Depends. If my son wants to move into management, depending on his organization or others, an MBA may make sense. But these kids are making 6 figures at 25, not full time unless it’s top 5.
Quant finance kids making mega - no.
My kid is a teacher without an education degree. Will she continue ? Does she need an msw ?
It’s too early to decide. They’ll all figure it out.
I have counseled friend’s kids not to do an MBA unless it is a top 10 school. Preferably top 5. The cost is 500k, including opportunity cost of lost wages. It is a major commitment. Of course i also told kids not to do an MBA unless it is full time, but that situation may vary from person to person — you get the full benefits if you fully benefit from the networking, career change etc.
Other kids in our circle are actively rethinking their previous decision about considering an MBA.
I think you know if you wanted it.
I had worked 6 years. I knew I needed it. It doesn’t have to be considered today.
Kids will know if it’s right for them - really any future schooling. I went tuition free. Not sure that’s a thing anymore. Even UCI, if my son went part time (it’s where he lives) is 6 figures.
Well not anymore - likely not enough demand.
At UC Irvine, we are committed to providing a world-class education at a cost that is accessible for working professionals. We recently lowered our program fees from $129,000 to $99,000 for our Flex MBA program, making it significantly more affordable than other top-ranked MBA programs in Southern California.
I have always felt MBAs are priced such that if your company is not at least partly subsidizing it, it’s not worth it. My (significantly younger) sister graduated a few years ago from a top business school with her MBA, her company paid most of it. Obviously part of that contract is to work for them for another couple of years. The worth it though also depends what you do with it. When I was working on the sell side, I knew a few people who used MBAs to pivot - a couple of engineers specifically - who became highly rated equity analysts. Their earnings potential (and actual earnings) catapulted after that to easily make it worthwhile, but that’s different from just wanting to be “management” at a standard corporate.
D turned down a top 10 MBA program for a full ride top 30 program. She loved it and ended up initially tripling her salary from her prior job. ( it’s now more than that). Several of her classmates became very close friends.
Best decision she could have made.
That’s wonderful it worked out. Your daughter made good decisions given her circumstances.
Yes. Usually the pivot in the career makes it viable.
I didn’t think many of the people attending full time are paid by their companies.
I didn’t think you could get full rides to an mba program either, so we are all learning things here. @FallGirl ’s daughter’s application clearly was very impressive.
So much has to do with the person - their industry, their current earnings, their desire. Others go because they can’t find a job after college - which is not a good reason to go because you lost the earning lift you should get.
Of course, grad school is a lot more than an MBA - many types of grad degrees from law to traditional arts and sciences anre annd more - including non MBA business - like data analytics which colleges are pushing. There’s tons of different grad degrees that meet the needs of various people.
If the student is exceptional, and the program doesn’t otherwise have a hope of attracting this student, I think some programs offer a small handful of full rides.
I am personally skeptical of the data analytics business. I am happy to be corrected of course. I think it is a half hearted stats degree, with a very small amount of CS thrown in. I have a colleague who has a masters in data science from an ivy, and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. A friend’s kid who has a masters in data science from a different ivy, is working for a hvac manufacturer at a moderate salary — not what he had in mind when he went into data science.
These types all send emails, trying to get people. I get at least once a quarter.
The links didn’t populate - Emory, Ga Tech, UNC, Wake Forest.
Perhaps it’s regional. I’m Atlanta housed even though I live in TN. Perhaps out west or in Chicago they get targeted geographically although it’s often online.
I personally have no interest. These colleges are simply businesses looking to create and then fill a need.
@neela1 not sure what you mean by my daughter’s “ circumstances “. She was able to get accepted into a top 10 MBA program. And we made it clear that we would help her pay if she chose that one.
I only meant that she was able to get a full ride. This is not easy. It is a difficult decision if you have a full ride from a top 30 place vs full pay at a top 10 place. In my mind it is not a difficult decision if you are full pay at a top 30 place. Of course kids are going to all kinds of schools, and those people that are full pay at a top 30 place are making rational decisions.
In the other extreme, I know a kid who thinks there are exactly two places worth applying to, and he got shut out at both places this year, and he has put aside an MBA decision for now 
Full ride- living included ?
Was it a pure scholarship or did they have duties ? Like I had to lead an undergrad recitation?
It’s pretty awesome she has that as the costs are egregious. I chose lower ranked too for more $$. No clue if it’s right but met the better half there. Of course, I could have met a better half anywhere :).
It was tuition only for both years. Included was the cost of a trip to the Middle East during January break. Saved $100K just on the tuition cost.
My employer paid for my MBA, and paid my salary while I went to a full year of school (so all but 4 classes) decades ago now. I went to a “top 25” school. Everything, including my backpack and pencils, up to a certain amount was paid for. If I would have chosen to go to the higher ranked school, I would have had to pay some out of pocket, and I would have had a fairly long commute back and forth to school. It was a no brainer for me. I did not need a top 10 school.
I’ve never worked for anyone who’s paid more that $5500 or $5700 - whatever your federal deductible amount for them is. But I’ve not worked in a high level industry like IB.
My D’s company has an agreement with a university near their corporate where they will pay full tuition for an MBA for their eligible employees. D isn’t ready yet to get an MBA but it will be tempting to do the free MBA vs going for a higher ranked program. My sense is it will depend if she wants to stay with her company or do an industry/company change.
My sister is in the finance industry, but not IB etc.