Is an mba worth it?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1779485

by pullo • 16 years ago

1 3 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am curious what the hacker news network thought about mba's..

kingsidharth• 16 years ago

No relation whatsoever

bradleyjoyce• 16 years ago

I think that depends on what your goal is and what you expect the MBA to give you. Generally, I would say no, an MBA is not worth the time/cost if you think it's (1) going to get you a job (2) prepare you to start/operate/sell a real life business (3) get you girls... in some cases you might develop connections that at some point in the future make the mba worthwhile, or perhaps you get a nice base of book knowledge that supplements real-world business experience that you feel worth the time/cost.

pitdesi• 16 years ago

The answer is different for every individual who considers going to get an MBA. Your career amibitions, financial circumstances, current job satisfaction, and a thousand other factors will all influence the decision to take two years off for business school, and without the benefit of counterfactual evidence, it's impossible to know where the other path would have led one way or the other. Smart and successful businesspeople have a mix of backgrounds - some went back for an MBA while others did not, but all of them are comfortable with the tradeoffs they've made and the paths they've chosen. Suffice to say, there is no cookie-cutter answer to this question, and while soliciting input from those with or without an MBA is helpful, the truth is the best answer can only be the one each individual comes to themselves.

One thing that it does do is make you more risk-averse. That comes with the burden of a $150k expense, unfortunately. However, there are ways around this. I spent a year working for a top-tier consulting firm and have paid off my loans. Now I'm looking to start something or join something on the ground floor, and I have the network and skillset that I got from my MBA. Plus I had a lot of fun! It's a great time, and if you've been working your a$$ off for a few years that's not a terrible reason to do it.

The most valuable things I learned from an MBA aren't LBO models, FIFO accounting, porters forces, etc... Now I'm paraphrasing from something I saw on a friends facebook wall, but the biggest things I learned are:

1) Smart people fundamentally disagree about how the world works 2) Build your career around your strengths 3) Be confident, but humble

So in the end, it's a question only you can answer for yourself, but I would say that there are benefits. What do you want to do after bschool?

Is an mba worth it?

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