as far as the need for extras when you apply, they really just want/expect to see it when they know you have the resources (ie time). i’m married with a kid, so they told me they expect to see more from someone else who is single, all else equal. (that was in a denail feedback i got last year.) on a similar note, if you work 90 hours a week, you obviously don’t have time to do much outside of work, especially if you’d studying for the cfa exams, for example. another thing. they only care about extras if they can tell that you care about them yourself. if they get the sense you’re joining things so you can put them on your resume, they’ll discount it right off the bat. the extras you participate in should be the kinds of things you’d do even if you weren’t applying to b-school and things you’ll continue to do during and after school (time permitting). if this isn’t the case for you, i’d suggest finding something else to do that you’re more passionate about. and for what its worth, i don’t think the cfa is all that impressive by itself. you get a job with 'qualifying experience", the definition of which is somewhat broad, and then you study hard a pass a few tests. you don’t even have to stay current on the things you’ve learned through some kind of professional education - just pay your dues and don’t break the rules.
CFAdetroit Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > billwest Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Real men (or women) don’t need the MBA. > > > Who said anything about needing it? Maybe I just > want to get it so the girls (and some guys) I know > that all have their masters in social work or > masters in elementary education or my favorite, > masters in communications, will stop throwing out > that fact at me whenever they get a chance, trying > not so subtley to act like it makes them superior. > As much as I can agree that an MBA probably isn’t > all that tough compared to some other masters > degrees, it does at least provide SOME utility in > at least getting you into higher paying finance > jobs. I just can’t see the ROI being positive on > some of the above mentioned masters programs, > especially when opportunity costs are taken into > place. What kind of girls are you meeting?
cfadetroit, i hope you said that tongue in cheek. do you really care if someone who has a masters in something that isn’t your field and you don’t have one in (debatedly) your own field? is that good enough reason to spend all of that money for an mba?
homie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CFAdetroit Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > billwest Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > Real men (or women) don’t need the MBA. > > > > > > Who said anything about needing it? Maybe I > just > > want to get it so the girls (and some guys) I > know > > that all have their masters in social work or > > masters in elementary education or my favorite, > > masters in communications, will stop throwing > out > > that fact at me whenever they get a chance, > trying > > not so subtley to act like it makes them > superior. > > As much as I can agree that an MBA probably > isn’t > > all that tough compared to some other masters > > degrees, it does at least provide SOME utility > in > > at least getting you into higher paying finance > > jobs. I just can’t see the ROI being positive > on > > some of the above mentioned masters programs, > > especially when opportunity costs are taken > into > > place. > > > > What kind of girls are you meeting? If your in this industry, and your friends are that petty (yes, I do know the type) sink to their level and show them a pay stub. That oughta do it. If they are pure intellectuals, discuss with them the economic effects of hyperinflation upon Peru’s economy or something…
Yeah I am just kidding about getting an MBA for the reasons I mentioned. If I do an MBA it will be for the career opportunities. I know I shouldn’t care too much, but I always get a little irritated when I see people making irrational financial decisions. Be it on a certain degree, buying a car they can’t afford, not paying off a credit card when they are getting charged a rate of 27.3%, etc. Anyway, sorry to deter from the thread topic at hand.
B-schools DON’T require you to have built hospitals in Africa or have climbed Mount Everest. Instead of selecting extracurriculars that you think will get you into business school, do something that excites YOU. If they wanted to, top b-schools could create a class full of 3.5+ GPA Ivy League grads with 700+ GMAT scores wanting to get into banking or consulting, but if you look closely at the stats, that’s usually not the case. B-school is as much about learning from your peers as it is about learning from your professors, and to foster this, schools strive to create a student body filled with unique individuals. However, “unique” can mean many different things. Obviously being an Olympic gold medalist is unique, but, in the right context, tutoring local kids after school, learning a new language, or volunteering at an animal shelter can also be unique. Showing that you’re someone who is passionate and curious about the world around you will go a long way to helping you get admitted. That being said, in my experience, the process of applying to business schools is somewhat of a crap shoot. You may get dinged or wait listed at your safety schools while getting admitted to your dream school. In the end, if you want to get an MBA, do some research, visit the school that you’re interested in, and talk current students/alumni. Then, put together the best possible essays (show your uniqueness) and see what happens…
A bit off the topic, but does anyone have any input on whether b-schools penalize a person that did there undergrad at the same university a few years prior? I know some engineering grad programs frown upon doing grad work at the same place as undergrad work, is b-school similar?
mlh97 said: and for what its worth, i don’t think the cfa is all that impressive by itself. you get a job with 'qualifying experience", the definition of which is somewhat broad, and then you study hard a pass a few tests. you don’t even have to stay current on the things you’ve learned through some kind of professional education - just pay your dues and don’t break the rules. --In all fairness, once you’re admitted to an MBA, all you have to do is pay your tuition and pass a few tests (that are much easier than CFA exams). Hell, you can get wasted 3-4 nights a week and graduate with a 3.7 from a top 10 program, and you don’t have to do anything to stay current once you graduate. As a matter of fact, you don’t even have to pay dues! I’m playing devil’s advocate here btw. I plan on going to bschool in the future, and my extracurricular activities would help me more than hurt me in the process. Nonetheless, I still think bschool is overrated in terms of what you learn but incredibly valuable in terms of prestige and networking, which is ultimately what makes it worth the high initial opportunity cost.
i agree, but the key to what you said is “once you’re admitted to an MBA”. getting admitted to an mba isn’t that big of a deal. being admitted to a “top” mba, however you define it (top 1, top 5, 10, 20, whatever) is much more difficult, obviously getting harder with the fewer schools in your population. b/c getting accepted is all about selling yourself and convincing the adcom you aren’t a dolt, its really the culmination of everything you’ve done up to that point. if its october and your application deadline is in january, there isn’t much you can do to make up for the fact you goofed off in college and currently spend every night of the last four years at home after work watching american idol and playing video games. sure you can study hard and pray you get a good gmat score, but that’s about it besides lying. for the cfa on the other hand, if you try hard enough, you can probably get *some* kind of job that will be qualifying experience and study hard enough for the exams to pass. bingo, you’ve got your charter. you’re right, i’ve heard that school isn’t that bad once you get there. the way i see it though is that recruiters don’t hire you out of school b/c of what you learned. i bet they mostly see the admissions process as an initial filter, letting the adcom sift through the good and bad for them. then, by going to the top schools to recruit, a lot of the work has already been done for them.
mlh97: you can probably get *some* kind of job that will be qualifying experience and study hard enough for the exams to pass. bingo, you’ve got your charter. The only problem with this argument is that it takes 1.5 years min. (2 years if you count 6 months study time for Dec. CFA L1) to pass the CFA. Then you need 4 years of work exp. that doesn’t include IT, operations consulting, and non-profit, etc. (all jobs that wouldn’t preclude you from attending a top MBA). I see it like this: It’s going to take 2 years of study and 4 years of qualifying work experience to get the charter. If you spent these two years studying for your GMAT, doing community service, and crafting your application, there is no doubt that you would get into a top 20 program unless you have less than half a brain (in which case you wouldn’t have passed the CFA either). Likewise 4 years of qualifying work exp. under CFA guidelines would be solid enough to get into a top 20 program. So in many ways, the CFA could be viewed as equally as challenging and perhaps even as a substitute for a good MBA (except for the top 10 schools which have an additional “prestige” factor). I think empirical evidence bears this out (at least in asset management) as the CFA is now a prerequisite to most decent jobs, but the MBA is not. I’m not saying the CFA is better than a top 10 MBA, but I’d rather have the CFA than anything below the top 15. But why quibble about it…just get both and be done with it. (This post has definitely drifted from my original…but oh well)