UGA's Terry Collee of Business listed among the most lucrative 7-figure MBA degrees on earth (schools, income)

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by PacinoWig

I do regret not getting my MBA while I was still at Georgia. I stayed a fifth year for my Masters of Accountancy degree, a sixth wouldn't have hurt. I still could've gotten my CPA.

A more interesting thing to look at might be the present value of an MBA degree. Like, what are the incremental earnings that the MBA earns you over what you would have made had you just gone to work with a bachelor's degree?

The article actually covers that...it's approximately 470k uplift. It's double for top 10 programs relative to undergrad. The problem is people that go to top 10 MBA programs aren't coming from random low tier schools.

Degree Estimate of 20-year median cash compensation
All Bachelor’s Degrees $1,301,000
All MBA Degrees $1,771,000
Top 50 MBA Degrees $2,266,000
Top 10 MBA Degrees $2,759,500
Top 3 MBA Degrees $3,011,000

[ATLTJL]

I just don't buy it.

Especially because there is so much diversity in MBA students, programs, and jobs. It's possible to get an MBA and make $40,000. It's also possible to make $40 million. Same thing with a JD, so I have less of a problem with that comparison.

I just don't think there's any valid comparison to MDs. Even if you go to medical school in Grenada, graduate last in your class, and open a crummy office somewhere, you are still pretty much guaranteed at least a 6-figure income. MBAs have no such guarantee. Of course, the upward mobility is higher, not many doctors regardless of how great they are earn big time multimillion dollar CEO salaries....but an MD is simply a safer bet for a good paying job.

I think it's just something that is almost impossible to quantify.

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I just don't buy it.

Especially because there is so much diversity in MBA students, programs, and jobs. It's possible to get an MBA and make $40,000. It's also possible to make $40 million. Same thing with a JD, so I have less of a problem with that comparison.

I just don't think there's any valid comparison to MDs. Even if you go to medical school in Grenada, graduate last in your class, and open a crummy office somewhere, you are still pretty much guaranteed at least a 6-figure income. MBAs have no such guarantee. Of course, the upward mobility is higher, not many doctors regardless of how great they are earn big time multimillion dollar CEO salaries....but an MD is simply a safer bet for a good paying job.

I think it's just something that is almost impossible to quantify.

The population of people choosing between an MD or MBA is probably really small. I'd venture anyone able to complete an MD is capable of completing an MBA (the curriculum isn't hard). It's more what job you manage to land through recruiting (and what companies show up) than anything else. The people capable of landing at a top tier MBA program would probably survive an MD program but perhaps they don't have the right mindset or desire.

Yes, there are tens of thousands of MBAs unable to land jobs that'll even service the debt they accrued (less so for top programs). There are fewer doctors in the same boat since any MD is an MD and a script for Oxy is worth its weight in gold. There is however a very big group of people that never make it given the small yields vs. huge number of mediocre pre-meds filling in the curve for biology courses and graduating to make your latte wrong.

Deciding to do an MD for the money is a very bad idea. It's the better part of a decade and a lot can go wrong in that time leaving you w/o a marketable degree. Doing a JD for the money is a very bad idea. Most lawyers don't make piles of cash since most don't work in white shoe firms and don't have Johnnie's courtroom savvy. Even doing an MBA purely b/c the brochure says you're going to make piles of money is a very bad idea. Unless you land in a top program (meaning you already had a solid career), you most likely won't get much of a payback. Of course there is no guarantee of any income (nor is there any guarantee in a business career in general) but there is quite a lot of signaling that comes w/ a top tier business degree.

I did an MBA b/c it was a measured risk to avoid dead ending in my job and I was able to do while retaining my income (PT program) at a solid school. I had a strong plan in place for recruiting and I was able to lock a great career/salary (will be well north of 3M over 20yr span at my current progression) w/ a relatively small outlay.

[gtcorndog]

UGA is the 3rd best MBA program in the state... and they aren't close to the top 2.

BusinessWeek ranking:
Emory #22
GT #23
UGA #52

Emory average salary: $104k
GT average salary: $98k
UGA average salary: $80k

Emory acceptance rate: 31%
GT acceptance rate: 28%
UGA acceptance rate: 43%


Emory average GMAT: 680
GT average GMAT: 685
UGA average GMAT: 640

USNWR MBA rankings:
Emory: #20
GT: #27
UGA: #47

[ATLTJL]

I completed my MBA the same way.

I really wanted to go to Emory, but I wasn't willing to give up my full-time job to achieve that and Emory did not have a part-time program (I think they still don't). I don't know if Georgia Tech does because when I got mine, they didn't have an MBA program yet. You could get a Master of Marketing degree from them, whatever that is. I didn't want a degree I'd have to explain.

So I got my MBA from good ol' Georgia State. Pretty much the same way it sounds like you did, with minimal cash outlay and not having to give up my real job. It was fine for me because I did it to help with a career change, which I ultimately achieved, but it's not like there were companies looking to hire fresh MBAs and train them, like they do for top tier programs (even Emory has pretty good recruiting). Georgia State had terrible placement, offering an MBA career expo that literally had companies like Target and Waffle House in attendance. And not for jobs in the corporate office.

That's what I was trying to say. Unless you go to a top, top tier program, an MBA is only as good as you can make it. It really doesn't matter where you for an MD, it's going to guarantee you a lucrative job. You could literally be unemployed with MBA in hand, that would never happen for an MD with a license in good standing.

I'm not saying anyone would use this information to make a decision, just that the numbers don't really mean anything. In the aggregate, I'm positive MBAs are not outperforming MDs in salary.

[MathmanMathman]

^ GT had a program equivalent to an MBA, but like you said, its graduates had to explain the degree, so GT asked the BOR if they could call it an MBA, and that was granted.

[ATLTJL]

I really wish they had done that a few years sooner.

An MBA from Georgia Tech carries significantly more weight than one from GSU.

GSU wasn't bad, it just lacks clout. Most people in Atlanta know the quality of the part-time flex program at GSU, but they still don't seem to recruit heavily from it. Most of my classmates were people who were going to get raises and promotions at work simply for completing and MBA, but I most certainly did not have a job like that.

I know that big time consultancies like PWC, Bain, and BCG actively recruit Emory undergrads (and I assume MBAs as well). I never saw any of those companies at GSU.

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I'm not saying anyone would use this information to make a decision, just that the numbers don't really mean anything. In the aggregate, I'm positive MBAs are not outperforming MDs in salary.

Of course they aren't outperforming MDs. It's a completely different thing to compare a graduate business degree that you can get from virtually any school (accredited or not) w/ a professional degree that qualifies you to practice medicine.

Medschool + residency is 8-11 yrs after undergrad and overall acceptance rate is in the 40% range. Take a sample of 100 prospective MBAs and 100 prospective med school students and the outcome isn't as different b/c a lot more people fall out w/o ever getting the MD behind their name. Drop out before you finish residency and you're permanently a 30k lab tech brewing coffee or a 30k a year barista manager. Out of undergrad, you'll be lucky if they let you wash a test tube w/ a BS in Biology.

Med school is also at least 2X the cost of an MBA and many people aren't able to make a dent on their loans until they're past residency (assuming they get matched...10% don't). Yes, once you clear all the education and licensing constraints you're free and clear to make $$$$ but there's a huge amount of opportunity cost getting there. Becoming a doctor is a ridiculously long and challenging process and people that have that level of commitment and drive would likely make as much or more should their efforts be applied to other trades.

[ATLTJL]

Of course they aren't outperforming MDs.

Awesome!

Then we see eye to eye. Disproving this statement was all I was trying to do:

"In fact, an MBA from at least 28 business schools–from Harvard to the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business–will earn a person more than the average medical or law school graduate."

This statement is simple and straightforward, not mentioning opportunity costs or levels of rigor. I'm glad we agree it is a false statement.

[betheclub98]

ATLTJL and Mishap, I think you guys are discounting the value of a TOP MBA. There is no school in GA (even Emory) that provides the potential income escalation of a TOP MBA. In fact, the degree you get from going full time at a top school really should be called something different - the difference is that drastic. The entry requirements, peer group, recruiting companies, and alumni connections result in a totally different life experience. When comparing income to an MD I would argue that it is indeed comparable. A Sr Dir/VP at a large multi-national, for instance, is bringing in 300-500k when considering their total compensation (base, bonus, stock). Of course there are outliers on both sides - the specialist surgeon making 2mil and the Wharton grad working at a non-profit for 60k....but in general the comparison isn't as unbelievable as your making it out to be.