The standard answer is: It depends!
I grew up in Malaysia and am currently a student in Supply Chain Management Residential Program (SCMr).
My story to MIT began from November 2016 where I started my first MIT MicroMaster course (i.e. Sc0x). After 62 weeks of continuous effort, I finally earned my MicroMaster credential in February 2018. Under the strong encouragement from my wife, I decided to apply to the blended program (SCMb) to further my journey after the MicroMaster. While I was preparing the necessary documents for the blended program application, I received a promotional email from Dr. Chris Caplice (obviously it was a group email sent to all SCx learners) at the end of February and I noticed that I had a second option: MIT’s 10-month Residential program. I was thinking why not apply to both since most of the application requirements were the same except SCMr required a statement of objective essay while SCMb required a 2-page research proposal. Surprisingly, I received two ‘Congratulation’ emails for both applications by the end of April! But I was in a happy dilemma: Should I choose the residential program or the blended program?
The first thing I considered was the cost difference between the two programs, it would cost approximately $103k for the residential program and $61k for the blended program including living expenses. And I would need to be away from work for an additional 5 months, basically, the cost difference would roughly be about $42k + 5 months’ salary. I was then thinking about the benefits that I would get from the residential program that the blended program might not be able to give. Being an international candidate, the residential program would give me a privilege to work in the U.S under OPT STEM for 3 years but the blended program would not. Furthermore, I would have more time to enjoy campus life, build my network, improve my soft skills and more importantly, having more time to explore different places around the U.S. The other privilege that I could think of was I would have an opportunity to take a subject at Harvard University, which would be quite hard for blended students to do so. Having said that, $42k + 5 months’ salary is not a small money – is it really worth spending tons of money in exchange for the above?
For me, the answer was Yes! I am halfway through the program now and looking back, this may be one of the best decision that I have ever made, because other than the technical and supply chain knowledge that I learned from classes, my networking, resume writing and interview skills have improved a lot, which I did not expect I would get from the program initially. I am now looking forward to my dream job in the U.S., and I am excited about taking a cross-registered course at Harvard Business School this spring.
Harvard Course Catalog – https://courses.my.harvard.edu/
My advice to prospective student: Choosing between SCMr and SCMb really depends on what you are looking for from the program, but one thing is quite certain here: spending time to take SCx courses and earn a MicroMaster credential isn’t a bad idea, as you can assess yourself if you are really interested in the subjects before you apply the program. You will also have more options to choose from (SCMr or SCMb), and you may even get exemptions for certain subjects in SCMr program if you scored highly in certain SCx courses.
One final word: Whether you choose SCMr or SCMb program, you will definitely gain an invaluable experience that you couldn’t even imagine!
The following snapshots are the selected places I visited during the first half of the program:
By: Kokweng Lim, SCMr Class of 2019
Student Voices 