Questions To Ask

Graduate School Business School - MBA
1

<p>So, I'm a bit wary of asking this here as it seems to cater mostly to those who are currently in college, but I figure it's worth a shot!</p>

<p>I'll try and set this up without getting so specific someone might identify me or my girlfriend: My long-term girlfriend and I live in Southern California. My girlfriend graduated from one of the top film school here about 5 years ago, and she specialized in a particular field. She currently works doing that, and she likes it. It's creative, and she works on a number of high profile, big budget things. She's also in charge of many of these projects with team members under her, despite being quite young. She likes this aspect of the job. But she's not particularly well paid, and she's feeling like there's not a whole lot of room for upward mobility in the company. That said, she has a steady job, which is more than most in the industry can say.</p>

<p>Anyway, she's starting to think about her options for the future, and while she's quietly looking for other jobs, she's also been increasingly thinking about going back to school, and business school is something she's discussed quite a bit. I think ultimately she would like to run her own place that does what she does now, but I don't think she's married to the idea and that's a fairly far off desire anyway.</p>

<p>I'm an attorney (albeit not a tremendously well paid one). She doesn't have much debt (under 10k) from school or elsewhere, and we live a pretty frugal lifestyle as it is. I'm not sure how numbers based MBA programs are, but she had good grades in undergrad (3.7+) and at least at one point (i.e. eons ago) she was good at taking standardized tests (national merit and around 1500 SAT). She has not taken the GMAT and won't unless she decides an MBA is something she wants to do.</p>

<p>Anyway, my question is not whether she should get an MBA -- that's ultimately for her to answer -- but rather what types of questions should I be asking to help her decide if this is the right move for her? I could try and apply what I know about the field of law and law school, but that doesn't seem particularly well suited to this task!</p>

<p>Anyway, for those of you who have gotten an MBA or generally have knowledge, what are the questions you'd ask a friend or family member who was in this position?</p>

<p>A few other questions:
1. At what point does it make sense to move to go to a better school? As an attorney who has to pass a bar to practice in a state, it can be tricky moving states, but I'd do it if the benefit were great enough.
2. Are specialty business programs (for example, one in entertainment) particularly useful?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance! Let me know if there's any other information I can provide to help this discussion.</p>

2

<p>First of all, you gf needs to ask herself why she wants an MBA. If she’s just using it as a hiatus to figure out her next step in life, I would not recommend getting the degree. Top MBA programs want to see that you have a career goal. So if she doesn’t, it will ultimately lead to a ding. If she has good stats, and just want the degree, she can apply for a non-top 30 program, they usually will not ding people with good stats.</p>

<p>B-school doesn’t have to worry about the bar; however, your post-MBA career prospect depends on the school’s brand and specialty. The ~top 18 programs are generally considered national programs, below that school becomes regional. The school’s specialty also comes into play. For example, USC-Marshall is a regional school that’s strong in entertainment. So if she plans on going back to the entertainment business in SoCal, USC would a good choice, better than some of the top 18 schools. But if she wants to change industry and move to the East Coast, the USC brand/network doesn’t carry too well. </p>

<p>To answer your question:

  1. It makes sense to go to a better school if the school has better brand/specialty than the lower ranked school.
  2. UCLA-Anderson and USC-Marshall for entertainment (that’s pretty much about it).</p>

<p>Another thing to note, unlike law, the rankings only matter to a certain degree. It’s sort of tiered in the top 18. The schools in the same tier offer pretty much the same opportunities. </p>

<p>Tier 1:
Harvard / Stanford
Tier 2:
Kellogg / Wharton / Booth / Sloan
Tier 3:
Columbia / Fuqua / Haas / Tuck / Ross / Yale / Stern
Tier 4:
Johnson / Darden / Anderson / McCombs / Tepper</p>

<p>The difference between Tier 2 and 3 is minuscule. And even that doesn’t paint the whole picture, because specialty is important. For example, Fuqua for management is better than Booth. And Booth for finance is better than Stanford.</p>

3

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<p>My understanding of the OP is that he wants to help facilitate this answer, and needs specific questions to ask her so that she can answer it.</p>

<p>I think it’s good to ask yourself
Do you want to be a generalist or a specialist?
Can you get to the next tier without the MBA and if so why aren’t you there yet?
How will the MBA help you get to that next place? Will another degree also help you, and would that other degree be a better option?</p>

4

<p>Thank you! Both of your responses were helpful, but the second poster is right. We’re both old enough to understand the effect debt and lost opportunity can have, so it’s unlikely she would enter this on a lark. But that doesn’t mean figuring it out is particularly easy. </p>

<p>When you say specialist vs. generalist, do you mean whether she’d focus on one area of business such as finance, management, etc? or specialist in terms of a particular industry (such as entertainment)?</p>

<p>In terms of USC/UCLA: are these programs geared toward the agent types or is it general entertainment industry? While my girlfriend works with well-known talent, I’m almost positive it isn’t something she’d be interested in.</p>