I currently work for a BB in Risk (middle office) type role. I make 122k plus 15% bonus. Is it worth it for me to go back to school for an executive MBA? I want to move into front office and I've been trying for quite some time with not much luck. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
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How many years WE? Why not full time?
I'm pushing 6 years of work experience. FT would be diffuclt as I can't afford to stop working.
if you want to switch to front office, it only makes sense to get an MBA if it's FT at a target
what if I attend EMBA at Columbia...wouldn't that significantly help my chances?
unless you network into it, FTMBA is best alternative. BTW is it that important to go to FO? because MBA grads don't really earn too much more than your current numbers now right after graduation
Dickfuld, please elaborate on why you disagree.
wrong tag
My friends who have done EMBA's (all top schools) have mixed feelings. You lose a lot vs full time in terms of the networking benefits and classroom experience. A few thoughts:
To be honest, you're probably too young for EMBA; part time vs full time is the better question for you at this point. Early/mid 30's is the EMBA sweet spot. Average WE at Columbia is 12 years for executive programs. I doubt they have many if any folks under 30, that distribution is going to be skewed to the right.
If you want to move to front office, full time MBA is a no brainer. Everyone (well ~95% of people) who wants to move to front office from Columbia full time (or any MBA business schools ">M7 program) will be successful. The number is much lower for part time programs. Executive programs are almost always used to advance in your own role/company/industry (people who are stuck in a spot where they find their company requires the MBA to advance); it doesn't usually help people who want to move to client facing roles. The ROI is still there for you at your salary range, in addition to all the other benefits.
You can afford to stop working. First year all in comp for front office IB out of an MBA is $200-250k with huge leaps year over year. You'll make another $40-70k in signing plus your summer pay (I think around $30k), some firms also pay a summer signing bonus. So you'll be out maybe 9-12 months of pay and will almost double what you make now. The figures are all out there, feel free to dig around. Loans are plentiful, you can borrow $100k a year, more than enough to pay tuition, live and go on a few trips plus you can probably save a little first. There is a bit of 'pay to play' here and paying up for full time fits your goals perfectly. Your situation (WE, current role, desired role) are exactly what a full time MBA is for.
Thank you for this response, it is very helpful. Banks and boutiques offer full time graduate programs for in IB for MBAs, so I'm wondering if you know whether or not these programs hire EMBAs as well. I know EMBAs can't do the summer internship but what about the full time graduate programs?
I had a long answer typed to this and I deleted it because I think the point will be made better if you do the following:
Google "who should get an EMBA"
You are not well positioned to enter a top EMBA program, and it does not fit your goals. A full time MBA program may be a fit for you.
How do you figure 9-12mo for a full time program? He's gonna lose 2 years in opportunity cost.
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