5 ms·

> It's a pedigree that allegedly excludes the dumb rich kids Yeah, it's exclusively for the smarter rich kids.

airstrike 7y ago
I don't know. As the son of a High School teacher and an unemployed father from a third world country, I'm probably not what you call "smarter rich kid" yet I went to a top 5 MBA. Many of my classmates came from equally diverse backgrounds and nationalities. I think 30%+ of my class were foreigners. But go on, it's easy to hate on MBAs. It's the one bigoted view everyone is seemingly allowed to have.
- iamasoftwaredev 7y ago
  > I think 30%+ of my class were foreigners. Because foreign born people can't be rich? What income percentiles are Harvard MBA students coming from?
  - airstrike 7y ago
    Many of us weren't. You claimed MBAs are exclusively for rich kids. I provided data to refute that baseless claim. The point on how many foreigners there were is just a freebie. I don't know about Harvard MBA students, I didn't go there. But you can go ahead and google each school's class profile. Maybe that info is out there.
    - eastWestMath 7y ago
      The plural of anecdote is not data.
      - airstrike 7y ago
        That phrase stopped being witty ages ago. These days it's mostly a low effort comment. I don't need a plurality of data to counter his claim that MBA's are "exclusively" for rich smart kids.
    - ohbleek 7y ago
      That was not data, that was a guess about your class.
      - airstrike 7y ago
        It wasn't a guess. It is real world data based on the class profile that, as I mentioned, is publicly available. I just don't want to dox myself.
        ohbleek 7y ago
        your wording indicates it is a guess, giving a specific percentage wouldn't have doxed you
  - walshemj 7y ago
    Having a second degree is a big bonus when it comes to visas - you now see people doing a BSA/BA then immediately a MBA for this reason. Originally MBA's where for 30 year olds on a fast track at big companies.
- headmelted 7y ago
  It is easy to hate on "prestige" MBAs, but I think it has more to do with there being little to no empirical evidence that it prepares students for business success in the real world. Also, a lot of people have endured "elite" MBA's entering the workplace into positions of seniority with no prior experience and exactly the results you might expect under the circumstances.
  - airstrike 7y ago
    > little to no empirical evidence that it prepares students for business success in the real world. I haven't seen much evidence to the contrary, either. All I see is anecdotes from both sides, so I'll give MBAs the benefit of the doubt. Speaking for myself, I am an entirely different person after completing my MBA. I've become an analytical thinker to a fault and maintain my soft skills. Learned a metric shit ton of corporate finance, business strategy and decent macroeconomics. > Also, a lot of people have endured "elite" MBA's entering the workplace into positions of seniority with no prior experience and exactly the results you might expect under the circumstances. Shitty people exist everywhere. You don't have the counterfactual to know if those bosses would be even worse without an MBA. Seems to me like that's more of an issue with HR hiring processes than with the intrinsic values of a rigorous MBA program.
    - iamasoftwaredev 7y ago
      > so I'll give MBAs the benefit of the doubt Why, that seems like a rather silly thing to give the benefit of the doubt on. Hiring someone into a high responsibility role based on education rather than experience and proven ability. I don't see why you would do that... > I am an entirely different person after completing my MBA ah.
      - airstrike 7y ago
        Dude. Honestly feels like you're being purposefully hard to engage with for the sake of pushing your agenda. It's tiring, really. > Why, that seems like a rather silly thing to give the benefit of the doubt on. Hiring someone into a high responsibility role based on education rather than experience and proven ability. I don't see why you would do that... Who said they are hired on education _rather than_ experience and proven ability? It's not like MBAs are 18-year-olds with no experience. As I've said elsewhere, you need to have at least 3-5 years of _great_ work experience to land a spot at top MBAs. I was promoted every year for 3 years in a row in one of my homecountry's top 5 largest firms and was about to be promoted to manager when I went to my MBA. The same is true of a lot of MBA graduates. And those who were not managers in the traditional sense displayed their leadership abilities elsewhere, such as the many veterans that join MBA programs. > ah. Great ad hominem. Go read up on HN's guidelines, please: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

I don't know. As the son of a High School teacher and an unemployed father from a third world country, I'm probably not what you call "smarter rich kid" yet I went to a top 5 MBA. Many of my classmates came from equally diverse backgrounds and nationalities. I think 30%+ of my class were foreigners. But go on, it's easy to hate on MBAs. It's the one bigoted view everyone is seemingly allowed to have.

iamasoftwaredev 7y ago
> I think 30%+ of my class were foreigners. Because foreign born people can't be rich? What income percentiles are Harvard MBA students coming from?
- airstrike 7y ago
  Many of us weren't. You claimed MBAs are exclusively for rich kids. I provided data to refute that baseless claim. The point on how many foreigners there were is just a freebie. I don't know about Harvard MBA students, I didn't go there. But you can go ahead and google each school's class profile. Maybe that info is out there.
  - eastWestMath 7y ago
    The plural of anecdote is not data.
    - airstrike 7y ago
      That phrase stopped being witty ages ago. These days it's mostly a low effort comment. I don't need a plurality of data to counter his claim that MBA's are "exclusively" for rich smart kids.
  - ohbleek 7y ago
    That was not data, that was a guess about your class.
    - airstrike 7y ago
      It wasn't a guess. It is real world data based on the class profile that, as I mentioned, is publicly available. I just don't want to dox myself.
      - ohbleek 7y ago
        your wording indicates it is a guess, giving a specific percentage wouldn't have doxed you
- walshemj 7y ago
  Having a second degree is a big bonus when it comes to visas - you now see people doing a BSA/BA then immediately a MBA for this reason. Originally MBA's where for 30 year olds on a fast track at big companies.
headmelted 7y ago
It is easy to hate on "prestige" MBAs, but I think it has more to do with there being little to no empirical evidence that it prepares students for business success in the real world. Also, a lot of people have endured "elite" MBA's entering the workplace into positions of seniority with no prior experience and exactly the results you might expect under the circumstances.
- airstrike 7y ago
  > little to no empirical evidence that it prepares students for business success in the real world. I haven't seen much evidence to the contrary, either. All I see is anecdotes from both sides, so I'll give MBAs the benefit of the doubt. Speaking for myself, I am an entirely different person after completing my MBA. I've become an analytical thinker to a fault and maintain my soft skills. Learned a metric shit ton of corporate finance, business strategy and decent macroeconomics. > Also, a lot of people have endured "elite" MBA's entering the workplace into positions of seniority with no prior experience and exactly the results you might expect under the circumstances. Shitty people exist everywhere. You don't have the counterfactual to know if those bosses would be even worse without an MBA. Seems to me like that's more of an issue with HR hiring processes than with the intrinsic values of a rigorous MBA program.
  - iamasoftwaredev 7y ago
    > so I'll give MBAs the benefit of the doubt Why, that seems like a rather silly thing to give the benefit of the doubt on. Hiring someone into a high responsibility role based on education rather than experience and proven ability. I don't see why you would do that... > I am an entirely different person after completing my MBA ah.
    - airstrike 7y ago
      Dude. Honestly feels like you're being purposefully hard to engage with for the sake of pushing your agenda. It's tiring, really. > Why, that seems like a rather silly thing to give the benefit of the doubt on. Hiring someone into a high responsibility role based on education rather than experience and proven ability. I don't see why you would do that... Who said they are hired on education _rather than_ experience and proven ability? It's not like MBAs are 18-year-olds with no experience. As I've said elsewhere, you need to have at least 3-5 years of _great_ work experience to land a spot at top MBAs. I was promoted every year for 3 years in a row in one of my homecountry's top 5 largest firms and was about to be promoted to manager when I went to my MBA. The same is true of a lot of MBA graduates. And those who were not managers in the traditional sense displayed their leadership abilities elsewhere, such as the many veterans that join MBA programs. > ah. Great ad hominem. Go read up on HN's guidelines, please: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]