5 ms·

The article is a little bit misleading. It sounds like they went to a very 3rd tier program. I've interviewed plenty of people from these types of programs. M

The article is a little bit misleading. It sounds like they went to a very 3rd tier program. I've interviewed plenty of people from these types of programs. Many of them list MBA on their LinkedIn tagline, which inadvertently highlights "University of Phoenix" or some other online program on the bottom. For most of these people, the MBA is worthless. Net - I think MBAs from non-top schools are worthless for most of the reasons the author suggested. But... There is value in specific fields for top degrees. More than half the people from top 6-8 programs who want to get into banking or elite consulting programs can get there. If you really want to work for Bain/BCG/McK and you recruit on campus from a top program, you have an ~50% shot depending on the market. If you don't have that top MBA, it's much lower. (Less than 2%?) Similar with front office jobs in investment banking. What about technology, which is what most people here care about? I see a disproportionate amount of non-engineering CEOs with Computer Science undergrads followed by MBAs from a small subset of schools. (Harvard and Stanford followed by a big drop, then Kellogg, Penn, Chicago Booth and Cal in the next tier - perhaps I'm missing one or two) The #s are very disproportionate to what these schools produce. Is it causation or correlation? Much harder to say. These are hyper-talented people. They have technical skills too. I suspect they get some benefit from the sorting mechanism in place, the network, and the confidence that they built. Good CS programs are much more academically rigorous than most MBA programs, so I don't think it's genius granted from the mountaintop. I've strongly advised people to avoid programs outside the top 20 for economic reasons. If someone else is paying for it, and you're interested in learning about business for it's own sake, sure. But the maximum NPVs accumulate only to the grads from the top few schools. In this sense, MBAs are much more similar to law degrees than technical degrees.

rbcgerard 11y ago
i think this info graphic from the FT illustrates your point pretty concisely...https://ig.ft.com/sites/mba-to-ceo/ https://ig.ft.com/sites/mba-to-ceo/
- mathattack 11y ago
  Yes. For once the infographic wins. :-) And it would be useful to point out how tiny a % of the workforce these schools produce.
rpgmaker 11y ago
So you're saying that in the US someone with an MBA from a school located in a country other than the US/UK (where most "top schools" are) would get no benefit from it, regardless of how prestigious said school is?
- Johnie 11y ago
  Much of the value of the MBA is the network. I would even go as far as to say most of the value of the MBA is the network. If the network from your MBA program abroad isn't that strong in the industry that you work in or in your geography, you'll get minimal value out of it. If the network from your MBA program is not in senior (or more senior positions than you are), you'll get minimal value. This is why there is a pareto distribution between the top programs and the other tiers of programs. There are plenty of foreign MBA programs that have robust networks in the US. Take a look at the Global MBA list. http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/global-mba-ranking-2015/pdf http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/global-mba-ranking-2015... Within the top 15 globally: Insead (worldwide), Iese (Spain), Ceibs (China), HKUST (China), HEC (France). Although not in the top 15, IIT has a robust network in the tech industry.
  - mathattack 11y ago
    IIM as well has a robust network. My overall impression is you get much more benefit from people you know from the experience rather than random strangers who you might call out of the blue. (On-line programs struggle with this a lot) I also wouldn't short-sell the opportunity to do a career reset. If you have a CS degree and want to go into Finance or Marketing in a tech company, the MBA can give you that reset. (Or banking or consulting)
- mathattack 11y ago
  It's not quite that black and white. But here's what I will say: 1) A self funded MBA from a 3rd tier school is rarely a positive NPV transaction, especially when you view the opportunity cost. (A lot of hours that could be spent doing something else productive) 2) There is an enormous gap between the outcomes of top schools and everyone else. 3) There are very good schools outside the US and UK (Insead in France and Singapore, Rotterdam in the NL) but in general the further you go from the US, the less value from the MBA. Am I saying that nobody ever should attend a foreign school? Absolutely not. But similar to law school, most MBA programs are very overvalued and overpriced.

rbcgerard 11y ago

i think this info graphic from the FT illustrates your point pretty concisely...https://ig.ft.com/sites/mba-to-ceo/ https://ig.ft.com/sites/mba-to-ceo/

mathattack 11y ago
Yes. For once the infographic wins. :-) And it would be useful to point out how tiny a % of the workforce these schools produce.

rpgmaker 11y ago

So you're saying that in the US someone with an MBA from a school located in a country other than the US/UK (where most "top schools" are) would get no benefit from it, regardless of how prestigious said school is?

Johnie 11y ago
Much of the value of the MBA is the network. I would even go as far as to say most of the value of the MBA is the network. If the network from your MBA program abroad isn't that strong in the industry that you work in or in your geography, you'll get minimal value out of it. If the network from your MBA program is not in senior (or more senior positions than you are), you'll get minimal value. This is why there is a pareto distribution between the top programs and the other tiers of programs. There are plenty of foreign MBA programs that have robust networks in the US. Take a look at the Global MBA list. http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/global-mba-ranking-2015/pdf http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/global-mba-ranking-2015... Within the top 15 globally: Insead (worldwide), Iese (Spain), Ceibs (China), HKUST (China), HEC (France). Although not in the top 15, IIT has a robust network in the tech industry.
- mathattack 11y ago
  IIM as well has a robust network. My overall impression is you get much more benefit from people you know from the experience rather than random strangers who you might call out of the blue. (On-line programs struggle with this a lot) I also wouldn't short-sell the opportunity to do a career reset. If you have a CS degree and want to go into Finance or Marketing in a tech company, the MBA can give you that reset. (Or banking or consulting)
mathattack 11y ago
It's not quite that black and white. But here's what I will say: 1) A self funded MBA from a 3rd tier school is rarely a positive NPV transaction, especially when you view the opportunity cost. (A lot of hours that could be spent doing something else productive) 2) There is an enormous gap between the outcomes of top schools and everyone else. 3) There are very good schools outside the US and UK (Insead in France and Singapore, Rotterdam in the NL) but in general the further you go from the US, the less value from the MBA. Am I saying that nobody ever should attend a foreign school? Absolutely not. But similar to law school, most MBA programs are very overvalued and overpriced.