Is a Wharton MBA worth it for me?
Hi, I have been accepted to Wharton (awaiting HBS currently) for the full time MBA.
Am 28 years old.
Currently earning USD 150k. Guaranteed earnings for the next 5 years:
Year 1 : 160k
Year 2 : 175k
Year 3: 190k
Year 4 : 220k
Year 5: 235k
Year 6: 400k
Year 7+ : 500k
These earning are pretty much set in stone as it is a natural progressive path for my job every calender year.
I am presently keen on an MBA for 'academic interest' and to try something different. The corporate world has always appealed to me and I would like to try and leverage my experience to ultimately work in consulting and head to a large NGO or an organistion like the United Nations.
I am interested in hearing the thoughts of members on whether the opportunity cost (I'm calculating 500k in fees and lost earnings initially) is worth the risk. I would be taking a large loan (75% of the fees).
Thanking you guys in advance for your replies.
P.s. I'm sure some of you are curious as to what I do. I am a medical Doctor on a guaranteed run through to becoming a specialist.
P.P.s. Above salary does not include private practice (which I would embark upon in 10 years-ish)






It is absolutely not
It is absolutely not worthwhile - not even HBS is. You're set up, man. Go live the fucking dream.
Ok, you say it's guaranteed
Ok, you say it's guaranteed through year 5, then it spikes massively in year 6? You and I might have different definitions of what 'set in stone' means.
That being said, given that you would be starting near the bottom of the totem pole in finance at 30-31, it doesn't make financial sense to go to business school no matter where it is, in my opinion.
Turbo leverage for capital explosion -- BD Capital
My WSO Blog
Two Points 1) Do you have med
Two Points
1) Do you have med school loans to already deal with? If yes --> No to Wharton
2) Brady just died a little more inside.
If I won a $200 million
If I won a $200 million lottery jackpot tomorrow, the first thing I'd do with the money would be to try to buy myself a place at HBS.
Jesus Christ, how sad is that.
You asking means you don't
You asking means you don't want to go. Stay in Medicine! Do something useful.
holla_back: If I won a $200
If I won a $200 million lottery jackpot tomorrow, the first thing I'd do with the money would be to try to buy myself a place at HBS.
Jesus Christ, how sad is that.
So sad that I hope it's a joke. Otherwise, you may have just earned the designation as Brady reincarnated.
Turbo leverage for capital explosion -- BD Capital
My WSO Blog
I say go for it. Wharton MBA
I say go for it. Wharton MBA will open up a lot of different doors for you, and doesn't sound like your heart is really into medicine given you're applying for MBA programs. But you can specialize in something like Healthcare Management if you want. It's definitely a huge risk though. Also I don't think anything earnings wise is guaranteed unless you're a tenured professor.
And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
From a financial point of
From a financial point of view, it's a definite loss. You would lose more than a half million, and probably end up no better than you are now. If you are considering it simply because you want to take the NGO/UN etc. route, there are probably better ways to do that. Do some research first about other paths to your end goal - sorry I don't have any experience to offer on that.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/group/big-4-accounting
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/group/entrepreneur
With medical reimbursements
With medical reimbursements going down due to Obama-care, the older generation of doctors posting off retirement, and the increasing trend of hospitals to buy out private practices and employ physicians as hospital employees there is a high probability that your future earnings potential is not as high as you may think.
What kind of "specialty" are we talking about?
If your already doing it big
If your already doing it big in heath why switch?
Finance is not that glorious, your either selling $hit to someone, or buying $hit from someone else.
All you need to do to catch
All you need to do to catch up to us finance ballers is overstate the price of your patient prescriptions, insurance company pays actual price, and you pocket the difference.
"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan
Honestly if you go to the
Honestly if you go to the wharton business school and your drop your current job to go there I will honestly consider you a fool. I read the earnings and within 2 seconds I already new the opportunity cost that you will be forgoing will out weight the cost of a Wharton MBA education...
look at mid career Wharton
look at mid career Wharton and HBS career salaries, after seeing that you will realize that you would be a fool to drop out. B school is a means to an end, if you don't need it don't do it.
Going Concern: I say go for
I say go for it. Wharton MBA will open up a lot of different doors for you, and doesn't sound like your heart is really into medicine given you're applying for MBA programs. But you can specialize in something like Healthcare Management if you want. It's definitely a huge risk though. Also I don't think anything earnings wise is guaranteed unless you're a tenured professor.
Banks are firing tens of thousands of people every month... that is not an exaggeration. Just log on to dealbreaker each day and you will see a new list of mass firings. The industry will be regulated on a more accelerated schedule than medicine. Hedge funds and PE firms are generating increasingly mediocre returns.
Obamacare may look like it will "cut costs" right now but that is an absolute friggin' joke. 10k people in the United States are retiring every day... they are going to need lots of medical care.
If you enjoy medicine at all don't do it.
Gray Fox: Going Concern: I
I say go for it. Wharton MBA will open up a lot of different doors for you, and doesn't sound like your heart is really into medicine given you're applying for MBA programs. But you can specialize in something like Healthcare Management if you want. It's definitely a huge risk though. Also I don't think anything earnings wise is guaranteed unless you're a tenured professor.
Banks are firing tens of thousands of people every month... that is not an exaggeration. Just log on to dealbreaker each day and you will see a new list of mass firings. The industry will be regulated on a more accelerated schedule than medicine. Hedge funds and PE firms are generating increasingly mediocre returns.
Obamacare may look like it will "cut costs" right now but that is an absolute friggin' joke. 10k people in the United States are retiring every day... they are going to need lots of medical care.
If you enjoy medicine at all don't do it.
This. You're call ultimately but you've done a lot/studied a lot/worked at lot to get where you are now and have a very good/stable/respectable and stimulating career ahead of you
what worries me is that if you are THAT open to going to get an MBA...do you really love what you are doing in medicine? and then think would you really starting over again basically in finance? personally i'd stay with the career you have now, but just my two cents. the comment i quoted above is prob the strongest point up here, id listen to Gray Fox.
I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought- GG
Gray Fox: Going Concern: I
I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought- GG
Agreed with everyone else,
Gray Fox: Going Concern: I
And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
Going Concern: Gray
"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan
Going Concern: Gray
If practicing medicine is not
Have you researched this
It really depends on what
Thanks for the insightful
Hey Chimp, just curious
Graduated in the UK (where
I am going to differ a bit
Here's a thought, if the MBA
"My caddie's chauffeur informs me that a bank is a place where people put money that isn't properly invested."
His story checks out to me;
Original poster, sorry i
Medical Monkey: Am currently
Prediction is never easy,
You heal people for a living!
TeddyTheBear: Agreed with
socola2003: Prediction is
Again, thank you all for the
if your goal is MBB, have you
Money Never Sleeps? More like Money Never SUCKS amirite?!?!?!?
if your goal is an NGO, you
perhaps Doctors without
Ling~
OP....you can't be
alpha currency trader wanna-be
I want to thumbs up "Target"
What give up lax work weeks
I would be 100% no doubts not
My wife is an allergist and I
a finance monkey from the mean streets of downtown dc
karypto: What give up lax
Are you a plastic surgeon? I
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