Need Career Advice: Should I get an MBA?

There are many pros/cons on whether an MBA (M7) is the right career move, but it seems to be dependent on individual context. I'm currently thinking about applying to the deferred admission programs. Here is my background: 

  • Education: top 10 undergrad business program with high GPA (should be in the 3.8 range by graduation)

  • Career: starting in BB/EB IB but plan to jump to PE/Growth prior to MBA

Is the value of an MBA for a career in Venture/Growth Equity just as high as traditional PE? Also, I'm concerned that an MBA will be just a duplicate of my undergrad education, especially after looking up the coursework, although the case studies should be a different experience.

I have a lot of reasons not to get an MBA-- cost, lose 2 years of work experience/advancement, and I've usually never loved taking classes--but I need help with reasons to get an MBA. The network is a plus, and maybe the chance to re-live the social aspect of college?  

 

If you land the PE job I’m not sure what an MBA does for you. Unless you’d like to transition to something else. You’re killing it right now... I’d keep rolling. At the same time I totally get the “social aspect of college part”. I worked super hard in undergrad and while I am certainly happy with my life, regret not making a few dumb mistakes while in college. The schoolwork for an MBA is a joke. I always hated school but thoroughly enjoy my MBA program. I do more studying networking for job specific stuff than MBA studying.

 

Thanks for the comment. Interesting to know you enjoyed your MBA. I'm thinking my level of happiness with career/work in a few years time will play a factor in decision for MBA. If I run out of steam and burn out, MBA seems like the right move for a break. But like you said, if I'm killing it and enjoy what I do, why switch it up. I want to leave options open just in case my plan just goes down the gutter (i.e. I'm miserable with the day-to-day work in PE). 

 
Most Helpful

It sounds like you have a pretty solid background and have a good network to lean on (top 10 is solid), people won't question your pedigree especially after a BB/EB stint. I'm personally in similar shoes where I'm deciding if I want to pursue a deferred MBA and I think the biggest factor for me is that I'm coming from a complete non-core school so my network is very poor. 

I'm not sure the value of the MBA for you as landing a VC/GE role is incredibly prestigious as well and you'll have great experience there. From what I've seen, there is less emphasis on MBAs from the VC/GE perspective (based off a few LinkedIn searches), but going to HBS certainly wouldn't hurt your chances. I'd definitely weigh the costs as it's something that has slowed my progress in preparing for the deferred MBA process:

Direct costs $150k ish

2 years of work experience (where you will be learning) + compensation ~ $400k-500k

2 years of spending your life on a campus (as opposed to meeting people in a city / being in a relationship. Note that you definitely DO meet people in bschool, but it's a different element)

Final take:

There is no downside to apply to the deferred MBA process: If you get rejected it does not affect later applications, and so you're really only losing time. Do you want to spend about a month studying for the GMAT/GRE? Do you want to spend the time writing and revising your essays? Do you want to spend the time preparing for applications and interviews? I know these can be pretty easy yes answers, but remember that this is prob your senior year of college and you should enjoy it. You've landed a top offer and I'm sure you grinded hard for it. Either way you can't go wrong, congrats on the offer and good luck with your VC/GE journey :)

Array
 

Thank you for your insights. I also have seen that MBA isn't a requirement at many GE shops, but seems like a lot of the MD/Partner level people have one (lots of HBS/GSB). I wouldn't want to go to business school for the hopes of career advancement, as it would actually slow me down a bit and the costs are ridiculous. 

If I get substantial scholarships or get into Harvard/Stanford, I think the decision becomes a bit easier for me. The likelihood of those things are very slim, but I think worth a shot. I'll have to gauge my options once I get closer to making the decision. You bring up a great point about writing essays and studying for the GMAT. This is not the ideal way for me to spend senior year. 

 

Too early to tell. Depends on how your career interests evolve and what your desire for change is when you're 25/26. Just get a good GMAT now to keep the option in your back pocket and then focus on your work. 

My M7 MBA was a great decision and experience - for me. But for you it's too early to tell. For completely different reasons, when I was your age, I wasn't really sure it made sense for me either. 

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

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