The biggest payoff for the MBA is networking- CEO roundtables with a wine and cheese reception afterwards, VC’s acting as judges for an entrepreneurship contest, retired SEC regulators teaching a class on Compliance and Banking regulations.
A few internships- even quality ones- in NO way prepares an MBA student to take full advantage of these opportunities.
So- encourage your kid to take full advantage of undergrad- the last opportunity to take classes that sound cool and interesting. Business School isn’t going anywhere.
And a kid with good study habits and solid academic performance can “study” for the GMAT in a few weeks of not-too-stressful prep. As long as he keeps up his HS math skills he’ll be fine.