<p>I’m just wondering how much does it really help having a TOP MBA (I guess top 10 or so). Even more, how much of an advantage does having one from HWS help?</p>
<p>I ask this because I here of plenty of students saying it doesnt matter where you get youre degree from (just in general), and that “ranked” programs are only a brand name. How much does this apply to an MBA? </p>
<p>There are also plenty of people who I know personally who have been successful getting MBA’s from “normal” schools. My brother for instance got his MBA from CSULB and he’s 30 years old in the $300,000k/year range, which I assume is what the average MBA grad aspires to achieve. </p>
<p>Plenty of computer industry billionaires such as Gates, Allen, Jobs, Ellison, and Dell are all college dropouts. But that doesn’t mean that everybody should drop out of college.</p>
<p>While I would agree with your second statement, if this BW table is even remotely accurate, your first statement is not accurate. Only Stanford, Harvard, Wharton even have their average grad making over $200,000 20 years after graduation according to the article. </p>
<p>Aspire to make millions - yes. A very large percentage end up doing so - no.</p>
<p>My frame of reference is Wharton where I got my MBA and Stanford where DH got his. We get surverys for our classes periodically, usually tied to reunions. The vast majority of our classes reporte being millionaires starting 10 years out. </p>
<p>I’m surprised if other top schools aren’t close. Haven’t read the article but are they counting those who no longer work?</p>
<p>Presumably, those who are no longer working aren’t making an income. I doubt that the majority of grads at even the top schools are retiring before age 50 that it would impact the numbers to that large an extent.</p>
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<p>I’m not as many as 10 years out of MBA yet but I’ve never had any requests for my annual income or net worth. Stanford and Wharton are actually asking you for this info?</p>
<p>You would be shocked at the number of female grads of top B schools who don’t work after a few year. They married peers and stayed home with kids. </p>
<p>I’m 52, a significant number of my classmates no longer have what could be described as jobs. And yes, we’ve filled out detailed questionnaires before every major reunion. I know Harvard does as well because an employee recently shared the stats with me.</p>
<p>They were most likely not making $1 million a year a few years out of B-school. </p>
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<p>In your generation, probably the average years of work exp before entering B-school was ~ 2, meaning the avg MBA student graduated at age 27. Saying that enough of your classmates retired five years ago to bring the average income down from over $1 million to $205,000 seems like a huge stretch to me.</p>
<p>she’s not saying that the average yearly income of these people is over $1M, she’s saying that a significant number end up reaching that figure.</p>
<p>Balanced in with the people in finance or who start their own business and make a fortune, are people working in marketing or nonprofits or government or industries with a lot of security but not a ton of upward salary pressure.</p>
<p>Even in consulting, junior partners don’t make much over $300-400k their first few years unless they really bring in a ton of business. And many MBAs leave their M&A or consulting tracks and end up in industry, as a mid-level executive, or a director of something.</p>
<p>It wouldn’t surprise me that a surprising % of graduates are making $1M by the time they’re 10 years out, but the average will be far less than that.</p>
<p>Denzera, stay at home moms managing the family portfolio and maybe a small business.</p>
<p>I’m not saying it would bring the salary down to that level, just wondering aloud where that low number comes from. I only know a couple of peers from my and my husband’s B school classes who would make anywhere close to that–those working in non profit organizations. And even those we know running non profits often make quite a bit more than that.</p>
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<p>I know quite a few women who left banking jobs where they were making that kind of money.</p>
<p>The second statement sounds exactly like that’s what she was trying to say to me.</p>
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<p>Three years out of business school? From the experiences of people in my MBA class who went into IB at GS, MS, ML, CS, UBS, even in good times, that’s not what I was hearing; certainly not quite a few.</p>
<p>The real root of my question was really do you need to attend HWS or a top 5 program to put yourself in contention for a prominent business job, or is it possible to attain one of these positions being somewhere in say the top 15 (more like the situation with law school). </p>
<p>I ask because of some discrepencies b/w the topics covered on this board and the law school board:
People on the business board are always talking about HWS or bust, where as law school hopefuls are always shooting for the T14
The law school never really seems to care about rankings as long as the school is acceptedly in the T14, whereas on this board I have seen NUMEROUS debates about the difference b/w top 7 and top 10, among many others. </p>
<p>It is because of these two observations that the general feel of this forum is one that insinuates the relevant importance of the ranking of one’s business school, and I just wanted to know how accurate that actually is.</p>
<p>There is no magic wand. Check out the top CEOs by pay in any of the major publications, and you will see that most do not even have MBAs. Some do not even have college degrees (having founded their own company). The degree is a tool, which depends on how you use it, and while a well-known name can get you interviews, that’s really all you get, is that chance. Don’t forget though, a lot of great talent never gets a look because their degree does not impress the guys at the gate. </p>
<p>Harvard, just for a look, has about 900 students each year enroll in its MBA program. </p>
<p>Why would that show it “hardly justifies the cost and effort”? It depends what you were doing before, what you were making before, what your aspirations are. </p>
<p>To me, that would justify the cost; not to mention all the intangible benefits that inexplicably people never discuss on here, such as undergoing the experience itself, more knowledge obtained leading to new inspirations, added confidence, incremental friends and network, personal growth, etc.</p>
<p>Sorry gellino, I did not clarify. What I mean, is that over the course of a career an MBA from many ‘less prestigious’ schools which are also less expensive wil produce as much salary and bonus as an HBS MBA. The reason is not that there is anything wrong with Harvard, but that the individual could have done as well by another course. A simple cost-benefit analysis of schools indicates that for the average executive, a top school by name costs more than it returns compared to other choices. If you want to be the top, yes you need that pedigree to even be considered, but if you mean to either start your own company or seek your path by way of someplace other than NYC, you could do better to consider all the options. After all, I’m old enough to recall when Stanford was not considered a top school, and Northwestern was not in the running at all for a top MBA candidate. Those schools established their reputation in recent years through providing things that HBS did not. For that matter, my oh my how Wharton has fallen! Ever stop and ask why? It’s not that Penn lowered its standards after all, but Wharton failed to stay up to pace. </p>
<p>You mentioned intangibles. I would have to think about that. I’m 49 years old, and I only mention that because I hear execs speak about what they want, like, and fear from the new crop of grads. Confidence, inspiration, and similar traits are individual, not something that the school can provide, and the MBA grad who can’t depend on his own resourcefulness is going to fail no matter where he got his degree. As for networking and friends, you can do that at any large school, and with the internet it’s not hard at all to build a robust network even for small schools.</p>
<p>Like all investments, choosing your school takes work and careful consideration. A good fit is much more important than a name that sounds good.</p>