MBA blog

Is A One-Year MBA The Right Fit For You?

There are more differences between a traditional two-year full-time MBA and the accelerated one-year program than just the time it takes to finish them.

Here, you can read about the main four differences which are very important to consider when choosing the program that fits you best.

1. The money

As BB reports, if you study for one year, not two, it means you have to spend less on living and housing and twice as little on the tuition itself. If return of investment matters for you, it’s much better to choose the one-year program.

Still, don’t forget that half the time doesn’t necessarily mean half the cost. If you calculate the degree’s cost based on the hours of courses you take, most one-year programs are more expensive than full-time ones.

Anyway, even with this increased cost per hour, it’s much easier to get a ROI on an accelerated program than on a full-time degree.

2. The curriculum

You can compare the one-year program with learning to swim by diving into the deep part of a swimming pool, whereas the full-time degree first dips you into the shallow part, lets you adjust and understand what lies at the far end.

If you take a one-year program, you won’t have any time for the review of college programs. You’ll have to start learning new complicated things immediately. Consequently, you will choose your focus areas much sooner and do a lot of self-study.

The choice depends on what you need from an MBA: if you are planning to change your career, the full-time version might suit you better, but if you want to accelerate your career, the one-year program is your best fit.

3. The career

Of course, full-time students have to spend two years away from work, which means no salary, no advancement and a lot of lost opportunities.

Still, the whole purpose of the full-time program is to prepare you for your summer internship. You will have more time to try working in the position you wanted to achieve, which is crucial if you want to switch your career, move into another country or consider a different position.

However, for one-year students finding an MBA internship is a nightmare. You’ll have to look for it all on your own, and no one can guarantee that your search will be successful.

4. The network

For one-year MBAs, it’s both an advantage and a disadvantage, having no more than a year to get to know their classmates. Relationships and the resulting networks are some of the main benefits of MBA programs, maybe even more so than the knowledge you obtain.

Within two years, you get to create a well-constructed network and find the people you want to see by your side. You are going to build a lot of memories with these people and find a sense of belonging in your school.

However, at one-year programs the bonds between classmates appear much earlier than in traditional programs: your education goes at a much faster pace, which means you have to get to know each other quickly. You find new friends almost as soon as day one.

Of course, no MBA programs are perfect, and there are no choices that suit everybody. Still, with these pros and cons, you will be able to understand which MBA program fits you best.

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