Ask HN: Any CS/MBA combined degree programs out there? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Any CS/MBA combined degree programs out there?

3 pointsbrianbreslin14 comments

Have any of you ever heard of such a thing? A masters in computer science paired with an MBA? If so, any experience with them?

View on HN

I believe a lot of schools will allow you to get two masters degrees at once even if they don't have a specified joint program. UCLA has a joint program (http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x1055.xml). MIT has one (http://sdm.mit.edu/). There are many programs tailored for this and depending on the path you want to take with your career some may be better than others. Any specific questions you have in regards to them?

If you're okay with moving up to Canada this may be of interest for you (http://cbet.uwaterloo.ca/).

From what I've heard it's a pretty good program and the startup community in Waterloo is quite active as well.

There are schools that do offer this. A quick Google search showed a few. I'm a firm believer in doing business without MBA (personal opinion)

the mba in my opinion isn't "to do business" per se, its to grow a network, earn a pedigree more than learning hard "skills" to do business with.

I'm not sure I'd agree that you'd need an MBA to do that either. If it's really just about having it, then sure.

With all due respect its not 1982.

care to elaborate?

In the web startup world (this is HN), earning a pedigree through an MBA is as relevant as having British aristocratic blood (that was deemed as an indicator of a higher pedigree at one point in time as well).

In this practical and hands-on world, no man is king because all men are potential kings (men = both men and women :-), the top pedigree are the highest achievers in their field of work (not grades).

Network: B-schools have virtually no presence in the start-up world, so I doubt they will be able to help you there. Fortune 1000 is another story. But if you’re a "ladder climber" then you’re on the wrong forum.

The 1982 comment refers to when all there was were F1000. Then your Stern degree would have landed you a meeting with Director of Finance at IBM.

Since I was born in 1982, i didn't get the reference to F1000 ;-)

As far as I'm concerned, the only relevant thing in the HN community is producing successful or interesting businesses.

an MBA in my personal world-view is for relevance OUTSIDE HN community. i've been an entrepreneur since i was 12, so not looking to "ladder climb". anyway, not getting into an argument about this, thanks for clarifying your answer.

Just in the name of education or are there actual job reqs out there with a Masters in CS and MBA on the list?

purely educational the question, been thinking heavily of getting an MBA for several years already. Figured my fascination with CS would make a good pair anyway.

That seems like a tremendous waste of time and money.

I think if you believe the consensus here at HN (and I do), that an MBA is not worth the time or money unless you are in a field that requires one to break through a glass ceiling, or it's paid by someone else. Networks are pretty easy to build in this day and age of meetups, tech events, conferences etc.

networks are pretty easy to build, and i've built an extensive one without the expense of a $60-100k MBA, however, it is not the same thing. I'm looking at things from a different perspective than most HN readers are. I see a bubble in education, as in a rapidly decreasing value for "just" my undergrad degree, and am looking out to 20 years from now, not immediate future. Short term, the value is less to me than it is long term (in my bet).

You could do a 4+1 program at Harvey Mudd and Drucker.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com