Is Columbia University better than UMass Amherst for an MS in computer science?

Would it be redundant to do an MBA after doing management science and engineering (MS&E), or engineering management, or any other master's level management or strategy-related course?

• I'm a computer science undergrad at a Top 10 Indian Engineering college.   Would it make sense to Pursue MS&E (Columbia, Stanford) or Engineering management ( Duke, Dartmouth etc. ) or MSc Management/Strategy ( in European Schools LSE, HEC, LBS), All of which are typically 1 year courses ( less debt), Before Pursuing an MBA at a Business School?   Would it exalt my b-school Application and chances of admission or would it seem redundant since all the above courses are conducted at the university’s respective business schools and have a management related course structure   My plan is to attend one of these programs, work as a consultant/analyst (management ,IT,tech). Get a good work experience, Save up money ( I can never make the same money for b-school tuition in India at least not with the current exchange rate) and apply for business school at an appropriate time in a few years.   I've seen the syllabus of the above courses and they have quite a lot of things in common with a standard MBA curriculum. Would it lower my chances of a great business school? Does having a master’s degree ( say in computer science)  in general ,lower chances of getting into a good b-school ?

• Answer:

  Thanks for inviting me to answer this. It's relatively more common for applicants from India to consider international programs after a bachelors degree (engineering tops the list). Not as common for folks to go with what you've planned for yourself. However we do get our share of applicants who've completed their Masters (in various disciplines) and worked for a few years before thinking about another Masters (i.e. an MBA degree). This season, we had a candidate who already had an Ivy League Masters degree. She went on to get admits from her alma mater as well as other Ivy league MBA programs. The challenge for such cases is to present the rationale for the first as well as the second Masters degree...and all that has happened in between. All said and done, I'd suggest not looking at one Masters program as a stepping stone to another. It's time consuming and expensive. You'd be better off using the time outside the class gaining real world skills. Baaki sab kushal mangal!