Hi everyone, Im a high school senior deciding where to go to school next year.
I am stuck between my two top choices, both have similarly ranked business programs and are frequently compared to each other.
At one, I will get a BS in finance, and they gave me a good financial aid package, bringing the cost from around $55k to $28k a year.
At the other, I was admitted into a 3+1 MBA program, so I will earn my BS in finance in 3 years and complete my MBA in the fourth year. A seemingly rigorous curriculum, however I will be entering with credits. They gave me less financial aid, $62k a year down to around $42k a year.
I have heard many suggestions that an MBA is not really worth it until you’ve been working for a few years, but I think that spending $60k more over the next for years would be better than going back to grad school in the future.
Will having an MBA be helpful in getting a good job upon graduation, or will it not make much of a difference? Unfortunately I don’t know what I want to do exactly, so I can’t begin researching specific jobs and positions.
If anybody has opinions, please let me know!
Imo, work first. Many of the people that I know who have gone straight through have wanted to go back after a few years, because they feel that they would get more out of it now. Many of the ‘name’ MBAs either require or strongly prefer students to have had some substantive work experience first, partly for the maturity and general understanding of the work world, but also the motivation is different and you have examples to bring to the table. The cross-pollination of experience and ideas is one of the most useful parts of doing an MBA.
A newly minted MBA without any meaningful work experience will do less for you than one with experience behind it (tbh, the field is overcrowded as it is).
You will get much, much, more out of your MBA if you know what you want it for- and then choose the program that fits that best- and you don’t sound as if you are there yet.
Work hard on getting internships that are interesting to you during college- they will do more for you in getting a job after college than anything else. Follow your interests one step at a time.
Not only is it hard to get into a top MBA program without work experience, but it is also much more difficult to get a chance at the really meaningful internships and job opportunities afterwards. Although it may seem efficient to take the time off at the beginning of your career, it may be more rewarding to wait a while, or try to get some of your MBA done in the evening while working and paid for by your employer.