Hi Lisa

Given your work experience, you should apply to a part-time MBA rather than an EMBA. EMBAs are for people with more work experience and people who have had jobs that involve high-level management responsibility. By the way, EMBAs are usually much more expensive.

You will probably have to take the GMAT. The test is often not required for EMBA programs but it is usually required for part-time MBAs.

To have some information about the schools in the NYC area, I would suggest to read some of the threads in this site. There's been a very long discussion about this topic. You should also ask yourself why you want an MBA. Is it to keep working in the IT industry but be able to move to a job with stronger management content? Do you want an MBA to help you move to a different industry (either now or in the future)? The discussions you'll see on this site are somewhat useful, but it's most important to know what your goal is, taking into account that an MBA is a very expensive program.

As far as I know, full-time and part-time MBAs have similar prestige among employers. I might be wrong, but I think what really matters is the school, not whether you went for the part-time or full-time option. So I wouldn't worry about that.

The salary question is a tough one. It is not possible to know exactly how your salary will be affected, but you can have an idea by looking at some of the rankings. I know that the FT ranking provides information about alumni's salaries three years (I think) after graduation. So you could look at that for a start. Then perhaps check other rankings to see if they have similar information.

Since you live in NYC and are looking for an MBA program in the area, I think you must visit the schools to make an informed choice. If you call the admissions' offices they should be helpful in that respect. Take your time to visit the schools, ask questions that are important to you but may not be answered by just looking at web pages, and get a general feeling about the school. If possible, talk to students as well as alumni.

I'm not strong on visa issues, but I would guess that with your current visa you would be able to engage in a part-time program. But I think your question will be easily answered by any admissions' office.

I do not have much to add to jaitego's answer, just two discussions about business schools in New York and their reputation:
www.find-mba.com/board/2112
www.find-mba.com/board/3539

Hi Guys ,

WOW! , Thks a lot for your long and wonderful explanations.

All the best !!

Lets continue this thread for more insight !!

Regards,
Lisa