<p>I find it interesting that some of these investment bankers look at MBA's as being "worthless" and only good for a career change for someone who is already an analyst. </p>
<p>***Quote from the 2nd page...
"Getting an MBA in the world of finance right now is worthless. </p>
<p>If you enter banking as an analyst and leave the firm to go to grad school after 2 or 3 years, if you plan on coming back to finance or a bank you essentially will return to your respective firm in the same position (associate) that you would be in if you had stayed at the bank. Plus, you will have more debt and be two years behind half your peers"</p>
<p>The analysts who leave a bank don't necessarily do it voluntarily; the vast majority of them are kicked out after 2 years. An analyst position is only meant to be a 2-year track, after which you can be invited back for a third year if you're very good. Otherwise, you're forced to leave the firm for an MBA, after which you can get rehired at the associate level.</p>
<p>"Basically, my whole view on banking is that you are basically a glorified salesman as a Managing Director. As an analyst, you are a monkey who does anything your Associate/VP can think of... Although you do learn a lot and build an unbelievable work ethic, at the end, I look back and wish I would have stayed at the hedge fund I was at before leaving to do investment banking..."</p>
<p>what priceless quote, this guy knows what he is talking about.</p>
<p>I have to agree with Foreverzero and say that that guy on that SomethingAwful forum makes the strong and erroneous presumption that everybody can just 'choose' to stay at your firm after 2 years. Only a tiny minority are given that choice. The vast majority of analysts are forced to leave. Whether they leave for B-school, as many do, or leave to go to an entirely different industry is up to them, but the point is, the act of leaving is generally not voluntary. </p>
<p>And besides, you can also look at it as a shot at getting into a bigger, more prestigious bank. For example, if you are an analyst at a regional Ibank, you can't just 'choose' one fine day to switch over to become an associate at Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley or some other bulge-bracket firm. If that's where you want to go, then quitting to go to B-school may be the only way for you to get there.</p>
<p>I know some analysts who: i) loved the department they were already in;ii) could think of think of no more fiufilling career than continuing on and advancing in that department; iii) were asked to stay</p>
<p>Who stayed on.</p>
<p>I know others who were asked to stay but chose to leave anyway. One eventually came back to the same department. Others switched banks, or switched departments, or switched fields altogether. These other opportunities may not have come their way if they hadn't gone back to school for the MBA.</p>
<p>An MBA can open up more opportunities for a student, either immediately or down the road. It gives one more knowledge of various business areas, including areas outside of finance, which can someday prove useful depending on how your career goes.</p>