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Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

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Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#81

Post by rowanG077 »

bluedevil2k wrote: post #77
helpPeople wrote: post #53

I'm not sure what an "elite" college teaches that a "regular" college doesn't. Maybe quality of student is better, but the content seems negligible. Heck I find the personalities of young "elite" grads need additional shaping in the real world.

Elite schools move much faster and cover more material than a regular school would. Obviously with the smarter kids at the elite school they can get more advanced.

Do you have any examples of this? I don't feel people I have met from elite schools actually know more material theory then from other schools. If I look at online courses the content of those from elite schools doesn't differ much from courses I have taken in a non-elite school.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#82

Post by iamasoftwaredev »

airstrike wrote: post #74
rswail wrote: post #6

Good. The rise of the MBA has seen the downfall of quality. "Business Administration" is not something that can be taught in such a generic way that an MBA qualifies you to actually run a business. In particular, the rise of Financial "Engineering" has led to huge inequality and the total disconnection of "Wall St" from "Main St" such that their relationship has been completely inverted.

It's not really that generalized as you can pick 1 or more majors and focus on what you want to learn most. Not to mention each MBA school has different characteristics, attracting different candidates and campus recruiters. Stanford and Booth couldn't be more different if they tried. MBA graduates are also not fit for running literally any business. The only thing employers know is that if you come from a top 10 MBA…

> It's a pedigree that allegedly excludes the dumb rich kids

Yeah, it's exclusively for the smarter rich kids.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#83

Post by codingdave »

aoveri wrote: post #50

Having started my own company and done everything from doing coffee runs for my team to writing investment briefs, I'm not sure what an MBA would teach me? Not being snarky, genuinely curious as to what benefit I could derive as I've always seen as something that I'd eventually pursue.

The analogy that I find helpful is that an MBA is to the business world the same thing that design patterns are to coding.

Neither are an answer to all things, both can be used in the wrong places, but both give you a toolkit that saves you from re-inventing wheels if you first recognize that you are in a scenario where these tools will help.

Odds are, an MBA will help you less getting a small company going, but more when you are re-organizing larger companies, or integrating organizations after a merger/acquisition.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#84

Post by clairity »

rswail wrote: post #6

Good. The rise of the MBA has seen the downfall of quality. "Business Administration" is not something that can be taught in such a generic way that an MBA qualifies you to actually run a business. In particular, the rise of Financial "Engineering" has led to huge inequality and the total disconnection of "Wall St" from "Main St" such that their relationship has been completely inverted.

> "The rise of the MBA has seen the downfall of quality."

specious and unsupported statement. what "quality" are you talking about? what "downfall" has there been? when, how and why did "it" rise in the first place?

you're making a fundamental attribution error (a topic taught in an MBA program, no less) by hinting at structural issues that are much wider and far-reaching than a simple graduate degree.

make a reasoned point rather than trotting out a trite boogeyman.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#86

Post by iamasoftwaredev »

pastor_elm wrote: post #64
aoveri wrote: post #50

Having started my own company and done everything from doing coffee runs for my team to writing investment briefs, I'm not sure what an MBA would teach me? Not being snarky, genuinely curious as to what benefit I could derive as I've always seen as something that I'd eventually pursue.

MBAs are a gatekeeping mechanism for the rich

Downvoted but not actually opposed by comment.

I think you touched a nerve for some people.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#87

Post by airstrike »

iamasoftwaredev wrote: post #82
airstrike wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really that generalized as you can pick 1 or more majors and focus on what you want to learn most. Not to mention each MBA school has different characteristics, attracting different candidates and campus recruiters. Stanford and Booth couldn't be more different if they tried. MBA graduates are also not fit for running literally any business. The only thing employers know is that if you come from a top 10 MBA…

> It's a pedigree that allegedly excludes the dumb rich kids Yeah, it's exclusively for the smarter rich kids.

I don't know. As the son of a High School teacher and an unemployed father from a third world country, I'm probably not what you call "smarter rich kid" yet I went to a top 5 MBA. Many of my classmates came from equally diverse backgrounds and nationalities. I think 30%+ of my class were foreigners.

But go on, it's easy to hate on MBAs. It's the one bigoted view everyone is seemingly allowed to have.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#88

Post by slap_shot »

gringoDan wrote: post #55

This is a good thing. People are realizing that a $500,000+ upfront cost (tuition + 2 years' lost income) had better have an an astronomical ROI. In many cases, it doesn't. Anecdotally, I went to undergrad at a school with an elite MBA program. It seemed to me that the only hard part of the MBA program was getting in; the MBA students were essentially paying to have a 2 year networking party. Their experience was lik…

I have several friends with top tier MBAs. They all got them in an effort to jump from the sell-side to the buy side, and most saw salary increases from 300-400k to 600k-1M+. The ROI on that specific career move is pretty clear and is really the only path I would personally justify for an MBA.

They all say the course load and work is a joke. It's mostly an accreditation to the buy side hiring process and networking.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#89

Post by Foobar8568 »

How bloody surprising.

My own experience:I have an associate degree, I cannot apply to anything because I don't have a bachelor degree, yet my current stakeholders are CxO, or I am basically a tech lead. I would love to do a MBA or a master degree but continous education is out of reality.

And mooc are useless in this regard : sorry but even if you pass our Mooc "degree", you still need a bachelor to register to the master through the mooc pathway, screw that.

Re: Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

#90

Post by iamasoftwaredev »

Vaslo wrote: post #18
rswail wrote: post #6

Good. The rise of the MBA has seen the downfall of quality. "Business Administration" is not something that can be taught in such a generic way that an MBA qualifies you to actually run a business. In particular, the rise of Financial "Engineering" has led to huge inequality and the total disconnection of "Wall St" from "Main St" such that their relationship has been completely inverted.

You clearly have no idea what is being taught in Top 20 MBA programs. Many MBA programs are graduating people that get both heavy technical training in their program (stats, data engineering, coding, etc) as well as learning how to properly manage individuals with technical skills.

It's a 2 year program and you're also supposed to be learning business administration.

I know they like to select the smart people who have lots of extra money, but when in the program is all this stuff taught?

Being managed by someone with shallow technical skills and bunch of book knowledge about how to manage doesn't like a good time.

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