Ask HN: Are EMBA programs worth it?

They are not particularly prestigious.

I don't have one, but I can tell you that it completely depends on your unique situation. Can you provide more details to help people answer the question?

What industry/product are you looking at? What type position (dev, design, business) do you have or want to have? If you're currently employed, does the company prefer it for you to move up? Are you looking to learn or just add to your resume (or in between)?

One major reason (some of my friends with MBAs from top schools say the only reason) to get an MBA is for the network. With an EMBA, you don't spend as much time around other students as you do with an MBA, so you don't get a chance to build as strong as a network.

I'll take a stab at this one. EMBA programs tend to be tailored to people who already have a relatively significant position within an organization. My understanding is that a large majority of people attending these programs have them payed for by their employers. The idea is to provide additional training to people who will have future, higher level roles within the organization.

I think that there are probably different flavors of this type of program depending on where you attend, but from my observations (regular MBA who had some minor interactions with EMBA's during school), they tend to fly/drive in for the weekends and return to work during the week. Depending on the program, you may or may not be exposed to "hard skills" such as finance, accounting, etc, as there is a presumption that students already have some of these skills. My understanding is the focus tends to be more on soft skills like leadership, management, etc, which will help competent employees become better managers in the future.

From the way you posed your question, it sound like you are thinking about paying for this yourself. If that is the case, and you don't already have an undergrad or grad business degree, then I would probably recommend either a full-time or part-time MBA, instead of executive MBA. You will probably get more for your money out of one of these programs.

If you are running your own company that grew and stabilized a bit, and you have time to learn about how other established companies do their stuff and most important connect with other people in a similar situation, it's worth it. If you want to get just another title to show how good you are, it's not a good use of your time.

Based on my own experience in EMBA program and then finally dropping out 2/3rd of the way. I also know several people who have gone to top-rated EMBA program and have good idea of their results before and after EMBA program.

Goal ---- If you are interested in entrepreneurship/startup, EMBA is not worth a penny. You are better of taking the EMBA fee, spending some on buying a few book focused on starting a company and investing the rest in your startup. But if you are corporate type in large organization, the EMBA degree might help you get up the ladder.

To give an example, couple of my classmates decided that they wanted to build a business based on the idea and business plan they developed in the entrepreneurship class. After finishing MBA program, they invited me to join the dinner to discuss about getting started with their idea and next steps. They were interested in bringing me on the team. The outcome of the meeting was they wanted to rewrite the business plan document already written during the program. That's when I knew these guys will never start the business and declined to join them. And, they never did start! They wanted to plan first. They kept planning and strategizing and never executed.

Knowledge --------- If you are the type who can self-learn and don't need external stimulation/kick in the behind to get started, you can learn on your own what you need in business. EMBA program will actually be drag on your learning. These programs are much more appropriate for people who need to be fed information in small bite-size chunks.

Majority of the information I received during my time in EMBA program was something that I already knew and/or rarely have used. But couple of my fellow classmates have really benefited from the structured way of delivery of information, the basic business knowledge program provides and training on developing framework/process to evaluate and address issues.

Networking ----------- Over-rated. Majority of EMBA students are mid-career level and corporate type either trying to move into management or move up the management chain with limited future upside potential. The homogeneity of the type of students makes networking with them not as rewarding to both parties because everyone in the same boat. In addition, with family and job pressures, you/they are least likely to go out of the way to respond/help/meet after the program.