Congratulations - once you are accepted the rest is easy - after the decision that is.
It's time for some deep thinking - each case is very personal and you need to decide what's important to you and determine what you will get from going to a great school.
For me I saw Positives:
- Learning: although in theory I could learn as much from books or by just doing it, I was going to be in a learning environment where I would have great teachers and peers - and the focus was learning. I learned a huge amount, and I recommend over-loading, getting beyond the business school and picking your subjects by professor as well as by what you want to learn.
- Rubber stamping: My background before MBA school was hard to describe to people, but having an MBA from X made it easy to describe what I was and what I could do.
- Opportunity: It certainly opens doors that sometimes I didn't even know existed, in my case PE and McKinsey, and in other peoples' cases start-ups and so on. The net present value of your future income certainly rises, but you'll also take more control of your future.
- USA: If you are from offshore then you get the right to work in the USA after you finish. It's not that simple but the USA is where a vast amount of business gets done and so you get to deal with big numbers.
- Change: It's a definitive move (and market signal) that you want to change what you do, either to switch careers or to upgrade the path that you are on.
- People: You get to meet and hang out with a group of highly vetted amazing people for two years, and longer.
- Fun. This was the deciding factor for me. It was a legitimate two years away from work and doing stuff that was enjoyable.
and Negatives:
Cash flow: You simultaneously stop working and start spending a large amount of money, and that's going to set you back for a few years. But I focussed on net present value and it all worked out alright. For some the payoff may be negative, but with an MBA you should forever be able to find decent paying work.
Options: Going to school means you can't do something else in that time. While most things can be put off for a couple of years, if your mate Bill has invited you to join him at his start-up called Micro-soft* then maybe you should do that instead.
USA: If you are not from the USA then the food, politics, police and poverty may be difficult to live with. It all depends on where you are coming from, and which school you are going too. Some schools are in or near upsettingly poor and violent areas. Meanwhile that right to work post degree isn't necessarily a right to stay and do a start-up - so watch out.
Overall if you can get into a top school it's generally a sign that you don't really need to go. If you do go, I generally recommend you should, then embrace it by experimenting with subjects and activities, treating it as a collaborative rather than competitive situation and making sure you are having fun.
(*Steve Ballmer didn't do the second year of his Stanford MBA for this reason)
Mine was 4 nights per week for 2.5 years. Not all programs are during the day and force you to give up working. However, working and going to school left me time for nothing else. I had to reintroduce myself to my old friends after graduation.
Comments
Congratulations - once you are accepted the rest is easy - after the decision that is.
It's time for some deep thinking - each case is very personal and you need to decide what's important to you and determine what you will get from going to a great school.
For me I saw Positives: - Learning: although in theory I could learn as much from books or by just doing it, I was going to be in a learning environment where I would have great teachers and peers - and the focus was learning. I learned a huge amount, and I recommend over-loading, getting beyond the business school and picking your subjects by professor as well as by what you want to learn. - Rubber stamping: My background before MBA school was hard to describe to people, but having an MBA from X made it easy to describe what I was and what I could do. - Opportunity: It certainly opens doors that sometimes I didn't even know existed, in my case PE and McKinsey, and in other peoples' cases start-ups and so on. The net present value of your future income certainly rises, but you'll also take more control of your future. - USA: If you are from offshore then you get the right to work in the USA after you finish. It's not that simple but the USA is where a vast amount of business gets done and so you get to deal with big numbers. - Change: It's a definitive move (and market signal) that you want to change what you do, either to switch careers or to upgrade the path that you are on. - People: You get to meet and hang out with a group of highly vetted amazing people for two years, and longer. - Fun. This was the deciding factor for me. It was a legitimate two years away from work and doing stuff that was enjoyable.
and Negatives:
Cash flow: You simultaneously stop working and start spending a large amount of money, and that's going to set you back for a few years. But I focussed on net present value and it all worked out alright. For some the payoff may be negative, but with an MBA you should forever be able to find decent paying work. Options: Going to school means you can't do something else in that time. While most things can be put off for a couple of years, if your mate Bill has invited you to join him at his start-up called Micro-soft* then maybe you should do that instead. USA: If you are not from the USA then the food, politics, police and poverty may be difficult to live with. It all depends on where you are coming from, and which school you are going too. Some schools are in or near upsettingly poor and violent areas. Meanwhile that right to work post degree isn't necessarily a right to stay and do a start-up - so watch out.
Overall if you can get into a top school it's generally a sign that you don't really need to go. If you do go, I generally recommend you should, then embrace it by experimenting with subjects and activities, treating it as a collaborative rather than competitive situation and making sure you are having fun.
(*Steve Ballmer didn't do the second year of his Stanford MBA for this reason)
Mine was 4 nights per week for 2.5 years. Not all programs are during the day and force you to give up working. However, working and going to school left me time for nothing else. I had to reintroduce myself to my old friends after graduation.