Today my employer has agreed to bankroll my MBA. According to admissions data, I am a comparatively young candidate (25) for a part-time program.
I can’t complete a full-time MBA because my company needs me to work. I couldn’t enroll in full-time MBA anyways because having a job provides me with the money required to pay my mortgage, feed myself, invest, and have a nice weekend once in a while.
How is it possible that so many candidates can forgo two full years of employment to complete a full-time MBA?
I am entirely befuddled.
Are there boundless paid and subsidized internships reserved exclusively for MBA students? Is the full-time MBA applicant pool stocked with deep-pocketed individuals that retain exceptional budgeting guile? Are they so emboldened by statistical assurances of a juicy salary awaiting commencement that wittingly abdicating income is justifiable?
How does one rationalize a full-time MBA? How is that a good decision?
Right… I’m sure there are many ways candidates acquire the means to complete a full-time MBA. I am trying to understand why so many candidates see the full-time route as the better option.
Years ago, I took on a pile of debt, depleted my savings, and had a fellowship. An MBA from a top school made me a good credit risk, and I paid off all my loans over a number of years. Summer internships pay relatively well, so there is some earning potential there.
I admit, I was envious of classmates who could afford to take less well paid but interesting positons, but with hindsight, it was a small price to pay for what we’re probably the best 2 years of my life.
First, not too many 25 year olds are burdened with mortgages and the median age of MBA students is around 27.
Many students receive merit grants and their post-grad offers usually double their pre-MBA salaries. In addition, they may receive $25-$50K sign on bonuses, so their ROI is not bad.
There’s your answer. People going to full-time programs see 2 years of sacrifice as worth it in the long run. No invest. No mortgage. Fun is at school with their friends, enjoying free food and drinks at recruiting events. As a bride between years they get a high-paying summer job from an employer hoping to hire MBAs full time after they graduate.
It should be said that for many (probably most) full-time MBA students at the top schools, the decision to enter a full-time MBA is not clearly a ‘choice’ that they have, if they want to remain in the same field. The great bulk of MBA students at the top schools come from consulting/finance analyst positions that were generally understood to last only 2-3 years. They weren’t given the option to stay at their firms in post-analyst roles - only a small percentage of analysts are directly promoted - so their only choices are to switch to a significantly lower paying, lower-prestige industry position, or to enter an MBA program.
Furthermore, many former analysts actually are actually being sponsored for their full-time MBA’s funded by their consulting/finance employers, but with the obligation to return to their firms for a certain number of years (or else pay the employers back). The costs of a full-time MBA program may be daunting to you or I, but trust me, it’s just a rounding error to the top consulting and finance firms.
It should also be noted that the job of a consulting or, especially, a finance analyst allows you to save a tremendous amount of money (if you’re judicious) which you can readily apply to your MBA costs.
But perhaps most importantly, there are fields such as finance that attract large percentages of MBA grads and that provide such large pay packets that you can readily pay back your MBA debt. Yet if you’re not already in the finance industry, then an MBA is one of the small handful of entrance pathways.
