The MBA Thread

Originally Posted by JayJay

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speedfreak is right about the history of the MBA. It was originally for nonbusiness professionals who needed training in business.
Although this may be true, I can certainly say the value in my MBA was not the business knowledge I gained. The true value was in working constantly in small groups of people who are all working toward a common goal. I learned more about teamwork during my MBA than any of my team sports I played throughout high school. The network I built was almost equally as important.

Taking my gmat in a little over a week. I took this coming week off to study. I need to score in the 700's if I want to get in to the school I want to go (U of M ann arbor, ross night and weekend program) since my undergrad gpa wasn't so hot (bs chem engineering). And I have 2 weeks to complete the application essays as well. I'm not pursuing a mba to make more money. I already make much more than most mbas do. I am going to use it as means to go into a totally different career path.

The price of MBA tuition seems to vary a huge amount... so far, I've found:

• Aspen.edu - online, less than $9k for the whole thing, cheapest accredited MBA I've found
  
• Rollins - local private college, quite prestigious (at least in Central Florida), around $30-50k
  
• Wharton - world famous, around $140k

Given that I would be doing an MBA primarily to enhance my formal business skills for running my own businesses (ie. I'm not trying to impress a corporate recruiter or get into the Wall Street 'old boy' network), is the Ivy League education worth it, or will I get an equally useful education/qualification from the online colleges? (After all, they're accredited, so they must meet some minimum standard, right?)

Originally Posted by v0rtex

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..., or will I get an equally useful education/qualification from the online colleges? (After all, they're accredited, so they must meet some minimum standard, right?)
As for the knowledge itself, I really don't think it matters much at what university and in which city you study. I mean, the books are the same everywhere and the rest is up to you. A fancy uni doesn't make you a smater student per se. Choosing a prestigeous uni might get you a better network plus it is a pretty strong signal to the recruiter in terms of your motivation. But if you only want to acquire some skills for your own business, just get into one of the programs out there and be curious, make up your mind in what you are interesseted into and then have a go from there on your own...

An MBA is essential in many industries and particularly if you are interested in competing for upper management positions. Issuing school can be important in some businesses, less so in others.

As mentioned earlier, if you are doing it primarily to enhance your own knowledge as an entrepreneur, the issuing brand matters less.

For all others, get into the best program that you qualify for and can afford.

It's true.

I have a B.A. in MIS and for me, getting an MBA is almost not even worth it since my undergrad was a business focused.

I work in the oil industry and the engineers and scientists who want to move up can get an MBA and it would be much more useful for them, as opposed to someone in Accounting.

I assume it still would be useful, just not as useful if you're bachelors was a technically based concentration.

Originally Posted by maxnharry

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An MBA is essential in many industries and particularly if you are interested in competing for upper management positions. .

Yes sir.

Originally Posted by maxnharry

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As mentioned earlier, if you are doing it primarily to enhance your own knowledge as an entrepreneur, the issuing brand matters less.
Others may disagree with me, but if you are or want to be an entrepreneur, buy some books and spend the rest of your time/money starting the business instead, unless you are either incapable of learning without a classroom or are in dire need of the network an MBA will give you access to. You'll probably get a lot more out of your time/money that way. And this is coming from someone who studied entrepreneurship at the #1 entrepreneurship MBA program in the US (according to Princeton Review & Entrepreneur Magazine at least).

I am about 2/3 of the way through a part time MBA at a well ranked Canadian school and from my experience so far I am not happy with the quality of education I have received. Here is why:

1) Foreign students with poor communication skills and the quality of work they do.
2) Quality of profs and their ability to transfer knowledge, of the 15 or so profs I have had I'd say only 3-4 are worth taking a class with.
3) Cost - going to be about $40K in tuition by the time I am done.

In my field an MBA will help a bit, but not really, so it is more of an exercise in learning and trying to understand the business model my clients work in. I could have done this through a focussed reading program and a few seminars for quite a bit less.

Originally Posted by nerdykarim

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I've studied but still need to take the GMAT. The plan is to do the four-year JD/MBA program at UGA.
Very interested in everyone else's experiences.

I did the joint JD / MBA at UCLA. In theory it is a great combo if you can stomach the extra time, money and study. The reality is that an MBA may help you a bit in a legal career depending on your field, but in most cases it's marginal. You're a lawyer, not a business guy, and that's it. If you do want to go the business route an MBA (or even just a JD) is fine. I think the joint JD / MBA also helps for your initial job search if you're targeting investment banking, private equity or something similar.

Originally Posted by JayJay

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speedfreak is right about the history of the MBA. It was originally for nonbusiness professionals who needed training in business.

But is it still? Like if I want to get into iBanking, Consulting, etc., would it be more advisable to go back to school after a business undergrad for the e/MBA or to get something else?

After getting a business bachelor's and working a little, I thought most returned for the MBA for a promotion or something. But would there be a better path to take? (like speedfreak's CFA) (not implying anything bad, speedfreak, just wanted opinions on this)

Originally Posted by BYucko

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But is it still? Like if I want to get into iBanking, Consulting, etc., would it be more advisable to go back to school after a business undergrad for the e/MBA or to get something else?

After getting a business bachelor's and working a little, I thought most returned for the MBA for a promotion or something. But would there be a better path to take? (like speedfreak's CFA) (not implying anything bad, speedfreak, just wanted opinions on this)
I was simply referring to the history of the degree.

Today the MBA is seen as a degree for business undergrad majors as well as nonmajors. Is there added value for a business undergrad major? Maybe, but it could be where the social/career network and reputation of the school come into significant play.

From my understanding, the exorbitant value (and cost) of top programs is both networking, and recruiting. Many top firms don't even recruit outside the top 20, some not even outside the top 5.

someone tell me if this is poppycock or not

Originally Posted by JoelF

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I did the joint JD / MBA at UCLA. In theory it is a great combo if you can stomach the extra time, money and study. The reality is that an MBA may help you a bit in a legal career depending on your field, but in most cases it's marginal. You're a lawyer, not a business guy, and that's it. If you do want to go the business route an MBA (or even just a JD) is fine. I think the joint JD / MBA also helps for your initial job search if you're targeting investment banking, private equity or something similar.

I am considering doing this in a few years because I would like to eventually work upper management in a biotech firm or venture capital and I want to be able to understand the nature of contract issues, licensing, IP and any related litigation that comes up in the course of business. Is this misguided? Can a high level manager learn enough about legal matters to keep a firm hand on the rudder through law-related MBA coursework alone?

Originally Posted by BYucko

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But is it still? Like if I want to get into iBanking, Consulting, etc., would it be more advisable to go back to school after a business undergrad for the e/MBA or to get something else?

After getting a business bachelor's and working a little, I thought most returned for the MBA for a promotion or something. But would there be a better path to take? (like speedfreak's CFA) (not implying anything bad, speedfreak, just wanted opinions on this)

Well, since I did only study in Germany and in Australia, i can't really comment on the American MBA. But what I would consider is the programs content. I mean, if you already have an undergrad degree in business or econ, you don't want to do all the same basic stuff again, right? You want to move on from there, specialize and get deeper into the matter of well finance, accounting or strategy in your case. So maybe a Master in Finance or equivalent might be the better way to go.

In my case, my masters degree builds on top of the Bachelors, so I gain extra knowledge in my majors and minor. And from that perspective, an MBA wouldn't make sense for me, having two master degrees in business. (Its a litte bit silly here in Europe, lots of people with master degrees in business or equivalent degree do a MBA additionally, so they do a Diplom (equivalent to a bachelors and(!) masters degree) and a MBA...)

As for the CFA, I don't know how its regarded in the US. But over here in Europe it helps in Investment Banking, simply because you might have clients from around the world. And with all the varying degrees, fields of study and differnt qualities of the education depending the uni you graduate from, it establishes some minimum quality. Therefore, Ibanks over here like to see their employees getting the CFA, and well if you are already in the program it might help you getting a good job.