Why Go To Business School?
Hey all, my school has a deferred admission application for its business school, and thinking about applying to it has me wondering: why do people do 2 years in IB + 2 years in PE just to go back to B-school? If you're making $300k give or take, is it really worth it? It doesn't seem as if you learn anything groundbreaking by taking 2 more years of classes. Plus, instead of making about $600k in those 2 years, you're spending about $200k, so it just seems wild to me that anyone would actually do this. Can anyone key me in as to why? And maybe some alternative options that are out there? Thanks
Depending on the business school, you will have a diverse network of people from different countries with different careers. These people will also become leaders in their respective fields and you will be more valuable if you leverage these relationships accordingly. My MD always mentions reaching our to a B-school buddy at XYZ firm. You pay for friends and access. IMO, there are only 3 schools worth paying 200k for.
From talking to graduates of B school and working for a couple of B school graduates the overarching similarity between their answers is the network. You're surrounded by a group of people from different backgrounds connecting with each other in one common location that allows someone to develop a network that spans different cities and even countries within different industries. You could do someone a solid by letting them know how to crush their IB interview and in return they can do you a solid by getting your name in the front of the line for a cushy corp dev job. The long term benefits of getting a top tier MBA seem worth it for the initial up front cost.
The big thing you're overlooking is that most people can't stay in PE past their 2 years. Most PE firms, especially big ones are 2 and out, so it's not like most people have the option to stay.
Usually at the end of two years of PE:
A small group can stay on as Senior Associates
Some try and lateral to other firms in post-MBA roles
Other go into industry, Corp Dev, etc
Lastly, people go to business school, and there's a lot of reasons people go to B-school. With regards to PE related reasons, it essentially gives Associates who otherwise wouldn't have a PE job, a chance to re-recruit for jobs while networking, vacationing, and tacking on a degree that can have some cache in the industry.
everyone has their own reasons - to oversimplify mine, i did it because i saw it as a riskless way to try a career path outside of finance plus broaden my network. if i found something i enjoyed more, the ~$200k spent during MBA would be worth it. although expensive, if you save during banking/PE you should be fine. if i ended up back in finance, the foregone compensation was well worth it for me.
banking/pe seems really attractive when you're not in the industry, but as you find out about yourself more and what you value and are good at, it isn't necessarily a great fit for everyone. i'm very happy to be using business school to be getting out of finance and have made a fantastic group of friends from diverse backgrounds going into diverse industries.
Would you mind sharing what career paths you are considering and if you already made some realizations about yourself and your future?
Sure, when I entered school I was looking primarily at medtech/med device and tech PM roles. I had done a deal in the medtech space during PE and really enjoyed it and ended up going down the healthcare rabbit hole during my first year while loosely recruiting for tech PM roles. As much as people like to push the narrative that pre-MBA PE will allow you to transition to any role post-MBA, this simply isn't true, especially in the case of tech PM roles. I wasn't very competitive for those roles (consultants with technology and product experience, those with tech industry experience, and ex-engineer folks were much better positioned), After doing a deep dive on healthcare verticals (payor/providor, pharma, med device, etc.), I liked a lot of the industry dynamics and landed a product internship in med device for the first summer. I worked on product development for a very technical product which I really did not enjoy - I had no ownership over the actual work being done, didn't enjoy the regulations of healthcare, it was a cutting edge product so marketing was not very influential in sales, and so learned that I didn't want to be on a highly technical product as I didn't really add much value (didn't major in BME or anything useful for the field). I also realized, given my personality, I wasn't going to "chill" anywhere I went - to do well I would put in a decent amount of hours even if I was working in a 9-5 industry.
Given that experience, I focused on recruiting for marketing roles within tech for full time. I wanted to be able to drive analytics and build out an adjacent skillset, while being in an industry with great growth prospects. I landed a role at a large e-Comm company (not Amazon lol) in a marketing capacity that I'm hoping will give me further insight into the types of problems I enjoy solving while pushing me down the GM path. I don't have it all figured out by any means, but I am excited to try something new and the company I'm joining is well known for internal transfers which was a huge plus if I decide marketing isn't a great fit. TBD how this journey turns out but I'm excited to start.
Within the career search I had come to a few realizations about myself during my last PE gig that I made sure to integrate into my search. I realized I valued relationships and a collegial environment despite being a fairly reserved person (I actually enjoyed banking more than PE for that reason...), I love ownership and becoming an "expert" in things (really disliked being a generalist which I was for all my pre-mba gigs), I am not driven at all beyond a certain point by money (took a $30k paycut when lateraling between PE gigs and had no impact on my happiness), and a few other things. I am still figuring the career thing out, and from the many alumni talks I've attended at my school, seems like people spend a significant amount of time post-MBA doing that as well, I'm just glad to be taking a step in the "right direction" for myself.
What reason did you give during your interviews and essays? I'm guessing you wouldn't tell HSW what you're trynna pursue an MBA to broaden your network right?
I was honest in my application which was easily my biggest mistake applying - I told business schools I wanted to be a product manager in the video game industry and spoke about joining something like Activision's MBA rotational program post-MBA. After being on my school adcom, I realized one major bucket for these schools is achievability of your career goals. If I could do it over, I would've lied on my apps and chosen a career goal much closer, yet one that could still be used to justify an MBA, to my pre-mba career.
It's also a giant reset button for people. Like the others said unless you're going to a top school an MBA is pretty worthless.
As someone who actually ranked up to an Associate at a BB, I actively chose NOT to got to B-school. Couple of factors why:
Yes, money is the biggest one, but I felt that I wanted more work experience (minimum 6-8 years) to know what I wanted in life and get the most out of B-school. After talking to many experienced graduates vs those that went straight out of undergrad/2-years out, they were highly convincing and thorough about going to b-school only when you know what classes you want to take. Imagine going to any school (engineering/medical/etc) and just going to network. You get less out of the classes and even networking when you don't have a clue what skills you want to develop.
Soggybottoms is right - you are paying for the ability to network with people outside of your own immediate circle. If you have an in to a C-level executive with an HBS/Stanford/Wharton/Booth your ability to connect with them is exponentially higher than one that is just a regular relationship.
Amidst what's going on, being in a "virtual" class and not forming immediate relationships is a huge con right now for going to bschool.
To brag
Couple things:
1) You can look for a senior associate role. Sometimes, this is just a title change and a little bit more money than an associate role. Not always intended to be career track and I'm guessing difficult to tell. 2) Sometimes you just need a productive break after 4 years to decide whether you want a post-MBA role in PE or to do something else with your 25+ remaining working years
if the MBA parties are as great as they say then i am definitely going to bsch
I wouldn't assume you can continue making 300k per year in PE after your two years. Like others have said most places will make you bounce after two years. Getting the MBA will give you an opportunity to re-recruit for the industry as well as all the other benefits people have discussed (network, pivot to a new industry, maybe learn something).
Obviously if the PE firm doesn't kick you out and you have a path to principal/partner without the degree I don't think it would make sense to go but that situation doesn't apply to that many people.
Have to disagree with others "HSW or bust" comments. MBAs can add value all the way down the rankings for the right person. 60k back office job -> 130k all in FP&A job is worth it for a lot of people. Not everyone does 2+2 -> HSW -> PE round 2.
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