The Personal MBA^TM

Frank (of The Happy Rock) just completed his MBA at Drexel University’s Lebow College of Business. Here’s what he had to say about the experience:

The first question most people will ask is “was getting an MBA worth it”? On a personal level, it was a truly great experience. One that has given me a lot of confidence, motivation, purpose, and energy. On a business and pure learning level, I am not so sure. I think something like the Personal MBA or selected great texts from Amazon and a mentor would have been more useful and practical.

Be sure to read the rest of Frank’s thoughts about his MBA experience - his post is quite informative.

Frank - congrats on completing your MBA!

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Seth shares a few of this thoughts on higher education, this time focusing on undergraduate programs:

There’s no question that a Harvard degree helps (or is even required) in a few fields. There’s also no doubt that spending four years at Yale is a mind-changing experience. The question isn’t, “are they wonderful?” The question is, “Is it worth it?”

It’s almost as if every single high school student and her parents insisted on having a $200,000 stereo because it was better than the $1,000 stereo. Sure, it might be a bit better, but is it better enough?

For most people, the answer is a resounding no. Not only is college expensive, the opportunity costs of college programs are massive. You can accomplish a lot in four years.

My advice for those preparing for undergraduate programs is:

1. Focus on getting into a good but inexpensive school in a broad high-value field (business, hard science, math, or engineering).
2. Get as many scholarships as you can to defray costs.
3. Work a part-time job to pay for living expenses instead of taking out loans.
4. Participate in co-op and paid internship programs that have a record of hiring participants full-time after graduation.
5. Graduate as quickly as possible.

Outside of the people you meet, the primary value of college is the credential, so the best strategy is to optimize on cost and speed. After you graduate, focus your time and energy on doing real work and invest in increasing your knowledge and skills in areas you find interesting.

Real-world results will always trump college activities when it comes to getting a job or starting your own business.

Here’s a smattering of recent articles about the true worth of traditional MBA programs:

Just Skip It

Penelope Trunk of the Brazen Careerist shares five signs that the MBA is becoming devalued: “The best thing you get out of business school is a good job afterward. But how do you know you wouldn’t be able to get that job without business school? … The bottom line is that very few careers today really require an MBA. If you’re getting one for a career that doesn’t require it, you might look more like a procrastinator than a go-getter.”

Wall Street and Opportunity Costs

Spending two years in b-school used to be cost-of-entry to get a job in the lucrative financial services market… it isn’t anymore. Gabriel Hammond raised $5 million to start his own hedge fund instead of going back to school to get an MBA: “Like other young people on the fast track, Mr. Hammond has run the numbers and figures that an M.B.A. is a waste of money and time — time that could be spent making money. ‘There’s no way that I would consider it.’”

Heidegger, not Homework

Matthew Stewart has a doctoral degree in philosophy, but spent seven years working as a management consultant and shares his experiences in The Atlantic: “The strange thing about my utter lack of education in management was that it didn’t seem to matter… the impression I formed of the M.B.A. experience was that it involved taking two years out of your life and going deeply into debt, all for the sake of learning how to keep a straight face while using phrases like ‘out-of-the-box thinking,’ ‘win-win situation,’ and ‘core competencies’… It thickened the mystery around the question that had nagged me from the start of my business career: Why does management education exist?”

Phrase of the Day: “Jumping the Shark”.

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