My thoughts on the Quantic EMBA
I’m currently pursuing an Executive MBA through the Quantic School of Business and Technology (formerly Smartly Institute). When I was researching Quantic, there were some blog posts written by former students, but being a fairly new and unique program there isn’t a ton online yet about Quantic. I also observed dialogue around the program from folks who hadn’t done it on forums such as Reddit and I wanted to correct some misconceptions I’ve seen. Now that I’m in the final stretch of the program (working on my capstone project and graduating in a few short months!), I’m adding my perspective to the Quantic canon in the hope of helping prospective students decide whether this is the right program for them.
What is the Quantic EMBA?
Quantic offers two flexible, fully remote MBAs — a free MBA for recent graduates, and an EMBA for applicants with 6+ years of professional experience. The EMBA is slightly longer than the free MBA program (13 months vs 11 months), but they follow a similar curriculum. There is a set schedule that each cohort follows, and the material is delivered in weekly lessons available on any device, with periodic “smartcases” (quizzes), exams, case studies, and group projects. I am enrolled on the EMBA, so this post will address that program.
Why did I do it?
First, it’s important to note that I already work in my desired field of product management, and neither networking nor prestige/brand recognition was a huge factor for me in any further education. I’m already a strong product manager, and I have a great job at a company I love. My primary motivator in pursuing an MBA was around filling gaps in my knowledge and building confidence, enhancing my collaboration with stakeholders and cross-functional partners, and generally becoming a better and more well-rounded PM. I never considered a traditional full-time MBA, and I do not believe I needed to pursue an MBA, but I did want to plug some holes. Having said that, if you’re a career-switcher or looking to leverage an MBA directly for career advancement, take all of this with a pinch of salt.
Curriculum
What I was really looking for when I was looking into MBA options was a generalized survey course, or series of courses, on business topics. I was going for breadth here — I’m already deep in the areas I really need to know at work, although I still found myself occasionally in meetings Googling a framework or acronym. More importantly, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, so I wanted a firm grounding to be able to run with and learn more effectively on my own time. I love that I now have the building blocks in place around key areas like marketing and accounting and it has built up my confidence to know enough to be dangerous across the board. I’ve also been able to pursue topics I wouldn’t otherwise have considered learning about — I know quite a lot about VC term sheets now, and I’m looking forward to the Blockchain specialization!
Cost
One of the primary factors for me in selecting Quantic was the cost. At the time of writing, the cost of the EMBA program is $9600. There are several other widely known and cost effective online MBA programs such as the University of Illinois iMBA which comes at $22k, and Boston University’s online MBA at $24k, among others. I did consider these programs, but the format didn’t feel quite right and it’s still a big commitment in terms of time and cost. I briefly entertained more traditional programs such as Santa Clara University’s Executive MBA, which comes in at a cool $111k, and quickly ruled those out based on both cost and program rigidity. I also considered Stanford’s LEAD and HBX’s CORe, which seemed fairly close to what I was looking for, but the Stanford course was still expensive and the HBX course was too limited in terms of actual course content. Other MOOCs were just too unstructured — I considered cobbling together a curriculum a la the No Pay MBA, but I really wanted more structure and guidance and I was willing to pay for it… but not too much.
Format
The other attractive element for me that Quantic has, which is unique among online MBA programs, is the format. It’s truly mobile-first. As a mother of two working full-time, it is a phenomenal advantage to be able to learn on-demand on my phone. Pre-pandemic, I was doing Quantic on my commute, and now I’m able to fit it in easily around the other parts of my day. The interactive format really lends itself to bite-size learning — I love that I can pick it up and put it down whenever I want, and I believe I’m also retaining the content better because I am actively participating in it (the app is designed to be engaged with constantly — no watching videos!). Also, as a software PM, I have to say that I really love the UI — it’s a beautifully designed product and super easy to use.
What is it like? Is it rigorous? What about the rest of the cohort and classmates?
I have overall been very impressed with my cohort. The class size is several hundred students so obviously it’s a mixed bag whether you’ll get along with everyone, but generally speaking I’ve found Quantic students to be driven, clever, and fun to work with. In my capstone group, I’m partnering with a plastic surgeon, a wine distributor, a consultant, and a FAANG program manager. It’s a really interesting mix of people and it’s awesome to hear all of the perspectives from industries I wouldn’t typically be exposed to.
In terms of the rigor of the program, I would not equate it to a traditional MBA — I obviously haven’t done one of those, but I imagine it’s a lot more intensive than what’s expected by Quantic. I estimate that I spend 1–3 hours a week on my MBA work. You definitely get what you put in — there are optional exercises that some folks do religiously, and I can tell others wait until the last moment and only do what’s required. I’m somewhere in between, and the beauty of the program is that you can fit it around your life. There is a prescribed schedule, but the only things you absolutely need to do on schedule are exams and case studies (which are either written or recorded). I’ve had weeks where I’ve had a lot going on outside of school and taken it pretty easy, and other weeks where the material is fascinating and I spend extra hours working through it.
The main drawback for me, honestly, is that the content is sometimes really cheesy and I don’t feel like it’s either serious or funny, it’s a bit awkward — but that’s a personal taste thing and really doesn’t have anything to do with the merit of the program!
Is it worth it?
For me, yes, it has been very worthwhile. I received a generous scholarship from Quantic, and I am lucky enough to receive a professional development allowance from my employer, so the cost to me in the end was minimal. I feel more competent in work and in life — I feel better informed and able to understand the news and the bizarre economics going on in the world, I can synthesize marketing concepts more easily, and when someone says “well, the team is still in the forming and norming stage”, it doesn’t sound like gibberish.
I’m still in two minds about how to express the qualification itself on my resume. I want to share with the world that I have worked hard and gained knowledge, but I also don’t want to oversell what is essentially a business course app. I’ve seen folks online talking about how they list it more as a MOOC, and others asking questions about whether it’s the same as a “real” master’s degree. To be clear, Quantic is accredited and the degree is real, and as someone who has done a number of MOOCs, Quantic has been exponentially more valuable to me. Admission is also, ostensibly, competitive. However, Quantic is not accredited by either of the two main business school accrediting bodies, AACSB or ACBSP — it is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, which is a legitimate accrediting body, albeit not a prestigious one. Right now I do list the qualification as an Executive MBA under my education, which is accurate, although I may find a more elegant way of expressing the qualification later.
Final thoughts
In my mind, Quantic fills a massive need in the market for a low-cost, accessible, and high-quality business course. It’s got a great structure, the material is interesting and helpful, and I genuinely feel like I’ve learned a lot. My cohort is bright and engaged, and I do feel I’ve expanded my professional opportunities, although that wasn’t my goal at the outset. It’s such a buzzword but I really do feel like Quantic is a disruptor — they offer an accredited MBA at an unbeatable cost in a flexible and highly engaging format. I also appreciate that the content will be available to me indefinitely and I can continue to learn and refresh over the coming years. While I can’t say for sure whether I would have forked over the full cost of $9600, a lot of that is variable based on circumstances, and I feel like the program has without a doubt been the right fit for me at this point in my career. While your mileage may vary, if your situation is similar to mine and you’re looking for a flexible business course to enhance your general knowledge, it may be worth your while to give Quantic a shot.
Happy learning!
