MBA? To go or not to go

[coh4777]

It all depends on what you plan to do after you graduate. You are in sell-side finance right now and if you plan on staying in sell-side finance afterwards, then I would say it is not worth it at all.

I have a similar background as you... came from a top 5 undergrad program then did 4 years at a major investment bank. Went to a top top 5 b-school basically beause I thought it was the thing to do and didn't really think it through, but knew that I was going to stay in finance. But you don't actually learn that much and you are surrounded by douchebags for 2 years who spend their entire lives obsessing/whining about recruiting and classwork. If I had to do it over again, I would have saved the money and kept working to advance my career. I know plenty of guys in finance who do not have an MBA and advanced with no problem. Look around you office and I'm sure you know that in finance, it is all about your ability to execute and make money. At the end of the day, people care and reward that more so than any framed piece of paper.

Now I admit that my views on b-school is way more negative than most people's out there. On the positive side, you may actually have a very enjoyable experience meeting new classmates, taking trips, working on projects etc. I know some guys who really dig that stuff and found it rewarding. Also, b-school is all about networking, so there is always the possibility that 5,10,20 years down the road some guy you met in school will be instrumental in helping you close a deal or land a new job or something of that sort (although I feel this aspect of b-school is way overhyped, because in business you meet new people all the time who could potentially be in a position to help someday). And finally, although pretty much everyone I know has A+ undergrad and/or b-school credentials, you can't really discount the value of having a "name brand" MBA.

But my advice to you is really really think hard about what you expect to get out of b-school, both in the 2 years that you are there, as well as in your future career. My experience is that the people who benefited most were either (a) career-changers who wanted to use b-school as a way of getting into a new career track (ie, marketing to finance), (b) people in industries where you 100% HAVE to get an MBA to advance, or (c) people who just wanted to take 2 years off, try new things, and meet new people.

[Edward]

coh4777, thanks for the post. Yea, I definitely questioned it in sell-side finance because a lot of very relevant and successful guys have climbed high only because they happened to be lucky enough to have been working in a particular division that was favored by the current economic landscape and happened to do very well for the firm from a revenue generating standpoint. I know that it's not the MBA that got them managing entire divisions of FICC or some other cap markets division. But you can't stop wondering how instrumental or important it was that they had credentials that gave them a shot at executive level mgmt. Right now, my current job does not reuiqre an MBA to make a single penny more. But might I need it to move laterally or up the ladder in a non-revenue generating function (mgmt)? Yea, very likely that it is necessary. Right now I'm young and have an ounce of idealism in my head and a relatively healthy (unhealthy) dose of "grass is greener on the other side" syndrome.

However, I am trying to eliminate as many of the "if only had I" situations for the future. If I get an MBA and get myself to a position whether I am faced with actually having the option to go straight into mgmt or buy-side, I can honestly say that I actively chose not to do so, instead of having to live with the fact that I don't truly know if I would have gone or not since I never was given the opportunity. Basically I don't want to be able to ever blame a future failure, action or success on anything but myself.

[DenverJayhawk]

I think COH477 hit the nail on the head. If you don't have lots of work experience, I'd think about doing it if you can get into a good name school. If you are already making more than what a new MBA grad will get, then it may not be worth the two years of lost income unless you intend to go part time so as to hold your job/income while going to school.

For folks already with significant work experience and a good income, it may not make sense to do unless you can get into a top 10 school where your new earnings will make up for 2 years lost income.