[Phanuthier]

Thanks for the replies

General question to all... to have a company pay for your MBA, you had to sign a long term contract with them, didn't you? Thats one reason I hope to avoid that. I don't plan on working for any one company for more then 5 years. So, I don't want to lock down to a contract, which is what they'll want for an MBA.

SGW,

I've been leaning towards MSc , then a business certificate and/or MBA (depending how industry views the importance of a MBA vs certificate) because like I said, I want to do engineering business. My origanal plan was to attain a PhD and work in R&D for a couple years before moving into business, but I'd like to speed that plan up a little more.

On one hand, I'd like to do the MSc to help build my portfolio... which was my origanal plan... but like I said, I've been having a change of heart lately and would like to speed that plan up a couple years which is why I'm considering MBA.

Long term goals are, I'd like to own my own business(s) that are engineering R&D (think: a little lab, sell your product), and for the most part, all of them have PhD's. Saying that, as the saying goes, "specialize, unionize" and I'm thinking that specializing in something (MSc / PhD) may not be that advantagous for me.

So, thats why I thought I'd cast a large net (thats why I'm vague on the topic) and see what the opinions are out there (I realize most of you work in big businesses, whereas I'd like to do business in small businesses) for how important a reputation / qualifications of a MBA / business certificate and MSc / PhD are.

BTW, my interest is to learn... I like to learn really cool stuff... which is why my original plan was to do a couple years of R&D. However, I'm thinking that if I start to specialize, its not gonna take me on the business direction I want to go.