MBA degrees

Does anyone here have an MBA? I am thinking about applying for a 2011 start.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has one/is doing one - what school are you at, and how did you arrive at that choice? I am looking at the economist and businessweek guides, but would be great to hear some 1st hand experiences. Ultimately, was it worth it? Did the large investment (avg $80k debt, supposedly) pay off?

Anyone else thinking of getting one? Where are you thinking of going & why?

Thinking of doing one myself but value for money is still a stumbling block.

These are the top ranked ones below €21,000

1 The Hague University 6,56
2 University of Phoenix 6,41
3 Business School Nederland 6,40
4 Webster University 6,27
5 SWOT 5,94

Not sure what you're trying to get out of it but usually if you go to another EU country you should be able to get a scholarship, saving you some much needed money.

I've got friends that did this course in the Netherlands http://www.saxion.edu/programmes/degree-programmes/master-business-administration/
Around €9,000 for a one year programme and my cousin went to Rotterdam (more expensive but one of the best).

I've done most of my education in the Netherlands (apart from 2 years in the UK and a year in South Africa) and can not recommend the Dutch education system highly enough.

Hope this helps.

Interesting point. My perspective on money was to not care, and take out a career loan to cover it. My thought is that a degree from a top-tier school will lead to a highly paid job, which means that I wouldn't have too much problem paying back the loan. e.g. $120k avg salary after HBS MBA would make a $80k debt manageable.

My interests are tech-sector, corp dev and corp strategy (but these will probably develop more over the next few years). My initial plan is to work a couple of years in management consulting post-MBA (Bain/McKinsey/BCG) and see where that takes me. In terms of school, I am thinking Harvard / Chicago / Stanford, but have not done a heck of a lot of research into it at this stage. Business cycle is obviously an issue (see articles in the news on 09 MBAs struggling to get a job), but hopefully graduating in 2013 will be in an upswing.

What sector do you work in?

Currently work at corporate offices for in the leisure industry for one of the largest hotel operators. Thing is I did a MSc in international hotel management years ago and the money is not going to cut it here in Europe at least so am now looking for a way out to diversify my skills/knowledge before I'm too old.

I used to work at London Business School.
This consistently scored in the top 10 worldwide and top in Europe, but was very expensive - about £35000. Students were typically 50% American, 25% British, and 25% other. Typically they were on high 5 or low 6 figure salaries before they even started the MBA and expected to walk into £250k+ jobs after graduation. I cannot imagine that many of them had earned this kind of money on talent and merit.

A higher than average proportion of the MBA students I dealt with coupled staggering idiocy and ignorance with outstanding arrogance. A decade ago this didn't matter as an MBA was a magic ticket to fat-cat status. But as MBAs became more common and you could get them anywhere and this kind of attitude made the worst of them quite difficult people to place in employment after they graduated.

I used to work at London Business School.

And the cleanliness of their floors hasn't been the same since ;^)

That sounds very similar to the people I have encountered with MBA's and is one of the stumbling blocks, that plus the job market does seem to get saturated with any sort of degrees at present. However if I want to change my line of work it seems one of the more logical things to do.
Still undecided on what to do for now.

I used to work at London Business School.
This consistently scored in the top 10 worldwide and top in Europe, but was very expensive - about £35000. Students were typically 50% American, 25% British, and 25% other. Typically they were on high 5 or low 6 figure salaries before they even started the MBA and expected to walk into £250k+ jobs after graduation. I cannot imagine that many of them had earned this kind of money on talent and merit.

A higher than average proportion of the MBA students I dealt with coupled staggering idiocy and ignorance with outstanding arrogance. A decade ago this didn't matter as an MBA was a magic ticket to fat-cat status. But as MBAs became more common and you could get them anywhere and this kind of attitude made the worst of them quite difficult people to place in employment after they graduated.

A friend of mine did a course at LBS for a term, it was one a module for the MBA and all the other participants except for himself where on the MBA. His impression was that the course content (at least the one he did) was crap but the entire point of the it seemed to be the schmoozing. The point to him seemed to be not what you learned but the people you could get to meet.

The point to him seemed to be not what you learned but the people you could get to meet.

This is one of the major reasons to do an MBA - to network. Other reasons I perceive are that it acts as a signal to the labour market (both a signal of your own investment and a signal of your skillz) and that it trains you to think in a certain way (ie. the actual learning part).

A friend of mine did a course at LBS for a term, it was one a module for the MBA and all the other participants except for himself where on the MBA. His impression was that the course content (at least the one he did) was crap but the entire point of the it seemed to be the schmoozing. The point to him seemed to be not what you learned but the people you could get to meet.

I'd say he was right. It's all about the networking. LBS had (has?) some of the best faculty, but you only teach if you cannot do. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs never went to business school. Certainly the school itself never used the expertise it hired for the school's own business success.

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I am 4/5 of the way a Master of Science in Project Management with a major in e-commerce from Boston University - I study on-line - which means I get to study around my job - its tough though as I never put in less than thirty hours a week and sometimes considerably more - the level of education is high as is the standard of competition - I am not a project manager nor will I ever be - I took this degree because I wanted to be a manager - now I realise that I don't want to work as hard as managers work unless I am working for myself - which taking this degree has given me the confidence to do

I'd Bill Gates and Steve Jobs never went to business school.

strange things to say, since both are software/computer developers, not businessmen per se.

also, i bet both of them have huge teams of MBAs working for them.

also, i bet all those people are cunts.

also, i bet all those people are cunts.

now now, behave.

Interested to talk to anyone with experience.

DM me.

What’s the new MBA these days? Seems you can swing a cat in central London without hitting a MBA.

I think there is recognition that some business schools are rehashing old content and the world is moving at such a pace some are now less relevant...