

Is an mba worth it? - pullo

I am curious what the hacker news network thought about mba's..
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bradleyjoyce
I think that depends on what your goal is and what you expect the MBA to give
you. Generally, I would say no, an MBA is not worth the time/cost if you think
it's (1) going to get you a job (2) prepare you to start/operate/sell a real
life business (3) get you girls... in some cases you might develop connections
that at some point in the future make the mba worthwhile, or perhaps you get a
nice base of book knowledge that supplements real-world business experience
that you feel worth the time/cost.

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kingsidharth
No relation whatsoever

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pitdesi
The answer is different for every individual who considers going to get an
MBA. Your career amibitions, financial circumstances, current job
satisfaction, and a thousand other factors will all influence the decision to
take two years off for business school, and without the benefit of
counterfactual evidence, it's impossible to know where the other path would
have led one way or the other. Smart and successful businesspeople have a mix
of backgrounds - some went back for an MBA while others did not, but all of
them are comfortable with the tradeoffs they've made and the paths they've
chosen. Suffice to say, there is no cookie-cutter answer to this question, and
while soliciting input from those with or without an MBA is helpful, the truth
is the best answer can only be the one each individual comes to themselves.

One thing that it does do is make you more risk-averse. That comes with the
burden of a $150k expense, unfortunately. However, there are ways around this.
I spent a year working for a top-tier consulting firm and have paid off my
loans. Now I'm looking to start something or join something on the ground
floor, and I have the network and skillset that I got from my MBA. Plus I had
a lot of fun! It's a great time, and if you've been working your a$$ off for a
few years that's not a terrible reason to do it.

The most valuable things I learned from an MBA aren't LBO models, FIFO
accounting, porters forces, etc... Now I'm paraphrasing from something I saw
on a friends facebook wall, but the biggest things I learned are:

1) Smart people fundamentally disagree about how the world works 2) Build your
career around your strengths 3) Be confident, but humble

So in the end, it's a question only you can answer for yourself, but I would
say that there are benefits. What do you want to do after bschool?

