I want to go to graduate school!

[ss20ts]

I disagree wholeheartedly with AZDan and Prloko. My wife started her MBA and quit because she said she learned all of what she was doing in her undergraduate business program. In fact, a lot of people I have spoken to said that what they learned in their MBA was what they learned in their undergrad business programs. They only did it for the letters/promotions. If you think an MBA will fine-tune your business skills, you are mistaken as it is a general business degree. It is a not a specialized degree. If you want to fine tune your skill set then pursue a MS in Accounting, Finance, Business Analytics, etc.

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There is no reason to get a business undergraduate (BSBA) if you want to go later on an earn an MBA.  It might be helpful if you were 22, had no real work experience and just graduated with a bachelor degree and wanted to go straight through - but if you have even a few years work experience (and all jobs are in some type of business) it makes no practical difference.

Many people who don't have a business based bachelor go the MBA route specifically to obtain the business based credentials there later careers require. In many fields a better suited bachelor/MBA would look better than business, business, business (not well rounded education). 

Wow, I have to disagree, especially with the last comments. Having a business undergrad and then getting an MBA is like learning a lot about something and then fine tuning your skills to an elevated level. This shows your desire to increase your knowledge about business and encompassing as much knowledge through graduate level work by rounding out complex problem-solving skills, strategic leadership acumen or learn some additional skills around economics or operations above and beyond undergraduate degree

Most employers look highly upon this.

Not to mention how difficult many grad courses will be without that bachelor's degree foundation courses.  Just because one works in the business world doesn't mean that they have any understanding of accounting, financial management, human resources, or operations management. I can't imagine jumping into an MBA program without an undergrad accounting or financial management course. Talk about a nightmare! 

I took many business courses to get my AAS in business administration years ago. I've had to repeat a few to get UL credit and the UL version was definitely more difficult. The MBA version will be even more difficult and most MBA programs have a lot of papers which you don't typically in undergrad business programs.

I never took an accounting or finance course in my life and had zero issues in my MBA program. Each person will be different of course. In fact, most top business schools accept students from varied backgrounds who have never taken a business course in their life and those students end up excelling and becoming directors of finance departments, CFOs, CEOs, etc.

Once again, your mileage may vary. I've looked at several MBA programs and almost all of them have specific course requirements to get into the program and if you don't have those prereqs then you're stuck taking them before you can begin the MBA. While you may not have struggled with MBA accounting, the fact is that MANY people do. An MBA is required for many jobs and a MS in a more focused degree in something like accounting has its place as well. For many folks who want to get into upper management and the C level suite, the MBA is what is necessary. We all have different career goals and aspirations.

[ThatBankDude]

I disagree wholeheartedly with AZDan and Prloko. My wife started her MBA and quit because she said she learned all of what she was doing in her undergraduate business program. In fact, a lot of people I have spoken to said that what they learned in their MBA was what they learned in their undergrad business programs. They only did it for the letters/promotions. If you think an MBA will fine-tune your business skills, you are mistaken as it is a general business degree. It is a not a specialized degree. If you want to fine tune your skill set then pursue a MS in Accounting, Finance, Business Analytics, etc.

---

There is no reason to get a business undergraduate (BSBA) if you want to go later on an earn an MBA.  It might be helpful if you were 22, had no real work experience and just graduated with a bachelor degree and wanted to go straight through - but if you have even a few years work experience (and all jobs are in some type of business) it makes no practical difference.

Many people who don't have a business based bachelor go the MBA route specifically to obtain the business based credentials there later careers require. In many fields a better suited bachelor/MBA would look better than business, business, business (not well rounded education). 

Wow, I have to disagree, especially with the last comments. Having a business undergrad and then getting an MBA is like learning a lot about something and then fine tuning your skills to an elevated level. This shows your desire to increase your knowledge about business and encompassing as much knowledge through graduate level work by rounding out complex problem-solving skills, strategic leadership acumen or learn some additional skills around economics or operations above and beyond undergraduate degree

Most employers look highly upon this.

Not to mention how difficult many grad courses will be without that bachelor's degree foundation courses.  Just because one works in the business world doesn't mean that they have any understanding of accounting, financial management, human resources, or operations management. I can't imagine jumping into an MBA program without an undergrad accounting or financial management course. Talk about a nightmare! 

I took many business courses to get my AAS in business administration years ago. I've had to repeat a few to get UL credit and the UL version was definitely more difficult. The MBA version will be even more difficult and most MBA programs have a lot of papers which you don't typically in undergrad business programs.

I never took an accounting or finance course in my life and had zero issues in my MBA program. Each person will be different of course. In fact, most top business schools accept students from varied backgrounds who have never taken a business course in their life and those students end up excelling and becoming directors of finance departments, CFOs, CEOs, etc.

Once again, your mileage may vary. I've looked at several MBA programs and almost all of them have specific course requirements to get into the program and if you don't have those prereqs then you're stuck taking them before you can begin the MBA. While you may not have struggled with MBA accounting, the fact is that MANY people do. An MBA is required for many jobs and a MS in a more focused degree in something like accounting has its place as well. For many folks who want to get into upper management and the C level suite, the MBA is what is necessary. We all have different career goals and aspirations.

If you go look at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, Duke, etc. you’ll notice their MBA programs have ZERO course requirements. It seems most that require course requirements are the much cheaper programs.

[ss20ts]

I disagree wholeheartedly with AZDan and Prloko. My wife started her MBA and quit because she said she learned all of what she was doing in her undergraduate business program. In fact, a lot of people I have spoken to said that what they learned in their MBA was what they learned in their undergrad business programs. They only did it for the letters/promotions. If you think an MBA will fine-tune your business skills, you are mistaken as it is a general business degree. It is a not a specialized degree. If you want to fine tune your skill set then pursue a MS in Accounting, Finance, Business Analytics, etc.

---

Wow, I have to disagree, especially with the last comments. Having a business undergrad and then getting an MBA is like learning a lot about something and then fine tuning your skills to an elevated level. This shows your desire to increase your knowledge about business and encompassing as much knowledge through graduate level work by rounding out complex problem-solving skills, strategic leadership acumen or learn some additional skills around economics or operations above and beyond undergraduate degree

Most employers look highly upon this.

Not to mention how difficult many grad courses will be without that bachelor's degree foundation courses.  Just because one works in the business world doesn't mean that they have any understanding of accounting, financial management, human resources, or operations management. I can't imagine jumping into an MBA program without an undergrad accounting or financial management course. Talk about a nightmare! 

I took many business courses to get my AAS in business administration years ago. I've had to repeat a few to get UL credit and the UL version was definitely more difficult. The MBA version will be even more difficult and most MBA programs have a lot of papers which you don't typically in undergrad business programs.

I never took an accounting or finance course in my life and had zero issues in my MBA program. Each person will be different of course. In fact, most top business schools accept students from varied backgrounds who have never taken a business course in their life and those students end up excelling and becoming directors of finance departments, CFOs, CEOs, etc.

Once again, your mileage may vary. I've looked at several MBA programs and almost all of them have specific course requirements to get into the program and if you don't have those prereqs then you're stuck taking them before you can begin the MBA. While you may not have struggled with MBA accounting, the fact is that MANY people do. An MBA is required for many jobs and a MS in a more focused degree in something like accounting has its place as well. For many folks who want to get into upper management and the C level suite, the MBA is what is necessary. We all have different career goals and aspirations.

If you go look at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, Duke, etc. you’ll notice their MBA programs have ZERO course requirements. It seems most that require course requirements are the much cheaper programs.

I know you're going to Duke, but you're an outlier. It's incredibly rare for someone who's completing their bachelor's degree to move onto one of those schools for grad school. Some of them are Ivy League and have a great deal of requirements to being accepted. I have a 4.0 at UMPI and I don't feel that I could get into Harvard's MBA program and I don't want to. Yes, grades and courses are part of the acceptance package, but there's far more to it especially at the top tier schools. I've looked at many schools and their MBA requirements and a great deal of them have prereqs. Many will accept you with a certain GPA, but you will need to complete the prereqs before you're allowed to fully into the program. 

[Alpha]

I haven't finished my bachelors yet. I'm still deciding of which of the big 3  to go to. 

I want to go to grad school after I finish up. I'm unsure what program I want to attend. 

Anyway, which of the big 3 would give me a better chance at getting into a masters program?

First I would say that not all Master's degree programs are created equal so it's possible that under some circumstances a degree from one of the big 3 would be an advantage over the other two (for example, a COSU degree might work better if you were trying to get into a grad program at UConn).  In general however I don't think it's going to make much difference.  Your GPA is probably a more important factor.