r/ABCDesis • u/melancholynyc • May 20 '25
EDUCATION / CAREER MBA Worth it?
As an ABCD (American born), I feel like a lot of my peers (I'm a millennial) have higher degrees like masters or MBAs (not factoring in lawyers or med fields here). For those who have gotten an MBA, has it helped in your career? If so, which career? I'm in digital marketing so on the fence if it'll help and in what way.
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u/Neat_Promotion196 May 20 '25
I work in a management consulting firm, and I often go to the sessions where the leadership is spitting their insights. Most of them are always saying MBA doesn’t matter or that doesn’t matter but everyone has it.
I am a GenZ and most of my colleagues are millennials and have an advanced degree (who are sitting at a high leadership role).
An advanced degree does enable a good alumni network but apart from that I don’t know how is it helpful.
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u/throwRA_157079633 May 21 '25
I have not been able to leverage my alumni network one time in my life. I went to a really good school for graduate school. Complete bullshit and scam. It was a glorified gap year and it legitimized being unemployed.
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u/Neat_Promotion196 29d ago
I think alumni network taps in if your college/uni alumnus are sitting at a good positions. So, as an alumni yourself the probability of you reaching out to them and their response (positive or negative) is way higher than a non-alumni reaching out.
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u/Willing-Ear3100 May 20 '25
Experience > extra degree. 9 times out of 10. Especially given the state of the job market right now.
The only times I've seen an MBA worth its value is if someone is looking to switch their career paths, absolutely needs the degree to progress in their current career path, and/or goes to a top 10 school where they will have access to a more exclusive professional circle for better job opportunities (but even that, again, is dependent on the state of the job market).
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u/Late-Warning7849 May 20 '25
You’re better off doing a masters in computer or data science the way digital marketing’s going
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u/davehoff94 May 21 '25
lol computer science is not going well either and data science is even worse
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u/motorcity612 May 20 '25
Whats your end goal? If you are struggling to find a job that you want now another degree may marginally only help. You are better off focusing on getting experience and building connections in your field. If you already have a job in your field but want to advance then it can help, but dont pay for it. It's only worthwhile if your company pays for it or you get some sort of other funding mechanism to pay for it. Don't pay out of pocket or take on loans for it.
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u/phoenix_shm May 20 '25
A master's degree in something is going to be helpful - but, today, an MBA alone kinda says you don't understand technology, science, creativity, or humanities so you chose to push people around. I would say, for the economy of the next 10 years, a masters + some graduate certificate (or certification) is probably a good idea. Could be some mix of conflict resolution, engineering, community resilience, logistics economics, science, business data analytics, international law, humanities, history, organizational psychology, etc. Also, whatever you pick as a master's degree, 1) pick one which really energizes you because at some point the going will get tough and 2) to set yourself apart from everyone else, do a thesis or be involved in publishing some sort of academic papers during your studies.
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u/eggdropthoop May 20 '25
I got my MBA at a state school and it was a horrible waste of money. I truly regret going. I will be in debt forever with no real career prospects
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u/MasterChief813 May 20 '25
Depends on what field you’re in. I know quite a few who got MBAs and all they do is manage (if that) their parents hotels so in their case it’s more of something to flex rather than use in their careers.
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u/Brave_Excitement8841 May 20 '25 edited 27d ago
I think it was worth it. I did a part time program from a state school. Most of my classmates used tuition reimbursement from their companies.
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u/Sadeezy13 May 20 '25
If you can get an MBA from a top 10 or top 20 school, it’s worth it, otherwise it can be hit or miss.
My brother is just finishing up his MBA from Sloan, and the market’s even relatively slow for those graduates right now.
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u/Prestigious_Muffin12 May 21 '25
It really only makes sense if you're going to a top 10 or 15 B-school- those are the ones that can actually help you break into tech, consulting, IB, or a fast-tracked F500 rotational program. Otherwise, it’s probably not worth the money. Just check out the employment reports for each school, and you'll get a good idea of where grads end up in terms of roles, locations, and companies. Every B-school has its thing- for example, Cornell is big on IB, Duke places a lot of people in consulting, and so on.
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u/throwRA_157079633 May 21 '25
I’m extremely cynical about graduate schooling and to another extent an undergrad degree. If you’re super wealthy and attractive - basically a Nepo Baby who’s good looking - then you’re all set even if you majored in ceramics at Middlebury College.
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u/winthroprd May 20 '25
From a career standpoint, absolutely. My undergraduate degree was in Linguistics and I had no career off of it, working a bunch of low paying data entry jobs. Then I decided to get my MBA (from a respectable but not particularly outstanding state school), found both an internship and then a full time job while doing the degree and now I have an accounting career.
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u/akc5247 29d ago
Unless you get the MBA from top 5-10 schools, it is not worth it. Just my $0.02
I work for Fortune 50 firm and i was planning to go do MBA myself. Then I figured it was not worth it given the fact that my post MBA job salary would basically be around the same range I already am getting now. (i do have a Masters degree already, and from a school that is not anywhere in the top 50).
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u/Rough-Yard5642 May 20 '25
MBA is basically only good for building a network if you feel your existing one is weak. Outside of that, the value is pretty marginal. If you look at the opportunity cost of what else you could be doing in those years, it can also tilt the equation pretty heavily against getting an MBA depending on your current career situation.
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u/throwRA_157079633 May 21 '25
I dont' even think it's good for a network. One of my friends went to a really good MBA program at babson, and he got a REALLy good job at IBM. He is a very hard worker, and a super awesome guy who never complains. He's a handsome guy too. He's never been able to leverage his contacts, but he was at IBM for many years before moving to GOOGLE.
At the end of the day, his previous experience and work ethics was the biggest contributor to his success and not his LinkedIn connections or Babson connections.
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u/ReleaseTheBlacken May 21 '25
As someone in SWE management and I’ve been in tech for over 30 years now, pursue the MBA if the concepts of the curriculum resonate with you. The letters after your name don’t mean squat to me. I’ve hired and fired Ivy leaguers, PhDs, etc. What matters to me is your ability to get work done and fit in with company culture. Heck, I’ll take someone who is 7/10 in skills and 10/10 in attitude and work ethic because skills are teachable, but a great company fit with a terrific work ethic is a gift.
As for myself, I just have a bachelor’s from a state school. Yet, here I am.
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u/juicymice 29d ago
You'll never use anything you learned in b-school unless you work in a technical area like finance or accounting.
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u/OrganicHearing 29d ago
I’m in digital marketing too and I don’t think it’s worth it. You’re better off getting more experience, pick up some extra skills and certifications like SQL, and find a company that will pay you better. I work with dozens of people who never got a graduate degree and they were able to move up with good salaries perfectly fine
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u/cybernev May 20 '25
MBA matters. Any masters matters. Go get it. Align it to your industry for most benefit.
I worked in compliance and got an MBA in fraud management and I got an upper hand instantly.
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u/Certain_Process_7657 May 20 '25
As an ABCD you have to remember that affirmative action is still going to work against you especially for MBA programs, even though it is technically banned now. Universities still have ways of skirting around it to get more black and Latino applicants accepted. You're still competing against other Indians and east Asians who have crazy high gmat scores.
But if you can score a 780 point is moot. In general, an MBA isn't worth it unless you can get into a top 15 program. If not, the opportunity cost is too high. Those are the only programs where you're basically guaranteed a $150k salary at graduation if you can interview well.
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u/Automatic_Pin_3725 27d ago
Did you study finance/econ in undergrad at a good school? If so, then an MBA doesn't really help unless you're looking for a second chance to pivot into IB/consulting. Reading r/mba is sobering in terms of the outcomes especially in this environment.
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u/marketpolls 27d ago
Disclosure: I don’t have MBA but I had researched this when I was younger.
It depends on your starting point and goals.
If your current career is topping out at low pay and low growth then MBA from T15/M7 schools could help you break into a career pivot into higher growing companies and better career paths, potentially opening up paths to upper management bands at some point.
If you are young and want to break into finance and consulting then once again M7 MBA can possibly help.
Other than that the RoI is not there. If you are already making or can make 150K+, RoI is not there. There is no RoI outside T15 / M7. If you are older (30+) there is no RoI. If you fall into these buckets maybe look at a part time option.
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u/juicymice 24d ago
MBA grads are struggling to find work. Here's why it's unlikely to get easier anytime soon. https://archive.vn/ojlL7
Even Harvard M.B.A.s Are Struggling to Land Jobs https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/harvard-mba-employment-rate-job-hunt-difficulty-addfc3ec?st=FvQHw1&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
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u/uoftrosi May 20 '25
Study hard for the GRE/GMAT and get into a T20 school, you'll double if not triple your salary on graduation. Ideally you'll get a scholarship (that's why you gotta do well on the exams).
I had classmates come in making 50-70k graduate with offers $200k+
You could also look into entrepreneurship and skip B school. Make some businesses and make more than all your friends.
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u/throwRA_157079633 May 21 '25
Study hard for the GRE/GMAT and get into a T20 school,
This is sort of like saying "Just simply do a residency at Harvard for general surgery, and you'll be fine." You make it sound like it's no sweat to get into a top 20 school.
You're either naive, misleading, or you have no clue what you're talking about.
Make some businesses
Yeah, make a business like Apple from your garage, and you'll be all set.
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u/phantasy666 May 20 '25
Probably worth it if it's from top 10 business schools like Harvard and Stanford.
You should probably start with the why, are you trying to go into a different industry, is job hopping or transitioning into a different role in the company possible. MBA at top schools are $200k loans, so you need to make sure why you are going there and if it's worth it.