Q. Isn’t it redundant to have an “MBA in business administration”? I thought it was a mistake at first, but a lot of people use this—and perhaps it really is the degree name—but it just seems weird . . . “master of business administration in business administration”?
A. Having an MBA in business administration does sound a little like using a PIN number at an ATM machine to get money to repair your broken LCD display so you can read about RAS syndrome on Wikipedia over a cup of chai tea. But if your colleague has an MBA in marketing or finance, you may want to make your own concentration in business administration explicit. It’s probably best, therefore, to ask before editing out the apparent redundancy.