Top 20 MBA school: Worth it?

[awesomesaucenes]

I've been admitted into med school (MD) and chose to defer it a year. I applied to a couple of MBA programs for my year in between, and got into a couple of those as well (yay!). This includes one top 10 MBA school, a top 50 MBA school, and a horrible MBA school that is basically free.

Is a top MBA school worth it at all? To be completely honest, I have no idea what I want to do when I'm older. In the far future I'd like to have my own [healthcare related] company (probably a nonprof), but right after med school I wouldn't mind practicing OR working in consulting.

That being said, how much does a top MBA school help if you have an MD? The top 10 MBA school is very intensive, expensive (>120k for the program. No undergrad debt thanks to scholarships, but med school will be >50k/year)), and wouldn't give me my degree until after graduating from med school, which scares me. On the contrary, the horrible MBA school is almost free, and would require no studying, which means I would probably be focusing on building a startup or working (likely the former). I'm in love with the top 10 MBA school, but from a rational perspective its not sounding like a good idea .

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[michaelrack]

YOur plans for the future are not well thought out, and I don't think an MBA will be very helpful to you at this point. If med school is going to be of any use to you, you will need to do a residency immediately afterwards. By then, you will have forgotten a lot you earned in business school. Of the options given, the most rational (in my opinion) is to do the horrible MBA for near free, and focusing on working (not a start up- unless you already have a great idea for a start up which could be quickly implemented)

 

[cognitus]

Getting an MBA is different from getting an MD because business school doesn't teach you a set of skills that you cannot learn elsewhere or on the job. Getting an MD will almost guarantee you a career in medicine (but perhaps not in the most competitive specialty). Academically, an MBA degree doesn't mean much. I also believe the quality of school matters more when pursuing a corporate job. It doesn't matter as much if you want to start your own business. You will rarely get asked about your performance in business school. It matters a lot more where you received the MBA from. I have an MBA from a top 10 school and I was able to use it to move into another career. If you want to have consulting as an option, the top 20 school is the best bet. Places like McKinsey and BCG regularly recruit students from top schools. On the other hand, lower tier schools get little attention from these firms. As the same time, you will have access to an extensive alumni network going to a top 20 school. This is helpful as many alumni will work at these consulting firms. In conclusion, you are not paying for the quality of education when receiving the MBA. You are paying for the access to extensive alumni network and the ability to persuade hiring managers that you are smart for getting into a top 20 school. Hiring managers need to be convinced that you can do the job and graduating from a top 20 business school is the first step toward persuading them.

As far as getting the MD degree, please consider other options if you do not plan on pursuing a residency RIGHT after medical school. While the MD is cheaper than business school, the MD degree is practically worth zero without the residency. You can't get licensed without at least completing an internship and your career options are slim without board certification. Also, it is MUCH more difficult to get into a residency if there is a clinical gap in your training (which there would be if you do not pursue residency right after getting the MD). If your consulting/non-medical career doesn't pan out, you may be stuck with several thousand dollars in debt and few career options to pay that debt.

If I were you, I'd pursue the top 20 school over the other business schools. It just will provide more opportunities. And if you also want to pursue the MD, get into residency afterwards and consider how to combine the MD/MBA degrees only after you have fulfilled enough medical training to get board certified in something (not just licensed).

 

[BookNerd1989]

Could be worth checking out this twitter chat tonight - http://www.midaspr.co.uk/news-stori...r-hosts-twitter-chat-future-business-schools/
It's at 6 tonight and will be about whether or not MBA's are relevant in the digital economy etc. worth checking out. I think the hashtag is #bschoolfuture.

 

[Got Em]

It really depends on what you want to do. Since you're not sure, it's just harder to answer this question.

Also, what school you get into also affects which answer to give. For example, if someone offered me a spot at Harvard's MBA program, I would take that in a heart beat, even if it was 200k. Why? Because you get an alumni network that's 2nd to none and it's a brand name. Many students there will become future leaders of whichever field and you really can't put a price on that. You may not realize the benefits right away, but it's an opportunity of a lifetime. I'm also not in debt, so that helps my decision.

However, if you're goal is to make the most money or work in a local hospital being the best physician, a top 10 MBA may not help you. You won't even have to have a top 10 MBA to become a hospital administrator. If you look at CEOs and hospital admins, most of them will have MBAs from non-top 20 schools, unless you're speaking of a major hospital in a metro area or a prestigious hospital.

It really just depends on what you want in life and what your priorities are.