1) I feel that the opportunity to obtain an MBA at half (approximately) the cost - employer paying remainder - is a big incentive to pursue the degree. It's not free, but it'll be relatively cheap. It's kind of like contributing to a 401(k) up to the employer match. If I don't pursue this opportunity, I'm throwing away 5k a year that my company will just give me[1] as long as I get good grades. 2) An MBA would make people take me seriously. Not that they don't right now - however, I do think MBAs in (my) business world are looked at as "superior" or in some way more skilled/intelligent than their peers without the degree. It is a distinction. It would also increase my earning potential and "ability to go places" in the long run. In addition, I'm hoping I actually learn some valuable things, (accounting, finance, business-y type crap) even if I do later use this knowledge to move to Colorado and just start a marijuana company. Or hippie commune, but the first one, really. In addition hopefully an MBA would make me more versatile in terms of my experience and skill set; I'm pretty relegated to one area of banking now and I see a few potential ways out of that area - 1) become a manager (goal already), 2) obtain MBA, talk talk, walk walk, convince people I know what I'm doing due to impressive shiny credential, 3) accept shittier jobs in other areas to become "well-rounded." 3) I want to avoid the GMAT because it's one more thing to study for more than because it'll be a few hundred bucks. It also would add [some] time before I could apply and enroll, however probably not a lot. Really it would be on my end; I'd want to study, prep, and would probably delay/dead the GMAT for longer than I needed to. It's more "Ugh GMAT would be a hassle, let's get around it somehow." 4) Yeah. I'm only applying to one school, the state school, and if I don't get in I don't get in. That school's the cheapest of my nearby options by several thousand dollars/semester unless I want to get a degree from the local college that isn't worth the paper it's printed on. UPenn wouldn't take me if ...I don't know, if I did something really amazing and famous-making, I don't meet their graduate school admissions requirements - undergrad GPA too low - I don't feel I have any good options except the state school. I'm not willing to take on a substantial financial burden for this. Moderate, yes, substantial, no. 5) MFAs are by and large degrees that are really nice to get for passionate artsy people. I am not sure that they are degrees to get if you want your expensive master's education to relate to your employment, assuming you would like to be able to live off your pay. I feel like I have a good opportunity in front of me I should capitalize on. Having an MBA (assuming I succeed; assuming I even get in) can't foreseeably hurt me in any way and could help me in several.
[1] To pay for school, admittedly.
Awright. So we're at "An MBA from the one school I'm applying to will increase my personal marketability and credibility at modest expense to myself." Nothing wrong with that, not going to contradict it. I will, however, suggest that you fact-check it: Find salary statistics for that school's MBA program and see how much better an average grad from there does than you're doing already. That's your baseline. Compare what you could be doing with your time instead - you will write fewer poems while studying for an MBA, for example. Evaluate what your time is worth and the impact this degree will have on your future earnings. Make your decision based on that. Take the rest of this with a grain of salt: I debated an MBA for maybe 20 minutes. I come back to it from time to time. An Ivy League MBA, from what I've seen, counts for hella more than an MBA from anywhere else... but an MBA from anywhere else literally counts the same as an MBA from literally anywhere else. In other words, that added shiny credential may be just as good from the University of Phoenix as it is from whatever state school. There may also be other schools that do online study whose credential might be cheaper and/or lower impact on your life. "Where you got your degree" matters on the resume; beyond the resume, your ability to do shit carries the day. I took the GRE, not the GMAT. I don't know the GMAT. As I recall, it's a bullshit SAT for MBAs. As MBAs are largely bullshittery, you might view the GMAT as a microcosm of your next two years. Studying for the GMAT might give you a good sense of whether or not an MBA is to your taste. As you say, it's $250 and a substantial investment of your time... which will likely be emblematic of $5k a year and a more substantial investment of your time. In order to be a balls-out engineer, you must apprentice to a Professional Engineer. You then take the EIT (Engineer in Training) exam. If you pass it, you are allowed to take the PE (Professional Engineer) exam one year later, which permits you to sign architectural drawings and be legally responsible for large construction projects. It was in studying for the EIT that I discovered that engineering is bullshit, I don't enjoy it, and fuck everything about Mohr's Circle. Note that I was a practicing engineer at the time - calculus, finite element analysis, nodal modelling, the whole nine yards - but that being forced to go back and study the shit that had bored the fuck out of me in college caused me to re-evaluate certain life choices. Four months later I changed jobs and eighteen months later I moved to Hollywood, optioned two screenplays and started mixing television for a living. If this is an incremental change, examine the increment and evaluate it from a costs/benefits standpoint. If this is a paradigm shift, evaluate it from a where you are/where you're going standpoint. Either way, good luck... and know that I write this after a shot of Southern Comfort 'cuz I dusted the fuck out of a Ferrari F430 Scuderia with the engine map on econ mode and while it's a bad idea to rip down the 405 at 130mph at midnight holy fuck did I feel alive.
Oddly enough, I'm yet to meet a Chemical Engineer that is certified as a PE. This is despite working for three different companies, having exposure through my department and AIChE, and other areas. As for the rest of your paragraph there. Yeah, engineering is kind of a load of crap. Life sciences seem much more interesting and beneficial.In order to be a balls-out engineer, you must apprentice to a Professional Engineer. You then take the EIT (Engineer in Training) exam. If you pass it, you are allowed to take the PE (Professional Engineer) exam one year later, which permits you to sign architectural drawings and be legally responsible for large construction projects.
PE is mainly for civil and architectural engineering (not sure about aerospace). Chemical and automotive are whole other beasts, and a PE credential isn't really geared toward those fields (and you won't make one red cent more having earned one, so what's the point?).