll apply until Fall 2011.

 

The LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT is excellent and ranked pretty high, if I remember correctly. The upper echelons of Texas government is filled with graduates and a lot of foreign students go there.

 

Mathloom,

I would definitely focus on the GMAT and do very well on that, and if you do with your work experience in the Middle East, and being a foreign student who is willing to pay top dollar for an American education, you will more than likely get into a good program. Consider UT's MBA also if you have not already, as well as Rice's MBA. Believe it or not, being an international student makes it far more likely for you to get into some of the top programs than someone who graduated from America with a better GPA. The big name schools like to brag about recruiting foreigners (especially the wealthy, well-connected foreigners) form other countries.

Also, and this may sound dumb, but if you can get a recommendation letter from one of the Prince's in the UAE, or anyone with with royal connections or from the government, then you have substantially improved your prospects of getting in :grin:

I don't know if I can provide much more info on that, but if you have questions or if you think I may be helpful to you in some way, don't hesitate to get in touch.

بالتوفيق إن شاء الله

I did the MA in IR but the job prospects, outside of having a more specialized undergraduate degree, are not very good. Really, the only options you have for those degrees are either government or international organizations/non-profits, and even then it is crucial that you have a foreign language proficiency to even be considered for most of those jobs.

This is why I am now strongly considering going back for a second bachelor's in accounting or finance. I would do an MS in Accounting but that would not qualify me to sit for the CPA should I decide to go that route, since I would not have the pre-requisite general business core courses for most of those programs, but do have the 150 minimum credits required so a BBA in accounting would be sufficient. I am leaning towards accounting, what do you think the job prospects are for accountants these days?

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll let him know. Funny story, on his flight from Houston to Dubai last week on Emirates economy class, he actually sat next to the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi's Venezuelan helicopter pilot. The pilot helped him expedite the visa process once they landed in Dubai, and dropped him off at his hotel in an armored vehicle lol.

 

I wonder if the same is true in reverse. For instance, would I (UT Austin grad) have a better chance of being admitted to Oxford or Cambridge, than someone from the EU?

Job prospects in accounting will always be high, IMO. The question though is do you really want to work in the accounting industry? I majored in Finance at UT, thought about accounting when I first got there because of the high job prospects, but in the end I'm glad with my decision. It depends on the person really, but I really didn't enjoy my accounting courses in college and couldn't see myself working for one of the Big 4 firms.

Then again, some say an accounting major can do anything a finance major can do (but not vice versa), so you have to weigh your options.

 

I asked my brother why the dude was flying economy instead of first, and that's exactly what he told me (Emirates is Dubai vs. Etihad being Abu Dhabi).

I guess a lot more investors pulled out of Dubai than I thought...

 

Scary stuff .

I have a Chicago MBA. It's a good school.

If your GPA isn't good enough and you have some work experience, you might want to consider trying to get into one of the executive MBA programs. Requirements are less strict there, as long as someone pays the tuition... Chicago has a campus in London and in Singapore, and you are sort of in between the two.

Good luck.

 

Is the London campus mainly for European students, or do Americans attend also?

 

Some Americans as well (they usually already live in Europe, and work for American companies). The campus used to be in Barcelona, which was more fun, but as Chicago has a strong focus on finance and most of the prospective employers are there, the move to London made sense.

When I did it, the program for the Global Executive MBA was structured like this: about 80 students each in Barcelona, Singapore and Chicago. You'd have like 22 or so 1-week sessions in your "home campus" and about 3 or 4 in Chicago and 1 or 2 in the third campus. They would fly in the professors from Chicago every time. The sessions were sort of intense time-wise, from morning until midnight or so. Obviously, that still left plenty of room to party in Barcelona. Students were a bit older on average, I'd say about 35, and many were already quite advanced in their careers.

My class had about 10-20 people each from Germany, France, Spain, Russia and the USA, and then some people from other countries as well, also from Arabic countries, we had 2 or 3 Lebanese guys.

 

Cool story bro

Seriously, how many degrees you have? And why not root for the Bulls or for the Mavericks (German player)?

 

That sounds like an awesome program!

 

I studied in Houston for a year when Hakeem was still playing. Before that, I had only followed the Sonics a bit because Detlef Schrempf played there. I went to some games in the Compaq Center, one of them Rockets vs. Sonics. Sonics won, I think, but I realized I was rooting for the Rockets...and that never changed.