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A surprisingly candid report on what business school is all about
Main Post: A surprisingly candid report on what business school is all about
Top Comment: Business School has never been about learning how to run a business. It's about networking with your future business partners.
Business owner is it worth going to business school
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I am a 21 year old guy who wants to start his own business, but doesn't know the business side of it. However, I am going back to school for business. When I tell people that I am going back to school for business, they tell me that I don't really need it or that I am just blowing money away when I can just get a business license and start from there, or I know a few people who regret going to business school I find this really discouraging because I really don't know the business side of it. I already have the skill set which I know is important.
Top Comment: Real work expirience > schooling The time you would be in schooling, you would be running/learning how it actually operates, like other have said a mentor who runs a real buissness. Learn from failure Lower your expectations from the beginning. Grow slow and steady I just started a small biz but have 8 years of experience in the trade.
When is business school *not* worth it?
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I left Deloitte a little over a year ago to join a Series B tech start-up in the mental health space that's raised its Series B, C, and D in rapid succession and become a unicorn. I started writing down the things I wish I had known a year, a month, even a week ago. I especially wish someone had sat me down and helped me think more critically about b-school before I sank a ton of money into GMAT prep. So the below covers the age-old question every consultant grapples with at one point or another: should you go to business school?
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21-year-old me had it all figured out. I had an air-tight plan: I’d graduate, do a few years in consulting (doing exclusively strategy work, of course), then go to a top-tier business school where I’d get a deep tan from group trips to exotic locations with 50 of my closest friends, finally get good at beer pong, and figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. In that order. Sounds straightforward enough, right?
Well, dear reader, an undisclosed number of years later, I have no advanced degree, no tan to speak of (actually verging on transparency here as we come up on a year of lock-down), and remain criminally bad at beer pong. But somehow I’ve still managed to pivot to a career path that I very much enjoy and get fulfillment out of. On the other hand, many of my closest friends have gone to or are currently in business school and are loving their experiences. So there’s no real right or wrong answer here—that’s right! It depends—but I’ve included some pointers below to get you thinking about this choice from a few different lenses. The key underlying question is: is business school the only way to get to where you want to be?
Reasons to go to business school:
- You’re not enjoying consulting but you’re not sure what you’d rather do instead. This is probably the most common reason I see from folks who are in the pipeline for business school sponsorship from their employers. And it’s not a bad play by any means. Business school—if leveraged correctly—can surely provide the time and space away from the hamster wheel of consulting (going from one project to the next, forever, until you quit or die) to Figure Things Out. Whether it’s really the most efficient way of doing that is up for debate, but you will certainly get a lot of exposure to different careers and a risk-free way to sample the goods (2+ internships) before you buy in. A friend currently at HBS also brought up the point that clubs, simulations, projects, and conferences are all great ways to learn and experiment with how you lead. Granted, you could find ways to accomplish all of this without b-school, but it would require some serious commitment and discipline.
- You do know what you want to do next, but it’s too great of a leap from where you are today. For example, I see a lot of folks from consulting interested in jumping straight over to product. Product, however, can be incredibly competitive to break into—it’s definitely possible but tough to make that transition without going through at least one ‘in-between’ role (e.g., S&O or BizOps-type roles) first. However, there are companies like Amazon who directly hire a number of grads from select b-schools as product managers. So if you’ve done some sort of thought exercise to hone in on a few potential career options you’d like to explore but just don’t see a viable path to getting there (for example: you’re in healthcare consulting but want to go into UX design for a tech company), business school might be worth the investment.
- You feel like your network offers you limited reach. “It’s the people!” everyone says about everything. It’s true though, I can’t think of a more compelling reason to go to business school than 1) ready access to a high-quality professional network with a lot of heavy-hitters; and 2) the “I’m a student” 👉🥺👈 card that you can play to get into pretty much anyone’s DMs.
- You’re looking for a specific dual-degree. I’m talking JD/MBA, MD/MBA, MBA/MPH, etc. One of my friends has a very specific interest in founding or joining a machine-learning/AI health tech start-up, so he’s going back to school to get a masters in computer science (to compliment his BS in engineering) and MBA. If you’ve got conviction in the path you want, and it requires actual technical expertise, it could be worth getting an MBA while you’re at it.
- You just need a break. Let me just say that there should be zero shame in wanting to go to business school because you’re ready for a damn break. Maybe that’s not the most compelling story to tell the admissions committee, but it’s completely valid. If the idea of going from one high-paced job to another sounds like it just might kill you, please take a break. As someone wise once told me (OK, I made it up): you can’t create value for others if you don’t value yourself first. Just know that you can be arguably just as busy in business school—if you so choose—since there’s infinite opportunity to get involved (and over-commit).
Reasons to not go to business school:
- You are already in a career path you like. Note that I say career path, and not job, here. If you’ve done some reflection and think you know where you want to be in 2-3 roles and you’re already on a path to make that happen—ask yourself if it’s worth taking a 2-year time-out from advancing up that ladder. I personally aspire to becoming a GM at a B2C tech company, which means that working as a PM is a sweet spot for me to really get my chops in product-driven growth over the next few years. Through a combination of luck (right time, right place) and enough hard work, I did not have to go to business school to get there. So if, say, your medium-term goal is to nab an S&O role at a big tech company or a consumer brand... great news: nine times out of ten, you’d be able to do that without an MBA.
- You don’t want to go back to consulting after business school. If you’re truly, truly over consulting and just can’t fathom spending another two years to get your golden handcuffs off, then don’t. If business school still seems like the right move for you, figure out a way to do it (e.g., financial aid, scholarships, or even finding another company that will sponsor you that you can actually see yourself working at for a couple of years) that doesn’t involve an extra two years of self-loathing. Not worth it!
- You feel like you have a diverse-enough network. The key here is to not equate ‘network’ with ‘people you know.’ No, it’s not who you know—it’s who the people you know know. Think about how that applies in consulting: we’ve all been the eager new consultant with five networking calls each Friday with different managers or partners. But in the end, it’s much more useful to impress one well-connected person than to know five randos. Think about the folks you know both inside and out of consulting. Reflect on whether they are spread out across different industries and functions that are interesting to you. Did they go to business school and have colleagues they can connect you to?
- You’re not interested in re-entering a competitive, bubble-like environment. From what I’ve heard, this varies to some degree (pun intended) from b-school to b-school, but make no mistake. Everyone is subtly comparing dick sizes to suss out who’s going to be the most helpful to know in the future. You’re re-entering a job ‘funnel’ where there is a recruitment ‘season’ with palms to grease, campus recruiters, gripping your fake leather portfolio with moist palms as you sit in an interviewing waiting room with three other classmates, the whole shebang.
- The ROI simply isn’t there for you. Different firms handle the actual financial arrangements in different ways, but generally reimbursement for business school is credited to you as a bonus, which is taxable. So it’s not entirely fair to say that sponsorship means that business school is ‘free’, because ain’t nothing free in life, baby. The best way to do the math is to ring up some consultants from your firm who have already completed the end-to-end sponsorship experience and ask them point-blank how much the bottom-line cost of b-school was. I’ll bet you $218K that it wasn’t actually free. The ROI will look different for everyone, and business school doesn’t have to be free to be worth it, but be sure to pressure-test whether the career progression you think you’ll get as a result of an MBA will balance out two years’ of no income.
- Your reasons for going all boil down to wanting the credentials on your resume. I get not wanting to miss out on opportunities simply because you don’t have a shiny MBA on hand. I mean, I have an Asian mom, right? How many times have I heard the theoretical scenario: If you’re equally qualified as the next person, but she has an MBA and you don’t—you’re not going to get the job. But first of all, there’s rarely going to be an instance where you are ‘equally qualified’ as another person. Even if you both went to the same undergrad and consulting firm, you’ve had different project experiences, extracurriculars/interests, oh and personalities. And secondly, I wouldn’t want to invest in a career at a company where a promotion would hinge solely on an MBA or the absence thereof.
Again, there’s no right or wrong answer here. Business school can be a powerful unblocker to getting to the career you want. Or it can be an unnecessary detour from the path you’re already on. Either way, I hope this post helps you be a little more confident about your decisions.
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B-school grads, what'd I miss? Anything you'd strongly disagree (or agree) with? Please feel free to leave a spicy comment below.
I've previously waxed poetic about whether or not moving from consulting to start-up is a good play, and how to go through a methodical 'priority stack' exercise when trying to figure your first move in the consulting afterlife. Next I'll plan to cover questions to ask from every stage of the job search -- from information interview to post-offer, negotiating your compensation -- but would love to hear from you. If you enjoyed this, why not subscribe here so the next one lands in your inbox?
Top Comment: Is it common to move from consulting to startup? I’m in tech consulting at Big4 after being in corporate FP&A and I can’t imagine ever going back to it Edit: I should clarify that while I’m not burnt out yet, I could see that happening down the road but I don’t know where I would go from there
Is business as easy as people say it is?
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We've all seen the memes making fun of business majors. Something I've always wondered though is if business is actually as easy as people make it out to be.
To all the business majors reading this post: Is business actually as easy as people say it is?
Top Comment: Lots of heterogeneity across business majors. Finance, accounting, and Econ are more difficult than marketing or management.
Is going to a business school or taking business classes worth it?
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I’m 25 years old and I’m looking to start my own business. I have never taken a business course. Initially I was looking to hire out but now I’m contemplating whether to go to business school or not. Is it worth it? Is it necessary? Can you get by without it?
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Unpopular Opinion - Business schools are the WORST place to learn about business
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Seriously, the profs are mostly academics with little to no business school experience, preaching theories and models that have never touched the private sector - and yet these are the guys who are supposed to prepare me for a career in business? Complete bs.
Top Comment: The key is to learn from professors who DON'T have an office in school, who are the adjuncts with real jobs. They were immensely valuable for me at least.
Best Business Schools in the US - Reddit
Main Post: Best Business Schools in the US - Reddit
I went to business school
Main Post: I went to business school
Top Comment: MBAs are a scam. I've hired several of them. They are no more prepared for the real corporate world than those with undergraduate degrees. I would much rather have someone with 2 years more experience than an MBA.