RoaringMice

If your grad program is within an easy distance of a major international airport, and ideally on the east coast of the US, the trips back home are a lot easier than if you do your grad program elsewhere. That's something to consider. But you won't be doing quick weekend trips - not when the flight (never mind the drive to the airport, check in for an international flight, etc.) from NYC to London is eight hours, then your commute home, then the cost of all this - realistically, you'd probably only be going home on the major breaks - Christmas and summer. You could consider applying anyway, and seeing where you get in. If nothing else, this buys you more time to think through this and decide. And if you do decide to study in the UK, you could do some summers in the US via BUNAC, just to experience living in the US for a bit.

I know a lot of US students ask this question not so they can do the conversion on their applications, but to know whether or not to apply at all, as most of the UK post-grad programs I'm familiar with require a 2.1 degree or higher. So they ask me this question to know if they should apply.

Because we love you...

It will be an issue with the other schools. As others have said, you'll be turning yourself into a transfer student, but you'd applied regular admissions - that's an issue. Know that most grad programs in most fields accept limited, if any, transfer credits. And some grad programs don't accept transfer students at all. You need to find out if your dream schools accept transfer students to the grad program you want, and how many (if any) transfer credits they will let you bring over. And you will need to somehow ask them if your going to another grad program for a term will impact your application to their program (it will, but how - that's what you need to find out.) You could ask DU if you can defer your admissions *and the financial support* for a term. All they can say is no.

What are your goals for this PhD? Academia, or industry? I ask because it sounds like your goal is industry, but you've applied to PhD programs. To be honest, for industry, an MS would normally be more valuable than a PhD would be. Do you have work experience in the field, post-bachelors? Employers want you to have work experience in engineering between your BS and your MS. Are you legal to work in the US? My personal belief is that, if you're doing a PhD, you should go in fully funded.

I like Inwood, but based on what my friends in the neighborhood say, I wouldn't recommend you go into the park after dark.

A very active forum is: http://www.top-law-schools.com/ Tons and tons of daily posts, but with a bias toward the... obviously... top law schools. Still, it can be helpful. Have you taken the LSAT yet?

The fact that you didn't major in business for your undergrad is immaterial. Not going to matter. Your 3.4 GPA is not very high - that is going to matter. I need your GMAT scores to chance you. You'd need your GMAT to be very, very high to balance out what otherwise would be a somewhat less than ideal GPA. Not that it's really low or anything - just that it's not stellar, so it needs your GMAT scores as a balance. In terms of your work experience - I feel you need to bump that up a serious notch. You'll be applying alongside people who have worked in elite level consulting, who have won the Olympic Silver Medal in their sport - so I'd like you to take that job in Tokyo. It hooks into your JET experience, and it going to make your work history look a lot more interesting and rich. Some MBA programs would like you to have taken statistics and accounting before you join them, so that may be something to keep in mind. Again, no need to have majored in business.

The U Miami MBA is AACSB accredited, which is good, because some employers now-days will not hire MBAs if your program was not AACSB accredited. I think that if you are from southern Florida, and plan to work in Florida, and will do this MBA part-time while working, it would be fine. But it's not a "name" program, so it's going to be seen as any other, similarly ranked MBA - as just fine, completely solid, but not "wow". It is one of the better ranked programs in FL (the only other one in the top 100 is U Florida, which ranks much higher.) If you are from FL, it's probably going to be more expensive than an MBA from one of the public unis there. If cost is an issue for you, you may want to also look at the MBAs from some of your public unis. U Florida offers an MBA in south Florida, although I'm not sure how close their location is to you: http://floridamba.ufl.edu/workingprofessional/professionalSF/

Hi, All: I am thinking of applying to the University of Manchester (UK) DBA program. It's a part-time program done mostly online, with some short residencies. I am interested because I hope to move into teaching business full time at a community college or a lower-tier four year school. Would such a program get me there? I am considering it instead of a PhD because I am the primary breadwinner for my family, so I cannot leave my job. The opportunity costs of a PhD program are too great, even considering the fact that you pay tuition to do a DBA. I do already have an MBA, and I already teach as an adjunct. Just not sure if a DBA will get me to a tenure-track business teaching position, rather than a PhD.