

Bye, Bye B-School, or why even hedge fund managers no longer believe in MBA - maurycy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/business/16mba.html?ex=1347595200&en=b862d0447dec4711&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

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ctkrohn
This article seemed a little strange to me: it seems almost obvious that
getting an MBA is a bad idea for many areas of finance. I interned on a
trading desk at a major investment bank last summer and will be starting a
full time job there in a week. Very few of the younger people there had MBAs,
and hardly anyone was planning to get one. The people who had MBAs seemed to
be people who hadn't started off in trading but came from another career (e.g.
computer programming). The MBA gave them an "in" at the bank, when they
otherwise wouldn't have been considered.

It seemed like MBAs were more common in traditional investment banking and
corporate finance. The people I knew in IB seemed to think of an MBA as a
symbolic, but useful credential. That opinion may be changing though.

Finally, the article was spot on about people who are getting MBAs two years
in. If you did well in your first two years at a bank, you're looking at
200k-300k in total compensation. Why would you give that up to get a degree
that won't significantly increase your future earnings potential?

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rwebb
business school is good for: 1) building a network 2) changing careers 3)
getting a brand on your resume.

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karzeem
Yeah, and it's a little surprising that the Harvard Business professor in the
article basically acknowledged that.

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rwebb
indeed. and there will be a massive influx of banker, private equity, and
hedge fund b-school applications this year. i'm guessing the majority of that
article was penned +2 months ago.

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Alex3917
I was considering posting something making fun of MBAs, but then I realized
that would have made me feel guilty. Which almost says something in itself.

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comatose_kid
According to Jim Cramer (Mad Money guy), he has little interest in degrees - a
track record or successful investing is the main thing. This viewpoint works
well for software too.

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rwebb
cramer wants more people churning the stocks he talks about.

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comatose_kid
With a net worth estimated between 50-100M, Cramer has little to gain from
this. I'd really like to hear more evidence behind your opinion.

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cellis
..."Some, of course, plan to stay in finance their entire careers, and they,
too, are very focused on earning fat bonuses fast."

duh.

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cstejerean
I'm not sure on the policy, but linking to articles that require registration
seems like a bad idea.

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myoung8
NYT is free now.

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cstejerean
Indeed it is, but it still requires registration AFAIK

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rob
I'm not doubting you, but how come I can see the full article? I have no
subscription or account at all, yet the full thing shows up for me.

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pg
Because I fixed the url using this: <http://nytimes.blogspace.com>

