<p>I keep hearing how it's difficult to find a job even with an MBA. Explain.</p>
<p>Because everyone and their mother has an MBA these days. (That’s an exaggeration. But an MBA is far more common today than it was 20 years ago.)</p>
<p>^^^^^and that is why an MBA from a top 10 school has a lot more meaning these days…</p>
<p>I have an MBA, earned way back in the olden days when Jimmy Carter was President.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the value of an MBA degree has been severely cheapened.</p>
<p>The law of supply and demand rules.</p>
<p>Too much supply.</p>
<p>Too easy to get an MBA nowadays.</p>
<p>Too many executive MBA programs. </p>
<p>Down here in Florida, University of Miami and University of Florida advertise their executive MBA programs in billboards on I-95 !!!</p>
<p>Further, in my opinion, the need to get an MBA is diminished if you get a BBA for undergraduate.</p>
<p>But this is old news. Twenty five years ago, I had two friends who earned MBA degrees from NYU, and those MBAs did not do either of them a bit of good.</p>
<p>My MBA was only or marginal benefit to me.</p>
<p>^^^^^and that is why an MBA from a top 10 school has a lot more meaning these days…</p>
<p>Sounds like an arbitrary line being drawn. Case-in-point, if someone in Texas earns an MBA from Texas A&M then it will be far more valuable than an MBA from Southwestern Missouri State University, Clemson or University of Phoenix. Shoot, the cache in the area in which he wants to work might actually benefit him more than an MBA from a significantly higher ranked school.</p>
<p>The AACSB approved MBA degree (in WA State) from Western Washington University will forever be worth more than an MBA from University of Phoenix, even through the cost is the same. It is all relative. </p>
<p>If you are a store manager in Vancouver, Washington, at the Les Schwab Tire Store and you are looking to become the regional manager for Les Schwab why would you go to a higher ranked program when you could be better served with a MBA from Washington State University at the regional branch campus? That degree costs $12,000, can be completed evenings and may be the best ROI for your skill set and your reasonably obtainable goals.</p>
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<p>You will hear the same thing with every degree, perhaps with the exception of the MD.</p>
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<p>and how would the MBA from Texas A&M compare to an MBA from Harvard if the individual was looking to work in Texas?</p>
<p>That’s my point, the hiring manager may be an Aggie and feel a sort of camaraderie with his fellow alum. If the guy’s ambition a regional job that wouldn’t support the opportunity costs of investing in a degree which costs more than 5 times as much, then what’s the point of going to HBS over Texas A&M even if you are qualified?</p>
<p>With that said, an MBA from Texas A&M is nothing to sneeze at. It’s a fine school.</p>
<p>Outside of a top 10-15 MBA it makes little sense to do a program full time or pay out of pocket for it. Surely don’t go into debt to get a non top MBA degree. Just not worth it.</p>
<p>@MSFHQsite: what’s the reputation of Drexel locally?</p>
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<p>And maybe the hiring Alumni is a Houston Baptist University Alumn, and you should therefore go to HBU (there are a ton in Houston). Or maybe she’s a TCU graduate, so you should go to TCU, etc. You can’t choose a college like that.</p>
<p>Texas A&M is a decent school compared to all of the business schools that exist, but it’s not really a place to go full time. Only 62% of students were placed at graduation and the top recruiting company is Waste Management. The median salary is $85,000 per year (which a 5 year experienced engineer should be able to pass), and I don’t see a single MBB or BB placement last year. </p>
<p>Compare that to UT-Austin: 87% of students placed at graduation, top recruiting company is Deloitte, 3 people at Goldman Sachs, 8 at Merrill Lynch, and others at other BB’s. Placement at all three MBB. Median starting salary of $100,000. </p>
<p>So will an TAMU MBA be laughed at in the job market? Absolutely not. Is it a good place to go part-time with your company footing the tab? Sure. Should you quit your day job and go there full time? Probably not.</p>
<p>Precisely. But my point wasn’t about TAMU specifically, I just used them as an example of an MBA which for in-state students is pretty affordable. If you are looking to earn $85,000 a year as a manager at Waste Management, then TAMU will suit you just fine.</p>
<p>Is it reasonable to earn a degree at a school which blatantly has religious connotation in it’s name? I know Baylor is a through-and-through Baptist University, but at least it doesn’t say “Houston Baptist University” in the title.</p>
<p>Southern Methodist University students seem to do pretty well, as do Texas Christian University students. If you want to expand nationally, Notre Dame, Boston College, and BYU are very religious schools but the MBA graduates do very well. </p>
<p>As far as your point, maybe I was confused about the argument. I agree with a previous poster that prestige really matters for MBAs and a Top 10-Top 15 will open up doors that other schools (like Texas A&M) simply can’t open. However, if your goal is to find a comfortable job making a decent salary, then the Top 50 or so are all fine. </p>
<p>But TAMU does seem pretty pricy for the value it offers. It costs about the same as UT and twice the other second tier schools in Texas (UH, UT-Dallas, etc).</p>
<p>I mean in the name. The fact that Boston College, Notre Dame du Lac, Brigham Young and for that matter, Georgetown, Northwestern, Emory, Harvard and Yale have had their starts as religious institutions they still don’t have a specific religious denomination or ideology reflected in their name, unlike Catholic University, TCU, SMU and others.</p>
<p>I wonder what the effect the name is and if they would have benefitted by taking a more neutral name or, the UG, by going to a school without that affiliation affixed to it. Similar to Christian Children’s Fund changing their name to Child Fund.</p>
<p>SMU is actually a very well-respected MBA program in Texas. Its ranked about 30 and places graduates really well. It’s basically on par with the Rice MBA.</p>
<p>Having Methodist in the name doesn’t affect it’s placement.</p>
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<p>nope</p>
<p>this is real life</p>
<p>and real life means that the hiring manager would want to hire the best applicant for the job so that it makes the hiring manager shine in the eyes of top management. He would therefore go for the Harvard MBA over the Texas A&M MBA 9/10 times.</p>
<p>I don’t know how familiar you are with Texas A&M, but a TAMU grad would hire a dog wearing a TAMU sweater over a team of 20 Harvard graduates. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but they will hire a less qualified Aggie wearing a ring over a more qualified Aggie not wearing a ring (a 2%er, I think they call the TAMU graduates not illogically obsessed with TAMU). </p>
<p>Texas A&M is the only school I can think of like that.</p>
<p>^^^^ha!</p>
<p>actually, what you say might very well be believable</p>
<p>Hard to find a job is definitely not the same as “useless”!</p>
<p>You’re not buying a guarantee when you get an MBA, you’re acquiring a set of skills that give you an advantage (not a guarantee) in the marketplace.</p>