The MBA Thread

Originally Posted by lithium180

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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?
I actually work part-time in a venture capital firm while studying. But nobody there has a legal background. You simply hire an external lawyer to handle all of that and call him when having specific questions. I think its much better to gain a deep knowledge about the financial economics of venture capital and the technical/engineering aspects of the sector you want to invest in than dealing with all the legal stuff... At least in the firm I work, that is not even remotely the day-to-day business you have to deal with, no matter wether you are an investment manager or just an analyst.

An MBA gives the average graduate enough knowledge of finance, accounting and business to be dangerous. If you studied business or finance in undergrad, you will learn nothing new from a "material" perspective, although you will learn how to play nice and work on a team with that loud, obnoxious guy who has buckets of common sense and always seems to know the common sense way to solve a business problem.

That said, I earned an MBA even though as an economics undergrad and a finance grad, I learned nothing new, except said coping skills for dealing with common sense guy. It is a line in your pedigree, and you will not go very far in business without one, unless your father or father in law owns the show.

Rutgers State University of New Jersey has an Executive MBA program in China... you can learn to read, write and speak Chinese and get your MBA degree within 15 months... only program in the world...worth exploring if you are adventuresome and highly motivated

I'm currently attending Tepper. It is a quant-heavy program that really goes far above undergrad business programs regarding the math. As for the poster who didn't want to repeat intro accounting, you don't. If you are really good you can test out but most of the accounting is on valuing companies based on accounting information. We were left to teach ourselves the actual accounting and bookkeeping aspect of it so if you already know it you are just a little ahead.

The vast majority of positions at my company above senior level (that's two up from new hire here) either have MBA recommended or required. I'm also doing a career change from engineering so it's pretty much a necessity for me.

BTW, I'm new here so I'll mostly be silent and just reading along. Great forum.

Originally Posted by speedfreak

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I actually work part-time in a venture capital firm while studying. But nobody there has a legal background. You simply hire an external lawyer to handle all of that and call him when having specific questions. I think its much better to gain a deep knowledge about the financial economics of venture capital and the technical/engineering aspects of the sector you want to invest in than dealing with all the legal stuff... At least in the firm I work, that is not even remotely the day-to-day business you have to deal with, no matter wether you are an investment manager or just an analyst.

+1 The value of understanding legal minutae like VC deal antidilution provisions is virtually zero compared to understanding businesses. I do consulting now and my legal background doesn't come into play much at all. I keep thinking that might change but it hasn't happened so far.

Originally Posted by gnatty8

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An MBA gives the average graduate enough knowledge of finance, accounting and business to be dangerous. If you studied business or finance in undergrad, you will learn nothing new from a "material" perspective, although you will learn how to play nice and work on a team with that loud, obnoxious guy who has buckets of common sense and always seems to know the common sense way to solve a business problem.

That said, I earned an MBA even though as an economics undergrad and a finance grad, I learned nothing new, except said coping skills for dealing with common sense guy. It is a line in your pedigree, and you will not go very far in business without one, unless your father or father in law owns the show.

Just curious Gnatty, is common sense in your view good or bad? In a lot of business situations I feel like I add a bit of value by cutting through the MBA BS and just looking at things from a very simplistic perspective. It's about all I can manage with my few remaining brain cells.

^ It can be good, I was referring to a very specific animal in B-school who tries to always come off as the wise, been there, done that guy with a common sense answer for everything. Sometimes common sense will not help in situations where one is trying to decide whether to finance a project with debt or preference stock; or what the risk adjusted discount rate should be for an investment in wind energy. That's when I just have to say OK, shut the **** up with the life experience and read your ******* textbook.

Does anyone know what it really takes to get into a top 5 MBA program? I just took the GMAT and surprisingly scored a 730. The average for Harvard is 720. I never thought about applying until I got my score. Is GMAT heavily weighted by admissions committees or do I have to have some connections or unusual circumstance? I have a bachelors of science in electrical enginering from ASU with a 3.9gpa and only two years work experience. Should I wait for more experience? I originally planned to just go to ASU now to get the MBA while I'm young with no family and while I still remember how to study.

Originally Posted by s2000FTW

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Does anyone know what it really takes to get into a top 5 MBA program? I just took the GMAT and surprisingly scored a 730. The average for Harvard is 720. I never thought about applying until I got my score. Is GMAT heavily weighted by admissions committees or do I have to have some connections or unusual circumstance? I have a bachelors of science in electrical enginering from ASU with a 3.9gpa and only two years work experience. Should I wait for more experience? I originally planned to just go to ASU now to get the MBA while I'm young with no family and while I still remember how to study.

My experience is that the GMAT and GPA are more of a tollgate. You need to have those just to get into the running (sometimes there are exceptions). Most of it should come from your professional accomplishments and your essays. They are what tell adcom who you are and what you can do. References are all the same. I they werent good, you wouldnt get them...

K

Originally Posted by s2000FTW

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Does anyone know what it really takes to get into a top 5 MBA program? I just took the GMAT and surprisingly scored a 730. The average for Harvard is 720. I never thought about applying until I got my score. Is GMAT heavily weighted by admissions committees or do I have to have some connections or unusual circumstance? I have a bachelors of science in electrical enginering from ASU with a 3.9gpa and only two years work experience. Should I wait for more experience? I originally planned to just go to ASU now to get the MBA while I'm young with no family and while I still remember how to study.

A typical top 5 biz school admittee has every base covered. High GMAT, good GPA, top undergrad school, solid work experience, examples of management, interesting background, even a sense of personality in interviews, etc etc etc. You gotta be hitting at least 5 out 8 on these categories to consider yourself in the running. There are guys getting into Harvard with 580, but you can be sure everything but their GMAT rocks.

It never hurts to apply though (then again, it does hurt. $250 and countless hours writing essays).

I just took my GMAT today. I scored a 690. I was shooting for a 700 but I am happy with the result. I didnt think the score was too bad considering that I have been out of college for over 8 yrs and the last standardize test I took was the SAT's. Hopefully its good enough to warrant consideration for UofM's (Ross) nights and weekend program.

Originally Posted by s2000FTW

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Does anyone know what it really takes to get into a top 5 MBA program? I just took the GMAT and surprisingly scored a 730. The average for Harvard is 720. I never thought about applying until I got my score. Is GMAT heavily weighted by admissions committees or do I have to have some connections or unusual circumstance? I have a bachelors of science in electrical enginering from ASU with a 3.9gpa and only two years work experience. Should I wait for more experience? I originally planned to just go to ASU now to get the MBA while I'm young with no family and while I still remember how to study.

The top schools really take your whole application into consideration. Simply having a high GMAT won't do it. Your credentials are good, the only thing that would throw a red flag to me is only 2 years of work experience, but I'm not an admissions counselor.

Originally Posted by mbc

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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've heard that advice from a few people. I was steered to this site:

http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/

Originally Posted by Mauby

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I've heard that advice from a few people. I was steered to this site:

http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/

It makes sense in some ways, but also consider that if you are seeking funding an MBA will give you an additional level of cred in addition to your network. It will also give you a fall back in case you need to look at employment options

K

Originally Posted by Tarmac

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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

Finally, something where I can give advice vs asking for it! I attended Chicago and the most valuable thing I got out of it were some solid friends, improved my ability to think through problems and work with people and deal with their bs. I know I wouldn't have done or seen what I have without my MBA but it can be over rated.

I think you got to know why you want to go to B-school. What do you plan to achieve with it. If it is to continue to do what you're doing maybe it won't matter much or you could go part time and have your employer pay for it. I think it is very useful if you want to chance careers go in as an accountant and come out a brand manager.

If you want to work in strategy consulting/i-banksing it would pretty useful to graduate from a top school. Hate to say it but it is about pedigree (like a dog show). Banks and consulting firms want to say "hey look we hired the best and that is why we charge 500/hour for them."

It may not be fair, or whatever, but that is the way it works. In a booming economy firms will go lower into the b-school rankings to find talent, but when times are tighter they can just stick with the Top 5.

IMHO, don't do it just to check the box on your career, really know why you want to go so you can get the most out of it.

For the person who runs his own business, there is a book called something like the 10 day MBA, not a bad place to get introduced to concepts. Figure out from there if you want to self-learn or go to school.

If you are applying to B-school soon do the following, don't ***** about the economy or say it is about time I got my MBA, etc in your applications or interviews. B-schools will see a lot of those applications. If you say something stupid they'll write it up on a board (sort of a wall of shame). All B-schools have this. I saw some pretty funny sh*t that people write in their applications. Great, got it trying to stand out, but excercise some discretion.

And no offense to the i generation (i-phone, i-pod), I say this out of support, don't come across with the entitlement, disrespectful, all about me MTV attitude that I sometimes come across. Be humble, mature, eager, respectful, and confident. Also do the interview on campus, show how committed you are to getting into the school, have people read your essays, and show that you really thought about why you want to go. Tell the schools why you will bring a different flavor to the program and how your classmates (humbly) will all benefit but also how you are a giver and not a taker. Space is limited at the top schools so you need to convince them why they should take you and it can't be because you happen to dress nice!

If one of your friends is currently attending get them to throw in a note to help you out, they have some influence. Apply early, don't wait. The sooner you know, the sooner you know if you need to apply to other schools.

They look at the complete package, so make sure you present yourself the best you can.

I wish all of you the best in your decisions on where to apply, etc.

Why4009