What is more intense? MBA or IB analyst years?
I'd define intense as number of hours worked, rigour of concepts to be learnt / effort in general. Thanks!
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By that logic infancy is the most intense. You're going from a a walking hump of flesh and shit to a being capable to basic motor skills and social interaction. Largest cognitive change in your life by far.
Hahaha! Fair point! :) Reason for the question was more to compare about what to expect going in for either of those options (MBA, IB)
To give you a serious answer, it depends. If you do an MBA as a business major just because you need it to change career and for the network, then IB may be more "intense" although you pretty much learn 80% of what you need in an IB career in the first 12 months. The 20% comes through years of experience. If instead you do an MBA for the old school reasons people used to do them, then the learning curve may be much greater. Take someone who is an Engineer at an F500 company such as Airbus, Boeing etc. If Senior Management wants them to lead a team or become part of Middle Management and pays for them to do an MBA, they will spend 18-24 months learning skills that are completely different from their job (finance, business, HR, organisational structures). In this case I think the intellectual challenge can be real and very intense.
Thank you!
MBA is usually referred to as a break or vacation from work
MBA and rigour being used in one sentence wow
IB analyst for sure. Doing my MBA right now and I get to sleep in on Fridays. Second term and second year even more chill. Only first term was somewhat intense.
The most difficult part of an MBA is tied to balancing recruitment efforts, interaction with peers in both academic and social environments, and personal commitments. IB analyst years, especially with balancing the demands of the job and buy-side recruiting, can be much worse.
With that said, do not overlook the stress involved with searching for the "perfect" professional opportunity at business school once you've decided to saddle on $200,000+ in student loans. Complete mental break downs during recruiting season, especially for consulting, do happen for some students. It's certainly a different kind of "intensity."
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