Started thinking about pursuing my MBA down the road and being from the Boston area I have mostly narrowed my searched down to 4 schools to pursue my MBA: MIT, Harvard, BC, and BU. From that list MIT and HBS are the only schools in top 25. BC and BU are in top 50, but obviously not in the top 25. I kept reading that outside of top 25, an MBA is not really worth the price. However, looking at BC/BU’s job placement rate (91 and 90% respectively) they’re very close to MIT and HBS’s (95 and 93% respectively) placement rate. So I was wondering why folks often refer to an MBA outside of top 25 waste of money?
Top 10, 20, 25, 30, 50. Everyone will tell you differently. Job placement in itself isn’t hard to do as an MBA, it’s a great tool for enhancing your career. But if you are struggling to receive offers you really want you might end up settling for a career, position, or firm that you are less attracted to. In the end it is still going to count towards the MBA career placement statistics. The differentiation comes when you look at the quality of placement (firm, bonus, salary, position, etc.). In addition to the below median salary for the respective schools the signing bonuses are typically higher.
Median Salary for Class of 2014
Harvard: $125K
MIT: $124K
BU: $95K
BC: $90K
Wow! Hard to believe BU is higher than BC. Well, I want to make a career switch from Engineering to Finance once I have 1.5-2 years of experience and those are the schools I want to work for. But I think BC has better alumni network than BU in the Boston area. So if HBS/MIT doesn’t work out I think I’d still prefer BC over BU. Any thoughts?
High job placement is a good thing. However, the quality and payscale of jobs you would be likely to get out of a top school and one in the top 50 would be different.
Why not try Bentley University?
It’s located in Waltham, MA and is one of the top schools in the U.S.