u/Helpful-Cucumber2577

I'm a product manager 9 years total exp in pharma. That experience is split into 4 years as a software engineer and 5 years in Product. I got into Rice University's online MBA.

My goal with MBA is not networking, but just to open high level roles at either my current company or other pharma companies ensuring competitive salary and remote work. I'm not looking to move away from my current role at the moment, but I also don't think I can expect the same salary in my next role. I think I'm overpaid, but would like to keep making this level if possible. A ton of PM roles I see are around 150k tc. With an MBA, I'd like to (a) raise my paper qualifications (2) increase likelihood of high salary (3) ideally: move to director level roles. I like to think I already operate at this level

Going to a FT program would sacrifice a ton of income and maybe require moving. Tuition will be 102k for me over 2 years.

Pros:

• I'm local to Rice and I can take advantage of recruiting if I need to
• save about 2 hours in driving to/from campus per trip since it's online. I'm not lazy...but those two hours are a lot in terms of intra-organizational networking, deliverables, and bonus potential thru customer success management (happens at all hours). I largely support pacific hours so it definitely allows me to collaborate more since I'm not driving to campus.
• Career Development Office is available. Rice says the same recruitment opportunities are available to online MBA students and in-person MBA students.
• It has connections with the Houston Med center (Baylor, Methodist, UT Health) through healthcare-specific coursework and healthcare-specific recruiting events.
• It builds a Houston-specific credibility in my non-profit work. Being an incoming Rice student is already helping here when I go to dinners and meetings with Houston donors. This is outside my career.

Cons

• Weaker networking (profs, and other students)
• Less dedication to coursework since I'm working. I'm still aiming for 4.0! But work takes a slight priority.
• I met some of the students and they're a mixture of quality. Some very young and not accomplished. some mid level, but took a long time (20 years) to get there. Ambitious folks for sure!
• 50k annual tuition over 2 years. It's doable, but not nothing for sure. In the grand scheme of things, I think it could be worth it. At the moment, no education benefits are offered by the company.

Does the online format make sense in my case? Any personal experience with this program?