Actually, I would say on-campus recruiting and networking are probably the top 2.
I sure hope so, but you never know, some peopel talk the talk but not walk the walk (is that the right saying?)
And even for other business schools, tuition is sooooooooooooooooooooo expensive! i mean, if you are a business person, you really have to analyze the cost/benefit and think very critically about it.
That’s what i think.
A third reason might be chasing tail (or rather, having the tail chase you as sometimes the case may be…)
Correct. The biggest short-term benefit of a top MBA is access to on-campus recruiting, thereby giving you interviews that you otherwise would not be able to get. The network and credibility pay off more in the long-term. For instance, I know multiple entrepreneurs who went to top b-schools, and it has given them extra credibility when meeting with investors as well as a well-rounded business skillset.
Haha. So true indeed. My single friends at HBS and Wharton are absolutely killing it with the ladies. In Boston the HBS guys are seen as highly desirable; girls from schools such as BU, northeastern, Wellesley, frequently arrange mixers with the HBS guys. And at Penn, the med/law/nursing schools also arrange mixers with Wharton, so they can meet the guys there.
This is not to say that if you’re a socially awkward loser, going to those schools will help you get laid. But given that these schools filter out those types and select well-rounded successful alpha males, that’s less of an issue.
Almost everything in life is “risky.” It boils down to your risk preference and potential payoffs. I see 2 benefits of an elite MBA. To use a finance analogy, it serves as both a put option and an out of the money call option. By this I mean that a top MBA serves as a form of insurance; it almost guarantees that you will have a decent six-figure professional job even when the economy is really bad. It may not be a job that you really want, but you won’t have to worry about paying your bills. Moreover, the network and other benefits you gain could potentially pay off big time in the future. For instance, let’s say you meet a good friend in b-school, and you end up founding a startup together that explodes. That would be one example of an “out of the money call option” paying off. Or to use even a more extreme example, you make a ton of friends who end up becoming very wealthy, and they help fund your first political campaign, allowing you to rise to the top of the power hierarchy. These examples are not common per se, but they’re not that rare either.
Even at my hacksaw program, we had no problem organizing mixers with undergraduate sororities.
Are you being facetious? Or do you now consider your MBA truly to be hacksaw-worthy?
It is hacksaw-worthy according to the AF Bylaws. Seriously though, I found the program to be excellent and I learned a ton eventhough I was a business undergrad and had worked in a finance position for 3 1/2 years. I obviously didn’t attend other programs so I can’t speak to the relative rigor of the programs on a day-to-day basis, but I was unimpressed by the teams from supposedly superior programs when we faced them in some national competitions.
^So we change the bylaws to include Harvard, Wharton, and McCombs, then?
I have no idea what “hacksaw worthy” means.
Which b-school did you go to? What type of work are you doing now?
Don’t get me wrong. I also applied to Stanford and didn’t get in; had I gotten in I would have gone. I didn’t bother trying to get into Harvard and wasn’t interested in Wharton (too close to home), but based on Stanford saying no I can’t imagine I would have been accepted to either of them if I had tried. I did get into Tuck, and perhaps I should have gone there, but Hanover just didn’t seem like it would be nearly as fun as Austin.
If you don’t attend a top 2 MBA program, AF bylaws require you to remove your reproductive parts with a rusty hacksaw. I attended a program named after a used car dealer.
Thanks eveyrone for contributing.
The outcome seems pretty clear: MBAs are good for
-Networking
-Finding a job if thats not done already
MBA program doesn’t seem to add much knowledge vs a business undergrad (all else equal with regards to school reputation) according to what was discussed.
Answers my questions, thanks.
Stanford is actually more selective than HBS; most students at HBS were unable to get into Stanford. If one’s post-MBA goal is to work in Texas (especially oil&gas) then McCombs is an excellent choice, even moreso if you get a scholarship.
I personally would have gone to Tuck since it’s a pretty elite b-school (top 7-8ish), but I could see why you wouldn’t want to live in the middle of New Hampshire for 2 years.
Or an NFL franchise owner, which is infinitely cooler.
ksc1940 – I’d agree with most of what you’ve mentioned in previous posts. One thing I’ll note is that HBS has a much larger class than Stanford, though nonetheless I still don’t know that I’d say “most” HBS students were unable to get into Stanford. I know a number of folks who got into both Stanford GSB and HBS, and also many others that just applied to one or the other. Still, the types of students who get into either school can probably excel at both schools, and it’s really a numbers game once you make that cut. The culture, geography, student body composition, and curriculum design are actually quite different between the two schools…
That’s a fair characterization of the 1st year, but not the 2nd year. I can’t speak to other concentrations, but 2nd year finance electives go far beyond what you learned in undergrad. They even go far beyond what is covered in the CFA curriculum. Of course, you don’t have to take those classes if you just want some letters to put on your resume.
It’s hard to regret my decision because I had an absolute blast for 2 years, lowered my handicap a good 7 strokes, learned a ton, met a lot of great people, and advanced my career. UT was also quite a bit cheaper then ($18k per year out-of-state).
higgmund – McCombs is a good school, though for all the reasons you mentioned as positive attributes, I was surprised you didn’t mention anything about the beautiful UT girls. I had dated a former cheerleader that went there for undergrad, and it was a really fantastic time while it lasted.