I'm really starting to consider going back to school to get my MBA and looking towards a big career change....i manage currently but I am unfortunately finding out more and more that the kind of management / upper level jobs im looking for require an MBA

Its a scary thought, since we already have a 10 month old, but if I wait any longer then soon its going to be impossible since we want to have more....

but i worry......would a MBA even be worth it for me? How important is it to have a certain type of undergrad degree paired with an MBA?

What is the likely hood of me getting a good return on my investment for going back?

What are yalls opinions? I'll respond back with questions that yall have sometime tomorrow

Can't answer without knowing more about you:

Current job
Current pay
Undergrad major/gpa
Business skills
Etc.

One big thing: an MBA doesn't cure stupid, so if you're dumb, it's an expensive piece of paper. I'd rather hire a smart high school
grad than a below average MBA.

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One big thing: an MBA doesn't cure stupid, so if you're dumb, it's an expensive piece of paper. I'd rather hire a smart high school
grad than a below average MBA.

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Not trying to derail the thread but this seems like an odd example. Are you saying because the hs kid is cheaper? Or do you really think someone who graduated from only hs could be as smart as an MBA grad?

I know a couple of hs grads that will outwork and outthink MBAs. Just because you have the piece of paper doesn't mean dick. You'd be surprised the entitlement coming from U of Phoenix and no name online MBA grads. If you can get into a legit program it can be worth it. Don't waste your time and money otherwise.

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You'd be surprised the entitlement coming from U of Phoenix and no name online MBA grads. If you can get into a legit program it can be worth it. Don't waste your time and money otherwise.

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This x 1,000

If you are not currently in business and there is no room for you to move up then you might consider an MBA.

An MBA is expensive. If you choose to pursue it then you need to get into the best school possible. Yes, there are people that only graduated from HS that are smarter than MBAs, but our society likes the piece of paper more than the person. I wish it weren't this way, but it is.

In conclusion,

Yes to MBA if it is a top tier school. No the MBA if the school is average. It will take you 10-20 years to pay off that debt.

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Or do you really think someone who graduated from only hs could be as smart as an MBA grad?

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Is this a serious questions? I don't have an MBA but know plenty of morons that got their bachelors. I imagine an MBA is just the same especially with how popular the degree has become.

[This message has been edited by tommyjohn (edited 6/15/2012 9:44a).]

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Yes to MBA if it is a top tier school. No the MBA if the school is average.

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I want to say that I absolutely disagree with this statement. I've seen it repeated so many times it makes my head spin, and it is this kind of pretentious BS that discourages people from continuing education.

If you live in Houston and work in O&G, there is NO value to getting a Rice MBA over a UH MBA. None. Zero. Maybe if you wanted to get into a prestigious Investment Bank or other related area later it might make sense. But for say, an engineer who is looking to get into the management track, Chevron/Shell/BP, etc put more value on the employee and the "checked box" of an MBA versus "Ooooo, he went to Harvard, no need to interview other candidates".

The MBA in 90% of jobs is simply a box to get checked to get your foot in the door of an interview. For most people (in industry, not financial services), the school you attended will make no difference once you are inside that door.\

That said, there is one caveat: Online only is worthless. Phoenix and the like are, right now, simply seen as pay for paper schools.

[/end rant)

[This message has been edited by SuperAg05 (edited 6/15/2012 11:39a).]

Interesting thoughts.

I do not think everyone posting on this board is in oil and gas in Houston.

A rice MBA will get you further than a U of H MBA outside of Houston. I'm praying for all of you that live in Houston.

I agree with superag for the most part. If you are trying to climb the corporate latter at your current company, checking the box is probably what you need.
If you are trying to change fields, get a new job/career, you probably want respected one.

In my industry (design and construction), I don't think they help much.

i greatly appreciate the responses thus far....to answer 30ks post:

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Can't answer without knowing more about you:

Current job personal trainer / assistant department manager
Current pay 100% commission + override, but on pace for $88,873 (did 78k last year)
Undergrad major/gpa Applied Exercise Physiology / 3.2 gpa
Business skills program and team member management...really specialize (and even have fun) with numbers...feel that every number tells a story, and i use that to coach my team up to improve performance and assist them in hitting their individual goals.......also took an underperforming program that had never hit goal, and had it gain 33% SSSG each year for 3 years even while budgets increased yearly...and hit well over 100% of goal consistently
Etc.

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i was unfortunately expecting to hear some of the responses regarding the quality of school though when paired with current job / degree....the issue with that, is the hours i have to put in make it really difficult to consider doing anything but an online course....

my attitude towards this (just like with buisness), is that there's always a way to get things done....just got to be smart enough to find it....and i've done a few searches (nothing in depth yet) and found what appeared (to me anyway) to be considered a "higher end" online MBA program....but i still don't know if it's anything close to what rice would be or something similar

i dont have the list near me that i had done this on, so am unable to post it now....hopefully i'll be able to post it tonight

[This message has been edited by jokershady (edited 6/15/2012 1:01p).]

I just finished my exec MBA last year at a #25-50 ranked school and it gained me the exact 90 degree career change I wanted out of it. I made plenty of money in my first career working my a** off and couldn't see myself keeping it up for another 10-20 years. When I looked up the ladder, everyone I was working for had some sort of Masters degree or MBA, so that's what I decided to do. I didn't do it for a guaranteed ROI, it was more of a 'quality of life' decision for me. I got a new job making significantly less money, but I'm much happier day-to-day...and I can see the BIG money out there in the not too distant future.

That's my story...sample size of 1.

An MBA is not for everyone. It is for me. I have an undergrad in Architecture and that is where I work now and i will be moving into oil and gas. I'm looking to double my pay and then some when I finish school. My payback will be max four years. Money is also absolutely not the only reason i am change careers however.

I would also add that getting into the best school you can is important.

The number of people going straight from undergrad to mba is alarming, but not surprising given the diminishing value of a bs. It frustrates the hell out of me seeing entry-level job postings that want an MBA.

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You'd be surprised the entitlement coming from U of Phoenix and no name online MBA grads. If you can get into a legit program it can be worth it. Don't waste your time and money otherwise.

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This x 1,000

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Guess I haven't met a pheonix superstar in my life... I was assuming a bcs level school (and obviously prestigious non bcs schools)

Joker: what do you want to do post MBA?

How would it have a meaningful difference on that?

A lot of people do it to make a career change. I fully support those people.

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Joker: what do you want to do post MBA?

How would it have a meaningful difference on that?

A lot of people do it to make a career change. I fully support those people.

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This is a fairly recent development, so I still need to do more research....but as of right now all signs are pointing towards finance....

What kills me, is that my past knowledge and experience, everything I've ever studied and known has revolved around the fitness industry...so my knowledge of exactly "what type of jobs exist" for people who get financing masters, or MBAs with speciliations in finance is extremely limited....

And this didn't come about because I've come to dislike my job or my company....the reason is that as I get promoted within the company, i see my hours and responsiblities increasing, but the pay structure doesn't really increase (what i showed i'm on pace for for the year more than likely isn't going to be where i finish and i'm expecting that to go down)....so because of this, im realizing i could either A: stick it out and work 60+ hours a week and have limited time with my wife and 10 month old.....or B: go nuts for a couple years working and doing school with the hopes i land a much better paying job with a little more reasonable hours....

and the big issue is that we want to have more kids....so if this is gonna happen it needs to happen now....

I don't agree that only the most prestigious MBA programs are worth pursuing. There are several accredited business programs(traditional)that offer a quality education. However, I don't think any online schools have gained enough respect to justify the expense.

One more thing about the UH MBA if you plan to do the part time evening program:

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The evening MBA program is ranked 27th nationally, 4th regionally, and 1st in Houston (BusinessWeek 2007)

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So if you are in Houston, the part time UH MBA is ranked higher than the far more expensive Rice program.

Ask your employer if they will help you pay for your MBA. When I was looking for a job, I met so many people with MBAs when I went to networking events. This made me realize that MBAs weren't as special (and unique,) like they were 10 years ago...

IMHO, both sides of the arguement about the prestige are right....If you are truly in a banking, investment, finance industry the prestige and ranking of the school you recieved the MBA is extremely important.

If you are in a an industrial, mechanical, etc. environment with a specialized/technical and non business related undergrad; the prestige is not important, its actually getting the degree to prove to the company that you are capable of at least understanding the basics of the business side of whatever you are doing.

Anyway, if I was the OP...looking to go back to school to change careers into finance from a Physiology background....I would definately take into account what kind of program I could get into.

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go nuts for a couple years working and doing school with the hopes i land a much better paying job with a little more reasonable hours....

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First, you should be thankful that you are making nearly 90k with a 3.2 in applied physiology.

To put that in context, freshly minted MBAs from the best school in Texas (UT) make only 10K more, on average, in base salary. With that undergrad and GPA, you'd be a far cry to get into a program ranked at UT or higher (I suppose it's possible).

For lesser, but still reputable, schools in TX the average salary will be about 70-80K.

For an online MBA? I would imagine you'd be thankful to find employment at half your current salary, if at all. You certainly wouldn't be able to go into financial services with an online degree. One of the primary advantages of an MBA is the networking it provides which is completely absent with an online degree.

And I just have to laugh at the idea of landing a "much better paying job" with more reasonable hours just because you have an MBA.

Those that are receiving those six figure MBA jobs are working at least 50 hours a week if it's with a F500 corporate gig.

Those that have "a much better paying job" than what you currently have (90k) are working around 70 hours a week with constant travel (consulting, which pays around 115K + a small bonus) or 80-100 hours a week (ibanking, where base pay will be about 100K + a 50% bonus in this environment).

An MBA can help you fill in the gaps in your business knowledge if your undergrad was other than business.

It can definitely help you move up the corporate checkbox ladder and help you navigate past some of the HR Recruitment drones.

Where you go is up to you and what your goals are and how much you're willing to spend.

I'll have to update my pre/post MBA Salary chart that I put up on here 4-5 years ago.

Bottom Line - my salary is more than double what it was 10 years ago when I started my Executive MBA at Colorado. How much of that do I attribute to me and how much do I attribute to the MBA Program. Well, probably most of it. Because...

Getting educated and earning an MBA gave me the business pieces that I was missing and gave me the credentials to back it up. But, more than anything, it strengthened my resolve to not put up with B*llsh*T. Ultimately, that led me to getting laid off and that led to finding a better job. When that job played out, I was able to find an even better job than that and two more times after that.

If I hadn't gotten my MBA, I'd still be living in Denver, flying all over the US and doing it for a lot less money than I'm making today. And that's not even counting the connections. If I ever wanted to live/work in Denver again, I'm well connected. Probably won't happen though.

I don't know anyone with an MBA that earns less than $100K unless they are deliberately accepting less. I'm even willing to bump that to $120K.

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One more thing about the UH MBA if you plan to do the part time evening program:


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The evening MBA program is ranked 27th nationally, 4th regionally, and 1st in Houston (BusinessWeek 2007)
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So if you are in Houston, the part time UH MBA is ranked higher than the far more expensive Rice program.

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The Rice MBA-P program is only 5 years old. There wouldn't be any way for Businessweek to have any data on the Rice program in 2007. I think you need new data.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/

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I don't know anyone with an MBA that earns less than $100K unless they are deliberately accepting less. I'm even willing to bump that to $120K.

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I see quite a few make significantly less than 100k. A lot of that has to do with so many of them going straight from undergrad into their MBA programs and graduating with no marketable skills or work experience.

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The Rice MBA-P program is only 5 years old. There wouldn't be any way for Businessweek to have any data on the Rice program in 2007. I think you need new data.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/

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Well, looks like Rice is now ranked higher in the PT MBA program.

Point still stands though when talking about industry vs financial service/IBanking.

I don't think you can justify the cost difference between the $90+K Rice program and the ~$30K UH program if you are just looking to move your engineering track over the the management side. Especially when most companies WOULD pay for the UH program, but wouldn't pay for Rice.

I think AggiEE summarized it pretty well and his numbers are accurate.

If you are looking to jump to a completely new career/industry, I think you should probably plan to go to an upper echelon school.

Don't think that online school would require less time, it would just give you more flexibility. The people that I know of who are doing online schools probably put more hours into their schoolwork than I do. And those guys do absolutely no networking, which is extremely critical to your job search for after you graduate from your MBA.

As for realistic expectations for when you graduate:

Higher paying jobs will require as many if not more hours and many will require travel up to 100% of the time. There are jobs where you could have a more flexible work style with less hours, but you would be making about as much as you are making now... if not much less.

If you're frustrated with your job and want more time with your family, maybe it's an investment worth making. But it would be an investment where the only return is in the quality of your family life -- the numbers would not work out in your favor.

[This message has been edited by HotardAg07 (edited 6/18/2012 10:54a).]

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Those that have "a much better paying job" than what you currently have (90k) are working around 70 hours a week with constant travel (consulting, which pays around 115K + a small bonus) or 80-100 hours a week (ibanking, where base pay will be about 100K + a 50% bonus in this environment).

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Most of the numbers and trade offs in this thread are pretty accurate with the exception of the above.

Management consulting or IBanking compensation is quite lucrative if you work for the better known firms. Specifically with Management consulting, base salaries are around $125k - $140k with bonuses usually about 15%-25% of the base comp. If you are good, compensation goes up quite a bit from there. Managers (3-4 years in) on a partner track can clear over $200K+ year. With that said, the quality of life isn't a standard 9-5 job where you come home every night. Working hours range between 50-70 hours per week with 80%+ travel. It's quite a bit easier to handle if you are single / without kids.

If you are willing to stay in for 3-4 years, you can easily pay off loans and save a good chunk of change. Exit opportunities are quite good as well though you may have to take a pay cut (with a considerable quality of life improvement). I just exited consulting and while the past 4 years of my life were not very active socially, my post MBA career choices have worked out very well.

With all of that said....

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If you are looking to jump to a completely new career/industry, I think you should probably plan to go to an upper echelon school.

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Management consulting and IBanking firms are all about MBA brand names. Slots in each hiring class are small and very competitive. The big name firms fill 90% of their classes from top 20 MBA programs.

OP troll?

Troll? No. Just a 26 year old guy trying to learn as much as i can before I start taking steps toward a final decision.

And I currently work at least 60 hrs a week, so if it means keeping crazy hrs but a lot more pay, then I'd be ok with it.

And as I stated in an earlier post, that yearly income is what im projecting. With this being all commission and knowing what's coming up, im expecting a drop.

Another thing to consider is what your life would be like with this new job. You are involved in the health industry, which seems to be something you are passionate about and care for. If you are doing investment banking, your job would be a lot of time in front of a computer playing with spreadsheets doing models and projections and stuff. 70 hours a week is a hell of a lot different when you're just staring at a computer screen all day long. I know, I've been there. It sucks balls. If you have some variety to your day, it is so much nicer.

Another thing to consider is moving closer to work. Not only would it cut down on the time away from home by just reducing your commute, but then you'd have the option of going home during the middle of the day when you're not as busy or there are things you could be doing at home.

You need to consider what kind of job you want to have, and if an MBA will actually help you get to that goal since your background has you short on the technical side. MBA is a step to certain goals, not a catch all solution.

I have one...overrated, unless required to move forward in your current career or another one you're going after.