an MBA - is it worth it ?

[AtW]

Re: Welcome to the real world

I was toying with an idea to go MBA route - I even passed GMAT and all other crap. Stanford and Harward (USA) refused my app It fair to say that I did not deserve it anyway. After some thining past that I came to conclusion that MBA is nto worth _for me_ - I have 2 business degrees already. As it was indicated choice of school is paramount -- if you choose crappy school then it would be very clear that you did it on purpose, and you will be considered second hand MBA. On the other hand, if you are of pure tech background and want to move into management, then it might be worth getting into it.

Bear in mind that salaries quoted for MBAs are often result of financial bubble of 90s, dont trust them.

[thunderlizard]

Tinpot

Bumming around's all relative - right now I'd describe it as anything under 65hrs/wk.

Unfortunately I've already got a tinpot Master's, and don't want to damage the CV with another one. But while I was studying for it there was no shortage of guys from the Judge Institute who had enough spare time to train 2 hours every day with the college 1st VIII - which you'd be hard pushed to fit alongside proper work.

AtW, how did you find GMAT? It sounds a bit like a grown -up version of Common Entrance ("Anne is to Nick as Richard is to..?") - how deep does it go?
I think you're right about MBA salaries - I've seen a few jobs advertised for salaries '£40k - £150k' which sounds like a crazy range to negotiate within.

[AtW]

Re: Tinpot

My GMAT score was avg of top 10 MBA schools at the time of application (a few years ago), however, dont think that good GMAT is everything for a top school -- your essays matter a LOT. The hardest part of GMAT for me was verbal part -- I was getting 70-75%, while math was relatively easy - 95-98%. Make sure you spend at least a month preparing for GMAT, better 2-3.

More info about GMAT is here: www.gmatclub.com

I am personally convinced that MBA is not worth jack @#%$ for me -- its not the route I am taking, hence I did not reapply.

[Heinzbenes]

It starts to make sense

"Stanford and Harward (USA) refused my app"

ATw, is this why you dislike the US soo much?

[Martin Underwood]

MBA score

"My GMAT score was avg of top 10 MBA schools at the time of application"... go on, we want the actual figure... what was your score? (ahem, sorry to pry).

You're absolutely right; the GMAT itself is only one criterion in the application process. The frustrating thing (for the applicant) is that different schools place different emphasis on different parts of the GMAT (and indeed, on the non-scoring parts like the essay). As far as I can remember, it is not the difficulty of the GMAT questions themselves, but the sheer pressure of time: you are answering on average 1 question every minute and a half for 4 solid hours.

One organisation that has a good reputation for preparing applicants for the GMAT and the whole MBA application process is Kaplan. Kaplan offer GMAT preparation courses, and are extremely good at teaching you strategies for completing the GMAT exercises.

[lambini]

MBA

If you are lookingf or an MBA to purely boost your options in terms of work , forget it.If one the otherhand you want the experience of working with like minded people and the benefits that brings in terms of relationships and contacts , then it is wort considering.

[AtW]

Re: It starts to make sense

Heinzbenes:
> "Stanford and Harward (USA) refused my app"
> ATw, is this why you dislike the US soo much?

No! I detest Harvard and Stanford for another reason, I have sworn to take GMAT again in next 2-3 and start applying every single year until I get success -- at the point I will thru it intheir face and put acceptance letter in my toilet.


I dislike America because the United States of America are no longer country of the free -- I detest slavery that took place in USSR, and now USA is betraying ideals of its founding fathers. USA has no God Given right to be liked by everythnig -- I have right not to agree with them.


Martin Underwood:
> go on, we want the actual figure... what was your score?
> (ahem, sorry to pry).

GMAT: 660 overall (90%),
AWA: 6.0 (99%) -- this is harder to get, I believe it plays much bigger role that most schools would like to admit
Quantitative: 92%, Verbal: 75%.

Lame excuse: I had cold at the time of taking -- at some point i could not look at screen

That was 4 years ago - Harvard at that time had avg score of 670, stanford was 710 and LBS was something like 640. Avg GMAT test scores are consistently growing, so 660 in my time is about 700 today. Its not like I give a fk about it, but I do plan to re-take it this year in order to break 700 -- as a matter of principle. Now I see that I was lucky not to get into it because I've got much better career path.

It was my poor English skills that let me down -- had I obtained 5-8 more points in Verbal I would have hit nice 720+

Kaplan is poor, there is better stuff on the web. Make sure you get official GMAT stuff -- they are most authentic.

GMAT Score means less for less than great schools -- best schools like Stanford like to be choosy and can afford to put value to non-standard values.

I'd tell more but I think I am boring you.

[NOTiFY]

From what I've heard everyman and his dog has one. They're only worth it if from a decent business school (Cranfield, Bradford).

But there again surely a MBA from anywhere is better than not, shows you can apply yourself.

[reynolds]

Re: an MBA - is it worth it ?

Bradford?!

[AtW]

Re: an MBA - is it worth it ?

Don't forget that 95% of companies are NOT top 5% employers. There is place for crappy degrees as well, and for a pure techie who wants to change direction a crappy MBA can be God sent -- it all depends on your position.