WHAT AFTER

ENGINEERING MS, MBA

OR
MEM?

WHAT AFTER ENGINEERING - MS, MBA OR MEM?

CONTENTS
Introduction 3
MS or MBA abroad

Cost of pursuing MS Vs. MBA

MEM or MBA abroad

Cost of pursuing MEM Vs. MBA

WHAT AFTER ENGINEERING - MS, MBA OR MEM?

INTRODUCTION

hile a wide range of career opportunities is up for exploration abroad once you have
completed your bachelors in engineering, most of you would, typically, opt for either
of the two fields- MS or MBA. Interestingly, some of you might even consider study-

ing Master of engineering management, which is, as the name suggests, a combination of
engineering and management.
A survey by QS revealed that FAME (Finance, Accounting, Business Management and
Economics) and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are the two
most sought after courses for international students with FAME capturing the bigger chunk
at 42.8%. And why not? Both these fields not only offer the best career opportunities but
also higher pay packages compared to most fields.
However, after completion of engineering most of you would be confused whether to take
up engineering related subjects for further studies or opt for a management degree.
Here, we bring you some of the options that you can explore after your engineering degree:

WHAT AFTER ENGINEERING - MS, MBA OR MEM?

MS OR MBA ABROAD

raditionally engineering students have been known to opt for MS related courses for
further knowledge and insights into the subject. However, in the last couple of years,
a large number of students are increasingly opting for management related courses

owing to the assimilation of management strategies in all areas of work.

Who can pursue an MS or MBA abroad?

An MS or Master of Science is an academic degree which is based on the scientific learning
of a subject. An MS course enhances your understanding of a field through a micro level
subject analysis. So, if you opt for an MS in Civil engineering your course might include
subjects like construction, Geomatics, Geotechnical, Infrastructure Materials, Structural and
Transportation among others. However, being technical in nature, more often than not an
MS course is applicable only for those who have prior study or work experience in the field.
Unlike for MS, students are not, essentially, required to have prior technical knowledge
for pursuing an MBA. In fact, business schools have one of the most diverse class profiles
among all subjects. For example, almost 36% of the MBA class for 2017 at Harvard Business School is from STEM related fields while 20% of the students in the Haas School of
Business are from engineering.

Work experience for MS or MBA abroad:

One of the most important factors to consider while aiming for an MBA degree abroad is
work experience. Most of the top business schools across the World require work experience for entry into their MBA classes.
While work experience is a major requirement in majority of the MBA programmes, it is not
imperative in MS courses. In majority of the cases, MS courses do not demand or require
prior experience as the focus is more on the academic qualification and research work of
the applicant.

WHAT AFTER ENGINEERING - MS, MBA OR MEM?

COST OF PURSUING MS Vs. MBA

ore often than not, pursuing an MBA is also seen as an investment. Hence, the
return on investment is a big factor while considering whether you want to pursue
MS or MBA abroad According to a Bloomberg data a fresh MBA graduates who

switches his career can get an increase of as much as $55,000 over his pre- MBA salary.
Further, an FT report also says that young 24 year olds can get a massive 145% increase
over their previous salary post pursuing an MBA degree.
If we consider the cost of pursuing MBA and MS programmes in USA we find that while
cost of studying MS can be in the range $30,000 - $50,000 annually that of an MBA can
go upwards $60,000 annually/
The table below shows the cost of pursuing both the programmes in top universities of
USA:
University

MS Fees

MBA fees

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

44,000 USD - 46,000 USD

$65,750

Harvard University

38,000 USD - 40,000 USD

$61,225

Stanford University

40,000 USD - 42,000 USD

$64,050

University of Chicago

44,000 USD - 46,000 USD

$63,980

University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

26,000 USD - 28,000 USD

$57,220.50

WHAT AFTER ENGINEERING - MS, MBA OR MEM?

MEM OR MBA ABROAD

hile engineers are slowly taking over the management domain, many of them are
pushing away from the traditional MBA relating to Finance or marketing. Instead,
engineering students are exploring newer management specialisations, which

ensure that they learn management tricks while sticking to the essential engineering environment. Master of Engineering Management or MEMs are, especially, tailored for that purpose.

What is Engineering Management?

Master of Engineering Management or MEM is a specialised management programme
which includes the application of engineering principles and techniques in a business structure. It is, basically, a combination of engineering and management. MEM is also known as
the Engineers MBA as it is pursued by engineers as well as scientists who want to master
the managerial aspects of their work.

Who can pursue MEM or MBA?

The most interesting point of about an MBA programme is that it can be pursued by students from diverse backgrounds. An aspirant need not have prior technical knowledge in
order to pursue MBA. MEM is a course, tailor made for engineering students. Students
who to stay within the technological fields but want to also focus on the managerial aspects
of the field should take up engineering management. Some of the work opportunities for
engineering managers include:
l

Scientific Research and Development Services

Analysts or associates in scientific consulting firms

Oil and Gas sector

MEM vs MBA What should you opt for?

Before opting for an MEM or MBA, students should first consider why they really want to
pursue management. An MBA is not an ideal programme for students who want to stick to
the purely technical fields but can be benefit to students who want to explore other nontechnical aspects of a business like Finance, marketing, operations and so on.
Also you are required to have an engineering degree to apply for engineering management
unlike for an MBA which accepts students from a variety of fields.

WHAT AFTER ENGINEERING - MS, MBA OR MEM?

Best thing about an MEM degree is that it is tailor made for engineers. A typical MEM
programme includes subjects like Accounting for engineers, financial issues for engineers
and Computer simulation for risk and operations analysis among others.
In terms of selection, too, one major difference between engineering management and
MBA is that while MBA accepts only GMAT scores, MEM accepts both GRE and GMAT
scores. In case of examination, this is a win for MEM in MEM vs MBA as students can pursue
the former course through any exam. Though in many cases, universities accept just GRE
scores for admission to engineering management programme. It is advisable, therefore, to
choose your exam carefully, if you are confused whether you want to pursue MEM or MBA.
Here is the list of the top universities which offer both MBA and MEM:

University

MEM
Test accepted

MIT

GRE/GMAT

Cornell University

GRE

Stanford University
Duke University

MBA
Score

GRE -Verbal 153;

Quants155

Test accepted

Score

GMAT

710

GMAT

700

GRE

165-168

GMAT

740

GRE

Verbal 153-159

GMAT

694

GMAT

724

GMAT

690

GMAT

716

GMAT- 656

Quantitative 160-167
Analytical Writing 3.54.0
Northwestern University

GRE/GMAT

Verbal: 160
Quantitative: 160
Writing: 5.0

University of Southern California

GRE

Verbal-156
Quantitative-159
analytical writing-4.0

Dartmouth College

GRE

WHAT AFTER ENGINEERING - MS, MBA OR MEM?

COST OF PURSUING MEM Vs. MBA

eedless to say, that is an MBA programme is one of the most expensive courses to
study abroad with tuition fee alone running upward $60,000 annually for most of top
business schools. But the good news is that MBA programmes also promise some

of the best return on investments. In fact, MBA falls among the highest paying courses in
the World.
Compared to an MBA degree, MEM programmes charge less and are less heavy on the
pocket. Best part is it also offers a combination course. So, you have the benefit of both an
MBA and engineering in the job sector.
The table below shows the comparative cost of pursuing MEM and MBA from some of
the top universities:
University

MEM

MBA

$27,000 per term

$65,750 annual

Cornell University

$29,500 per semester

$61,584 annual

Stanford University

$10,560 per quarter

$63,980 annual

$24,270 per semester

$60,600 annual

$55,812

$64,059 annual

$16,040 per term

$59,184 annual

$24,732 for 15-18 units

$64,200

MIT

Duke University
Northwestern University
University of Southern California
Dartmouth College

Additional
Resources
MS ApplicAtion
pAckAge to

study
abroad

MS
Application
Package to
study abroad

MBA ApplicAtion
pAckAge to

study
abroad

MBA
Application
Package to
study abroad