MBB → FAANG → M7: Congrats. There are no more safe boxes to check!
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As long as the kid is happy, no boxes need to be checked.
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He was uncertain about going back for the MBA. There is strong doubt among his peer group about whether it is still necessary, and it comes with a large opportunity cost to do it (two year loss of salary and cost of attendance). There were only two schools to which he applied.
I think he is now thrilled that he chose to go.
@neela1 - I sort of agree with your point, but, as a parent, I like safe boxes. Even though life has no guarantees.
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I estimate the cost of an MBA to be about 500k. sometimes more. Necessary for some professions. Useful to change direction.
He has a lot of brand names on his resume. At that point the MBA is just consumption. And if it makes him happy …
How do you feel about part time MBA programs, company paid, while still working full time? A number of the graduates of my D’s ELDP program are going that route. So no lost wages, and the company is footing the bill for the MBA.
I don’t see my D stopping work to do a full time MBA program unless she wants to make a complete career re-set.
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Lot of work and this will kill her evenings or weekends for several years. Will affect personal and social life for those years. But I guess it may help her advance in the company. Depends on the personal situation.
Transformational financial benefits from an MBA happen when it is done full time, from a top 5 place, and when you go into finance, consulting or tech. Results are less financially certain with other paths.
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On the whole the least expensive schools will be instate public schools. In the DPT world they can also be the most selective. My Ds program was $54k for three years (that’s pretty cheap). She also had to pay for an apartment and food and when she was doing clinicals she usually had to pay for two residences. A private school can be up to $150k for three years and OOS publics are often 1.5 to 2 times the instate rates. There are rankings for DPT programs all though all said there is enough demand that it usually doesn’t make much difference where the degree is from. The key is to graduate, pass the NPTE and get licensed in the state you choose to work in. One of the challenges of Physical Therapy is that many students have to borrow significant money to attend the program. The compensation for a beginning PT is often $65k to $80k depending on where you are working and normally the higher the salary the higher the cost of living. My D loved her clinicals and is now just starting her employment. She was fortunate to attend a school with modest costs, she was offered a graduate assistants position (about 5% of the class had those) which paid for her tuition and fees and offered a $4000 per term stipend when she was in class (she had to pay both when she was in her clinicals plus additional room and board). She graduated with about $18.5 in debt. Very low in most cases. Her company offered $350 per month for student debt in addition to her regular salary and a $10k signing bonus. She has friends with significantly more debt. Most people I know who are PTs like the profession but many also wonder about the value of the degree compared to the compensation.
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It’s all about company advancement as certain roles she’s interested in will require an MBA.
As noted, I agree with you that if she wants a career re-set, she’ll do full time program at a top school.
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Thank you for this very detailed response. I need to digest this.
Seems like 4 years of experience is quite a lot pre-MBA. And presumably the pre-MBA salary was quite high, so there’s less scope for an increase.
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Not anymore. Most MBA programs want to see a good number of years of work experience first.
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Two years of MBB will put you at a total comp of around 160-180k. And two more years of FAANG on the non tech side without an MBA (salaries will be lower than tech) would put you at a comp of around 200k. I think it is hard to push post MBA starting comp above 300k. Likely start is 250k in well paying fields. That is not a large difference from pre MBA. I don’t know. I am just spit balling some numbers.
Agree that may be true in a line role. But two years of MBB consulting has traditionally been enough for anyone.
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Not always. My wife took that route. BSEE then got company to pay tuition for MSEE and a year or so later MBA. Worked well for her. After a job change her new company offered to pay for law school as they were trying to build up tech savvy patent law team.
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My daughter, and many others, also considered costs. Her degree is a match program, so you have to rank the schools you interviewed at. You may have 15 schools to rank, or you may have 3, depending.
Many rank the public schools at the top due to costs (among other things) which I suppose means that the public schools are actually the more competitive programs to match to.
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I didn’t mean to derail the thread with MBA talk.
@Twoin18 - back in my day, two years of work experience for a top MBA was the norm. I think the average now is 4-5. I am not sure that two years of MBB is really enough. That has not been my observation based on ds’s peers and who was accepted when.
@neela1 - Cost depends. Ds has three MBB friends who took sponsorships. That wasn’t an option for him since he had left. Yes they lose income for those two years, but MBA costs are covered. Ds received a partial fellowship at his school. I agree that it is an expensive proposition, generally speaking. I am constantly floored by the opportunities he has had there, however.
@momofboiler1 - I am of the mindset that it is, “better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” Which was part of the reason I wanted my ds to check this final, “box.” Whether your daughter stays with her company or not, I think there are still many organizations that have jobs listed with, “MBA preferred.” I was recently talking with a young woman, and she knows her path will be limited in her area if she doesn’t eventually get it. Some places care about the pedigree of the school - many do not.
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I wonder how many “company paid” remain. My son interviewed was offered by a top flight firm that demanded you start grad school after 6 months (a lot of theirs were doing a Johns Hopkins MBA because it’s asynchronous I guess) and they covered “up to $40K”).
I know my current company has limit - but they would cover if I went for a certificate - some have done digital marketing at Ga Tech, for example. My last company too.
I can’t imagine a part-time being good - but it’s a different era than I know. There’s nothing like being face to face with people. That’s my job - and yet our travel budgets are half of 2019 and they want us to zoom and none of the clients want to or are willing to. So I’ve become an email data dump guy and it’s highly ineffective. It’s a different world - but face to face means so so much.
That said, the world has changed - but it’s an awful lot of money - for online class - and often asynchronous classes. My daughter is taking one now and the lecture was recorded several years ago (not business).
The other thing - to me, getting an MBA is for getting a higher paying (or new) job. When you go part time and stay at work, you get a pat on the back - but you don’t get raised (or to a level you should). And schools won’t let you go through their recruiting - because the company paid some or all of the bill.
So I’m not sure I see the program as a part time as a benefit. Of course, some don’t want to let the two years (and some do a one year program) of income go by. But you do cut some of the lost income by working in the summer.
I’m sure they’re great. I’m from another era. And I just don’t see the point other than maybe it’s a box check.
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Son 1: Intelligence Analysis + Global Religion & Global Issues minor - FBI HRT midrange goal - currently in law enforcement, and a volunteer EMT in his time off. He’s working on his paramedic certification and looking into National/International Security masters programs.
Son 2: Kinesiology/Exercise Science + Pre-PT minor - wants to be a PT.
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My kids aren’t the superstars that many here are.
She decided to get a masters in engineering management on line while she was still working. She didn’t have her company pay because they wanted a commitment and she wished to change jobs.
Her boyfriend now fiancé was a medical fellow at the time. So her having a school commitment was fine as he was also busy with work and boards. Both finished his boards, her masters at approximately the same time.
For her, she was looking for more self confidence for herself at her profession.
She changed jobs, is a project manager and is very happy. Her bachelors is mechanical engineering.
My son has a bachelors in materials science engineering. He works now for a consulting firm. I’m not sure how much he loves it but it pay the bills and he is very busy.
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They sound very accomplished. You should be very proud.
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