Hi, Does anybody have any experience of the Warwick MBA by Distance Learning? Would be good to get your feedback on it. How have you found it.?Challenging? Useful? Do you feel part of a group? How is the quality of teaching?Also would be good to gte peoples views on starting an MBA now. IS it worthwhile. Is it still valued in the market place?Thanks

From personal experience, it is far, far too much work for anyone doing a demanding job. You are looking at an average of 12-15 hours a week, perhaps more, for 2.5 years.Don't make the mistake of thinking the M in MBA means it is like any part-time Masters; it isn't. The volume of work is quite a bit higher.Good luck to you if you have this amount of free time during the week, but otherwise you can write off your weekends for the foreseeable future and look forward to those games of catch up when you inevitably miss the odd couple of weekends and find yourself weeks behind.It's do-able if you can do a 4 day week at work or finish at 1630 every day.Have a think about whether or not you really need to do it, though. Consulting-wise, it would have been a waste of time for me in the short to medium term as I have now passed the MBA entry point. If you decide you do need to do it, then seriously consider just taking the financial hit and doing it full time.

Is it really that much work? I just cant see how it can be so much. What takes so much time?My initial view is that this is ike when people talk about their hours in consultancy. All these people claming they do 70 hr weeks when its really 50 with a 70 hour once in a blue moonLooking at the first year. 5 modules measured by exams doesn't seem like it would take 700hrs of work. I stand to be corrected though.

Mr mba student, let me assure you the hours in consultancy really are long. This aspect of the job is not to be underestimated. Many people (myself included) can only bear it for a few years before they have to get out.

Not to get off topic but the key here is that consulting hours are variable. It is only long hours if you're on a sh*t project!

It's not really the study that takes the time - it's the coursework.Obviously it will vary from one individual to the next and over the course of the year but the 12-15 hours I quoted is pretty typical. I know exactly what you are referring to with the "70 hour weeks" - although isn't that just because the unpleasant memory lingers longer than the rather limited joy of the weeks which are only 40 hours? But in this case it's not some sort of machismo, it does take up a lot of time.You can lessen the pain by taking the modular route and doing the study in week-long full time blocks - you should seriously consider this if you do decide to go for it.

I did Warwick (modular) and yes it requires a significant investment in time. Even to get the bare minimum 50%, you'll need to work.I met 2 people who did the distance learning. the first one found it very convenient because she's a mother of 2 and she did not have to regularly go to the campus. The second one found on the contrary very difficult to self-motivate her, even if teaching quality was good. She decided to switch to the modular way (that's a key advantage of Warwick MBA. You can always switch from one route to the other).I know that the distance learning is considered one of the best in the world (numbe.r 3 I believe for what rankings are worth).Hope this helps