<p>I am only applying to two undergraduate schools with top 25 MBA programs. My first choice is Rice which does not have a top MBA program. Is it worth it to apply for an MBA at Rice's business school or graduate after four years and apply to a top 25 program?</p>
<p>I suggest you not even think about a MBA for at least 4 yrs.</p>
<p>@ nbnyc44</p>
<p>You're not even in college yet. Don't even think about an MBA until you have your degree and a full-time job.</p>
<p>Rice probably wouldn't accept you into the program right out of undergrad so it's somewhat of a moot point.</p>
<p>Yes this is something I would like to know as well. Is an MBA program not listed in the top 25 worth it?</p>
<p>@ kunfuzed101</p>
<p>Even if you don't attend a top 25 school, if you go to the best MBA program in your area, it still holds value. Sometimes, an accredited regional MBA works better for some individuals rather than a national top 25 MBA.</p>
<p>I disagree with the last poster. To me, not attending a top 20 program and rationalizing it is simply making an excuse for not being able to get in. Anyone considering going to a lower ranked program (especially direct from undergrad) instead of the best program they can get into needs to have their head examined. While it's true that a person can be successful at any school, you are going to be twice as successful at a top ranked school and will make two or three times as much money. The 50 year old Corporate guy who makes $160,000 and went to some **** MBA would be considered very succcessful by most people. But the Top MBA grad who left the program making $160,000 and retired at age 50 making over 1 million is truly successful. To the OP, work hard in your undergrad, get awesome grades, get a great job, and break your back for 4 years working. You'll surely get into a top program and can then write your own ticket. People who advise who to do otherwise clearly went the easy route and you will likely be their boss in a few years after they are passed up for promotion multiple times with their low ranked MBA's.</p>
<p>Anyone who measures success with how much money you make has some growing up to do.</p>
<p>@ marine1300</p>
<p>You are wrong. Most people who hold MBAs didn't even graduate from the top 25-ranked schools. You will find that their accredited degrees works well for them, if not better.</p>
<p>There is so much bad advice here. </p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>Be careful who you listen to.</p>
<p>Rice is an EXCELLENT school. I wouldn't think twice about going there if I was you. I currently work in private equity with a Rice graduate (who also has a top MBA).</p>
<p>Also, you DO NOT have to wait until graduation or a job to start thinking about an MBA. Check out Harvard's 2+2 Program, for which you apply the summer of your junior year (you'll have to put together your application during your junior year which is significantly earlier than most people are used to). Chicago's GSB and Yale's SOM are also taking people directly from college.</p>
<p>Speaking from experience I know that regardless of how great your resume or undergrad grades are the bottom line is that many people can not afford to simply cut-off their income stream and stop working for 2 years in order to pursue a full time MBA. Depending on where you work there may not be a top 25 school in the area that offers a part time program. I certainly would hope that future employers are congnizant of this fact and that maintaining an impressive GPA in a second-tier MBA program that offers the ability to go part time WHILE excelling in your career would be almost equally as impressive as a top tier MBA.</p>
<p>RWAch76,</p>
<p>I am one of those people who can't afford to give up two years of income either. In a few years I plan to start working on my MBA part-time either at a college campus or online. While I am an engineer with a decent salary, I also have undergraduate loans and a family to take care of. Also, I plan on using my employer's reimbursement program to help pay for the MBA because I plan to stay with this employer for a long time. I would love to be able stop working and go to an elite MBA program but that would not be practical by any means. And I have no intention on chasing after riches. Personally, 160k/year would be just fine for me.</p>
<p>Two functions of an MBA:</p>
<p>1) Catapult you into a job or position in a different industry, or even same industry, that you wouldn't have gotten into without the MBA. This is where the top 25 MBA is most important. It's career-switching.</p>
<p>2) Bolster your credentials as you continue on the career path, perhaps even the same company path, that you're already on. A decent, not stellar, MBA can help you check that box and be just fine; it doesn't make or break you and instead just boost you a bit.</p>
<p>Another way of putting it: no matter how well you do at a third-tier MBA program companies like Goldman Sachs simply are unlikely to ever consider you. Now, it's true if you go to top-shelf MBA, there are companies that won't touch you also, but it's mostly because they think you might have attitude, would cost too much, or wouldn't be interested and not so much that they don't think you'd make the quality standard.</p>
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People who advise who to do otherwise clearly went the easy route and you will likely be their boss in a few years after they are passed up for promotion multiple times with their low ranked MBA's.
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<p>Promotions are rarely going to be determined by the ranking of one's MBA school. Their main usefulness is just in attaining the job in the first place; not anything after that.</p>
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Promotions are rarely going to be determined by the ranking of one's MBA school. Their main usefulness is just in attaining the job in the first place; not anything after that.
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<p>Hell, once you've gotten the job -- which the MBA may really help you do -- it doesn't matter if you have an MBA or not, just so long as you have the abilities.</p>
<p>Once you get to a certain point in your career, people in most lines of work don't know where one another went to school or what degrees one achieved. This isn't as true for legal jobs or some kinds of business jobs, but it becomes increasingly true the further one gets from school for most jobs.</p>
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Check out Harvard's 2+2 Program, for which you apply the summer of your junior year
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<p>Like I said before, what's so special about the '2+2' when you can just do the '+2' by getting into HBS right out of undergrad, as a few people are apparently able to do?</p>
<p>Chris</a> Wilson-Byrne Profile - MBA - Harvard Business School
PJ</a> Meyer Profile - MBA - Harvard Business School</p>
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... many people can not afford to simply cut-off their income stream and stop working for 2 years in order to pursue a full time MBA
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I would love to be able stop working and go to an elite MBA program but that would not be practical by any means.
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<p>Well, to each his own, but what I would say is that the top B-schools such as HBS and Stanford have numerous students who are married and with kids, and yet they manage to attend and complete the programs despite having to interrupt their income streams.</p>
<p>Why the hell are you married with kids only a few years (presumably) out of undergrad? That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard...Learn to prioritize jeez...</p>
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Why the hell are you married with kids only a few years (presumably) out of undergrad? That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard...Learn to prioritize jeez...
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What makes you think they didn't prioritize?</p>
<p>I don't think its about priorities but about sacrifice. Family is very important, more important than a career, IMO. Does that make me stupid? Poor post, either way.</p>
<p>"Why the hell are you married with kids only a few years (presumably) out of undergrad? That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard...Learn to prioritize jeez..."</p>
<p>You're either a comedian or one of the shallowest people on earth.</p>