For many wide-eyed MBA applicants, the process and experience is filled with anticipation of living in first world countries, changing careers, big salaries, prestige and a life-changing experience. Sure, all of these are attainable in some way or the other, with or without an MBA. The feeling is that life is a bunch of power parties, dapper dressing and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for an MBA student.
However, few people speak the little known facts about an MBA life on record.
This includes the challenges finding internships in the current job market, the differential treatment of international students who are completely shut out by certain companies and industries, the back breaking debt taken on to buy a “status” and a “network”, the sacrifices that an MBA student has to make between a career s/he wants and has to settle for, the feeling when a similar or lesser candidate gets ahead through “inside” connections and affiliations.
Students are willing to put up ~$150k for a degree and an additional several tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages and living expenses to attain all or some of the above.
My only advice will be: research carefully and decide objectively based on information. Put your career and career goals first and use institutions to reach your goals.
Time and tide wait for no man. Once you end up choosing to sacrifice years from your life waiting in the wings for your dream career to start, no one can return that time to you.
The choice of a right education for you and you alone rests with you.
Use your Power of Choice wisely.
I would like to offer a somewhat different perspective on “no one can return that time to you”. That applies also to those who, like myself, decided to pursue their dreams without the solid backing of an MBA education and MBA network. After 5 or 6 years of trying and trying to build a business, I decided that getting an MBA was my best option. I wish I had decided to pursue it sooner.
The cost of an MBA might be steep, but scholarships and loans make it bearable or completely affordable. For me, it’s about the kind of life and opportunities that an MBA opens. Being stuck in a job is no way to spend a life. Beware of MBA graduates who dismiss their education after they’ve internalized and used it successfully. Where where they before, what did they do, how effective where they?
Tom,
I agree with you on the career advancement points and I respect the reasons you have shared.
With it, I must point out that the intended audience for this post is mainly Indian students who perceive an MBA from a top 15 US school as a golden ticket to a higher paying job. Important considerations like self-fulfillment and skill application come secondary to the dollar dreams fueled by an inaccurate perception of the US job market and associated challenges.
There is a whole lot of group think on the point that only top 10-15 schools can lead to a good career and there is a distinct lack of understanding of the realities on the ground. Most applicants do not anticipate the gravity of visa challenges for an international student when applying to, selecting schools and figuring out the costs associated.
My post is meant to evoke thought amongst applicants and is meant to emphasize that it is important to do a cost-benefit analysis of buying a prestigious degree and ending up in a lot of debt (which many international students end up doing) versus getting the necessary skills at the right price and then applying it to a chosen career path.
To answer to your point for loans, even today, many schools outside the top few (including Babson) do not have adequate loan programs for international students. Given stringent borrowing terms back home, your choice of institution and quality are severely curtailed, if you cannot raise money from other sources.
Pingback: Fridays From the Frontline « Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog
Pingback: Stacy Blackman’s B-School Buzz | Stacy Blackman Consulting - MBA Admissions