Just to be clear, I think an MBA can be very benefitial, but like iteracom I do prefer top 5. However, it depends on the individual, the starting point, and the target career destination. For me, I feel a local MBA would be less than useless. To get where I want to go I’d benefit more from a top tier if at all. But for someone else with differnent situations obviously it would be a different story.
So, BS, are you saying that you would rather NOT go to school rather than go to a #30, like Rice or Vanderbilt?
I’m not sure that I understand that. These are really good schools that should pay much dividends, even you are already a CFA charterholder.
^Yes, he is saying he’d rather take the hacksaw. Don’t ask me why.
Because I’m already at a VP level on the buyside doing market risk with a CFA. I don’t need an MBA to progress further along my path, it’s pretty much going to be merit based from here on out.
I would however, like most in finance enjoy working on the buyside as an investment analyst. Maybe longer duration macro fixed income funds like PIMCO has. PIMCO is hard to get into though and only recruites at the top 5. So going to Vandy isn’t really gonna get me where I’d like to go and won’t do me a lot of good on my current path either. I’d be giving up around 400k costs and lost pay for a FT MBA. So you have to weigh that carefully.
But if I was maybe just a few years in or trying to break into finance in general, maybe Vandy would be good. Just not in my specific situation.
Yet you still think that a top 5 would be beneficial? It seems that if Vanderbilt has no benefit, then the benefit at Top 5 would still be minimal.
I guess I just don’t understand how Harvard is worth $400k, but Vanderbilt isn’t.
Because PIMCO and other buyside firms actively recruit at the top 5 for investment analysts, and not at Vanderbuilt. And that is worth $400k if I can land the transition (not easy). But I feel fairly confident that going to Vandy will not provide enough of a bump to make an already difficult transition.
I agree with BS, It’s super clear to me too.
You can go to a lower tier school, where the chances are far far lower of getting into a top employer.
Or a top program, where the employers go to to recruit exclusively.
hell, even top 10 MBA programs like NYU Stern are passed over at these elite shops.
There’s a growing trend these days of putting the bachelor degree after the name.
I just list my eye color. I have striking eyes and I want to be sure people notice.
How do you not understand how Harvard would be more beneficial than Vanderbilt? A top 5 school opens way more doors, and many of us are already in positions in industry where the MBA is a bit superfluous. I mentioned to my brother this year that I was thinking about an MBA down the road, and he said that unless I went to Harvard or Stanford (he’s at one of those) that it would be a waste of time and money. If you’re on a good professional track and take two years off to get your MBA from Rice, people will have questions. Harvard, not so much so. I’m not in a position in my career where slaving away as an associate for 160k is something that I would remotely entertain (even when I was a grad student on a 19k stipend that wouldn’t have sounded too great) - my reasons for getting an MBA would be to gain new knowledge and learn from top professors/with top students, expand my network, and try to transition to an executive-level role…Stanford/Harvard may give me that opportunity, but Rice/Vandy would not. If you’re 24 years old and you want to work at the local investment fund in a couple years, they may be a great route to take.
I never said that Rice = Harvard. I don’t even recall thinking that. BS just said that he wanted Top 5 or nothing, and I wondered why Top 30 wasn’t good enough. From my perspective (which is much different from BS or Iteracom or probably you), I would be ecstatic to get into Rice. (Well, not anymore. After June 1, I’m very likely done with education forever.) But that’s because of my background and my circumstances.
BS answered why it’s Harvard or nothing, and now I understand.
And “good professional track” is a very subjective statement. What is a “good professional track”? 50k? 150k? 650k? Somebody can be on what they think is a a “good professional track” and still get a lot of benefit out of going to Rice. Going to Rice would not be a waste of time or money for a lot of people. (And by “a lot”, I mean 99% of the population.)