I got my MBA many moons ago, and it was totally worth it for the credential, the education (I went to a SLAC so hadn't taken any business oriented courses), and the recruiting. I went to a school ranked in the top 10 then and now. I earn 7 figures now and there is no way I could have done that without an MBA.

The dynamic has clearly changed today, but for some people it is still worthwhile. It has value for people looking to change fields. It still has value for people with traditional liberal arts majors like English or Poli Sci or even Econ. It even has value for CS majors who want to have a broader skill set.

The opportunity cost is high for many people. It is not always practical to have an employer pay for a top school since they are principally residential full-time programs. And of course it doesn't make sense if you are trying to career switch. There were a handful of people in my program who were employer sponsored, but it was much more common among the foreign students. I had a lot of salary upside because I wasn't making much before I went to school. The potential delta is much lower now, but the top school median salaries are still reasonably pretty high.

Most hedge fund and private equity types have MBAs from the top schools and they make $10MM+ annually. I am in the field and it was definitely worth it. Very hard to just have an undergraduate degree. It’s laughable that you even find this debatable.

Is there a list someone of acceptable work experiences for top MBA programs, assuming great GMAT, great undergrad GPA, about 3 YOE (so around age 25ish)?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MBA is a useless degree. A businessman should be advanced in business by that time not wasting time in school.

You know nothing about Quant

It’s even more useless in Quant. They hate business & finance degrees. They want math, physics & CS majors.

I went to Georgetown MBA about 10-15 years ago, after having a liberal arts/ non business degree from another top ranked school.

It was an expensive way to do it, but I learned a lot and it did help me get jobs I wouldn’t have qualified for.

As a woman in a class that was 30% female, it gave me a confidence in the business world and with financials that was hard to get otherwise.

I had 100k in school debt but I doubled my payments after graduation and paid it off in about 7-8 years. I also doubled my pre- MBA salary.

Agree it’s not worth it or required in most circumstances, but it was helpful for me.

Anonymous wrote:MBA is a useless degree. A businessman should be advanced in business by that time not wasting time in school.

You know nothing about Quant

Anonymous wrote:MBA is a useless degree. A businessman should be advanced in business by that time not wasting time in school.

You know nothing about Quant

You get paid for the job between first and second year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taking off three years from a job where you’re making at least $140,000 (the only jobs that are considered good enough work experience in elite MBA admissions) seems inane to me based on the opportunity cost alone. That’s not even taking into cost the MBA tuition if you’re self-funding it.

Three years?

Sorry, two. Still a lot.

Anonymous wrote:Taking off three years from a job where you’re making at least $140,000 (the only jobs that are considered good enough work experience in elite MBA admissions) seems inane to me based on the opportunity cost alone. That’s not even taking into cost the MBA tuition if you’re self-funding it.

Three years?

Taking off three years from a job where you’re making at least $140,000 (the only jobs that are considered good enough work experience in elite MBA admissions) seems inane to me based on the opportunity cost alone. That’s not even taking into cost the MBA tuition if you’re self-funding it.

Anonymous wrote:Chicago and Northwestern at #1 and #2 respectively. Impressive for a flyover city

Chicago is not a flyover city

Chicago and Northwestern at #1 and #2 respectively. Impressive for a flyover city

Anonymous wrote:I don't know .... I worked at IBM for a long time. There were few MBAs in senior management. I met many senior executives that had no training in strategy, finance or accounting. Mostly people that came up through sales, and a few on the technology side. Those people could have used an MBA.

Whether an MBA is worth the price, especially outside the top schools, is a fair question.

In my experience, an MBA is required to get into investment banking or management consulting

Not if you do undergrad correctly. Tons of people go into those fields straight out of undergrad.

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Fair -- I knew two Princeton graduates that got into Investment Banking with degrees in English and History.
Can you advance in consulting without a graduate degree?

Who cares about degrees after you hire someone. An MBA just helps some people get their foot in the door. For many it isn't needed.

I don't know .... I worked at IBM for a long time. There were few MBAs in senior management. I met many senior executives that had no training in strategy, finance or accounting. Mostly people that came up through sales, and a few on the technology side. Those people could have used an MBA.

Whether an MBA is worth the price, especially outside the top schools, is a fair question.

In my experience, an MBA is required to get into investment banking or management consulting

Not if you do undergrad correctly. Tons of people go into those fields straight out of undergrad.

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Fair -- I knew two Princeton graduates that got into Investment Banking with degrees in English and History.
Can you advance in consulting without a graduate degree?