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What were their average salaries upon entering the program.
I actually know a few who got recent mbas at some of those schools. The salary you quote was not far off from what they were making when they decided to attend. Plus they had to pay tuition and living expenses, didn’t earn a much while they were in school (except for summer internship). I’m hearing some are disappointed with the after graduation offers.
The program cost them conservatively 300k between tuition and lost opportunity costs. Not a huge win salary wise. It will pay off bigger in time.
The average cost of a MBA at a well-respected school is well over $100k. I'd be disappointed if I spent that kind of money and found myself making $60k-$80k/yr as a lowly individual contributor, to be honest. Frankly, I see that far often than I think I should be--lots of MBAs as ICs; but to each their own.
I had to look up what "individual contributor" meant. Frankly, being managed by someone who thinks that everyone not managing is 'lowly' sounds unpleasant.
If the cost of living increased ~6% then a 3-4% salary increase means your purchasing power decreased meaning that not only are MBA salaries not soaring but they're barely keeping up.
Many items went up much higher than 6% like cars and real estate.
I had to look up what "individual contributor" meant. Frankly, being managed by someone who thinks that everyone not managing is 'lowly' sounds unpleasant.
I'm referring to paying $100k+ for an MBA and being in a lower paying IC role, not what I feel about individual contributors or that salary range. I have been and would be perfectly happy with $60k-$80k/yr salary and an IC role. But I also didn't invest $100k+ in an MBA. From a ROI standpoint, it seems like it might not be worth the investment unless you're striving to be part of upper management or the C-suite one day. Would you be comfortable paying $130k for a degree and making $70k/yr as a mid-level analyst for the rest of your career? Because there are tons of people doing that with just a BA/BS and some experience.
There is a reason why doctor salaries are very high. It's very difficult to become a doctor and it's also very expensive. While an MBA is no where near as difficult as an MD, it can be quite costly. And when I'm personally making that sort of investment in myself, I expect to be compensated for the time and effort towards that endeavor and towards the additional value I bring to the organization. If I don't have the aspirations to earn more and move into a higher role within an organization, then I personally don't think an MBA is worth the investment.
I'm a senior level IT individual contributor. An MBA adds nothing. It might - might - help springboard you into management in the right market and the right sector.
MBAs generally won't generate a positive ROI for those who aren't already management tracked.
I'm a senior level IT individual contributor. An MBA adds nothing. It might - might - help springboard you into management in the right market and the right sector.
MBAs generally won't generate a positive ROI for those who aren't already management tracked.
But if you wanted to move in to corporate finance or marketing, if you wanted to move to a fortune 100 company, if you wanted to take a senior role in a startup or raise capital for your own, if you needed a bigger pool of quality contacts. Then an MBA would be a good investment.
If you are happy where you are then you are correct, an MBA would add nothing.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
I'm a senior level IT individual contributor. An MBA adds nothing. It might - might - help springboard you into management in the right market and the right sector.
MBAs generally won't generate a positive ROI for those who aren't already management tracked.
MBA classes are filled with your kind. Technical people who want to go into non-technical roles. And they're not necessarily going for management roles either. Especially full-time programs. Graduates might go into corporate training programs, but companies that are heavily recruiting MBA graduates aren't exactly going to put them in management roles.
Management Consulting (associate position), Investment Banking/PE (associate position), big tech (project/program/product roles) account for vast majority of MBA hires of full-time graduates at top programs.
I had to look up what "individual contributor" meant. Frankly, being managed by someone who thinks that everyone not managing is 'lowly' sounds unpleasant.
Many MBA's totally ignore the fact that without individual contributors, companies will fail. You have to have people doing the actual work that creates products, gets them built, operates the back office systems, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
I'm a senior level IT individual contributor. An MBA adds nothing. It might - might - help springboard you into management in the right market and the right sector.
MBAs generally won't generate a positive ROI for those who aren't already management tracked.
An MBA will help you in IT if you are working on financial systems, since most undergrad IT degrees are kind of skimpy on finance and accounting. I'm an IT individual contributor that supports accounting, treasury, reporting, and analytics systems, but I have an accounting degree. It's always fun explaining to users why the way they do accounting is wrong.
When I entered the MBA program I thought the degree would get me a good paying job.
When I graduated from MBA school, I got a job because of my tech chops learned from a teaching assistantship I had during the program. That was far more valuable to me than the degree.
These top-tier business schools have a very "select" candidate pool so the inputs and outputs are misleading.
For many of these top-tier business schools, many of the applicants and attendees are individuals that are coming in from top-tier consultancies, professional services, and leadership development programs from Fortune 100 companies.
Its basically part of their "rotational" program or leadership development programs.
Companies and firms recruit top-talent from top-tier undergrad schools/programs.
They high performing individuals work for 3-5 years and then apply to top-tier MBA programs, and often times their tuition is "paid for" or reimbursed about graduation and working for another 2 years post MBA.
Thus why you see such high average salaries from these top-tier MBA programs.
Many are just accepting and graduation top talent from Fortune 100s and big consultancies/professional services and I-banking firms.
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