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At some point in your mid-20s, it’s possible that you’ll be met with this conundrum: find a new job or go to business school. As with every difficult decision, there are definite pros and cons to each, so today we’re going to take a look at business school as an option. Ultimately, business school should be an investment in your future, but there’s no harm in having a bit of fun with it either.
Pro: Career Advancement
The fact is, whether you get a Masters in Finance or the more traditional Masters of Business Administration, if you go to a good school, it is going to help your career. Business school can be a way to rebrand yourself, prove yourself, expand on your knowledge, or most importantly, grow your network. The merits of graduate degrees in business can be argued ad nauseum, but the access the networks grant you cannot. There is nothing better than being able to apply to a position through on-campus interviews that is inaccessible otherwise, or call up high powered alumni for help. An MBA or the phrase “I work in finance” may not have the panty-dropping power it once did pre-recession, but it’s a step in the right direction, regardless.
Con: Extra Debt & Lost Income
Still, that advancement comes at a cost. Unless you willingly decide to ruin your life for a couple years and go part-time, you are giving up a year or two of wages while paying a year or two of tuition along with living expenses. While post-graduate degree salaries are almost always an increase, the debt load coupled with lost income can swing you a couple hundred thousand dollars in the wrong direction at first. If you don’t have anything saved up or your company isn’t helping you pay, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Have fun paying a grand in student loans every month instead of the lease on your new Porsche.
Pro: Getting Excited To Leave
Once you get in, the excitement sets in. You’re probably moving to a new city, stepping into a new chapter of your life, quitting your job, and really making some serious moves for your future. You may not be able to quit your job right away, but dreaming about it is inching closer to reality and there is a definite end point in sight.
Con: Getting Everything Together
Of course, getting in means that you have to take the GMAT, gather letters of recommendation from old professors and current bosses, write essays that are somehow convincing but not the same bullshit that everyone else writes, and do all of this during your nights and weekends. You don’t want to ask the bosses who actually could give you a good letter because that would be letting them know your plan, professors may or may not remember your actual work and just base it off your transcript, and studying or writing at night after a long day is the last thing anyone wants.
Pro: Back In School
That being said, business school has been called the best two-year vacation from the workforce available. Goodbye 12-hour days. Goodbye waking up at 6am. Goodbye doing anything on Fridays if you don’t want to. Your awful workdays are replaced by short, in comparison, classes and group projects. Sure there is studying and work to be done, but networking events take the place of dreadful staff meetings and studying in your pajamas is much better than toiling away in Excel in a full suit, even though you’re not seeing a client anyhow. In a way, you can almost relive college, going to parties when you want, sleeping in when you want, working out when you want, all while trying to recapture the glory days.
Con: Back In School
At the same time, you are back in class, and that means homework and studying. In the case of business school, most of this homework is reading and group projects, and neither of those activities are any better than you remember them. Also, while you can certainly hit the parties and tailgates and bars, they don’t quite have the same gleam they once did. It’s not your parents’ money you’re spending anymore, hitting on freshman has gotten to a point where it’s kind of weird, and hell, you could be in a committed relationship, if not already married.
If you choose to go the business school route instead of trying to get a better job to replace your current travesty, there’s a lot out there for you. Unfortunately, along with career advancement, higher earning potential, and increased knowledge and networking, there is also soul-crushing debt, a return to the tedious monotony of higher education, and of course, the realization that you aren’t getting any younger.
Respond
@RogerSterlingUS
Starting my 3-year law school “vacation” next fall. Hard to believe I’m actually going to miss my modest paycheck.
It also depends on your desired career path. Business school prepares you for a management job in a big stable corporation or consulting firm. If you want to start a business an MBA is counterproductive.
This is hit home real fast. Studying the GMAT currently, but looking to go to grad school while still working. I think I’m going to get myself in some big trouble trying to balance each.
I couldn’t do it, man. I struggle to write or study after work – I couldn’t imagine taking a class for three hours. My dad did his MBA part-time before/as I was being born. No idea how.
I did it…worked 8-6 and took a class from 6-9 a couple of times a week for 3 weeks then studied on my own for 2 months. It was hell, but I still managed to go out on the weekends. I hated my life until I saw my 730 pop up at the end of the exam, then everything was great. Now I just need to apply….
730 is terrific. Good shit
Nice work man. Did you use mba.com or did you go through another source? Congrats on the 730!
Thanks, I did a Kaplan course- it was $1700 which was the downside, but it gives you access to an online program that has unlimited practices and video lessons which helped out a lot.
DON’T FUCKING DO IT (unless you get into Harvard, Stanford, Wharton or equivalent). /end thread.
Absolutely agree. I hire people for a living and unless you go to a top 10 school, an MBA doesn’t add anything that two extra years of experience wouldn’t do for your career.
2 extra years for an MBA may not add anything to your work credentials…but will ignite an internal flame within your employee that is unmistaken. This site is Post Grad Problems. Loosely Translated = why the fuck did I graduate college? Those extra 2 years in a college setting are invaluable. Potentially molding a happier employee.
Nah. I agree with your overall point, but there are other top schools and regional players that still deliver a return
University of Michigan for me.
Mays, McCombs, and Cox are all in the top 50 as well.
I assure you, “I work in Finance” still drops the panties pretty quickly… No, no it actually doesn’t; but you could imagine what it would be like if it did.
There was a time, my friend. There was a time.
Definitely in the midst of the decision now. I like my job, too. Which makes it more difficult.
I mean – yeah – you get 100k more in the hole, but 2 years without payments is basically living like royalty!
…right?
Currently in a recently accredited MBA program. I’ll be done this December, as it only took one year to complete. There was not much difference between the undergrad business classes and these MBA classes I took. I feel like I shouldn’t be considered a master of business administration after I leave, and with another $40,000 in the hole.
I am currently in “fuck that, I’ll stick with making money and having my evenings free” mode and I’m not sure when I’m going to come out of it. Eventually I’ll make myself do it, but man, I just don’t know.
Which offers a better ROI: a Masters in Finance at top 20 or MBA at that same top 20 school? Doubt I’d get in to top tier, so does MsF offer more than MBA, all else equal?
Completely different degrees. MSF is a one-year degree that costs about $40,000 and is intended for people right out of college or with a year or two of experience. There are about 5 or so schools worth going to, not 20, and depending on your specific status there are similar programs at Virginia or Duke that aren’t MSFs but compete for students. MSFs are meant for people looking to break into finance who didn’t have a finance background as an undergraduate student.
MBAs are MBAs, and usually require more work experience, care more about admissions statistics, and should propel you into a management role. They definitely help your career more long-term as opposed to the beginning, but also cost something like $150,000 and you lose two years of income, not one.
wait do people usually quit their jobs to go back to school…? how do you pay for anything.
I honestly wouldn’t even consider going to business school part-time.
not working full time isn’t an option for me, guess i just have to suck it up.
You sell everything, leech off your wife, or go into massive private debt.