Are $10k Ivy League Certification Courses Worth It?

I recently moved to New York and work at analyst level in BB. I did not go to a target school but have a decent education and work experience in finance. I am not willing to spend thousands on a MBA. I was wondering if there are alternatives courses to bridge knowledge gaps. Some good name like Stanford, LSE etc are offering executive courses for $10k. Does anyone know if they are worth it?

 
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It is only worth it if you post your certificate on LinkedIn, alongside all of the other exploratory programs you have pursued and make sure to tag and thank all of the people who have brought you to that moment.

 

You misunderstand the value of a top MBA. It isn’t just in what you learn, but who you’re surrounded by when you’re learning(among many other things.) 

But If you want to bridge some knowledge gaps, you can watch all the Sloan MBA courses online for free on MIT’s website.

I’m not sure those executive courses are anything other than cash grabs. 

 

TLDR; no

What knowledge gaps do you think you're missing? MBA is much more about networking with quality classmates than actually learning - go look at the curriculum, they're your basic finance and strategy classes. Those certificates won't teach you much and people will 100% laugh at you if you try to leverage the name. Think about the compliance or sensitivity training you get at work, that's basically the level of "learning". You could get the same or more value from quality books, Tedtalks/similar videos, etc.

Also, if you're in BB IB you don't need a target school brand. The chip on your shoulder from attending a nontarget can be helpful, but don't let it convince you you're not good enough

 

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