In the Bay Area, there are a TON of tech/engineer types. They make a healthy $100-150,000/yr, but after that, they’re kind of stuck. That’s why 60% of Berkeley’s part-time MBA class, for example, are filled with engineers and tech types! They want to break that glass ceiling, and try and take a next step to the $300-500,000+ range. That’s where the MBA can help, b/c it gets you on that management path.

It’s all what you want and are happy with. Like you said to me before, you love tech and are happy with it, so definitely no need for you! Best, FS

My question is, for someone already earning around the "average" MBA pay, what is the benefit?

Thanks for highlighting a different perspective. It’s funny you say the tech field does’t respect the degree, yet 60%+ of my MBA class came from tech! Might be a double standard of thinking one way, and actually doing another. Might just be the product of my surroundings.

So many of my engineering/tech classmates were “stuck” making $120-150,000 a year doing the same old things and no longer wanted to be one of the tech drones under some guy in management. Can’t blame them, b/c the tech guys are often the brains with the super hi GMAT’s and GPAs. The tech classmates all wanted to move into management, to strategize and tell the tech folks what to do. Besides, management pay was double+ theirs.

Getting a chance, a foot in the door is half the battle. I believe many people can be successful if they only had a chance. Best, FS

After going to business school, they get the MBA right away.

It isn’t considered an undergrad degree, because the time and sheer amount of sweat and work spent studying in prep school, is considered to be equivalent to an undergrad (which, by the sounds of prep school students’ lives, I agree with)

Other students after secondary school who don’t want to (or cannot) get into a business school, go to university/college and take a degree there. That, is considered an undergrad.

I am still not sold on getting an MBA, especially since I am in a field that doesn’t respect it (Tech), but I do agree that going to the right school helps for 2 reasons:

1) the connections you make with your peers, who will also have good jobs is invaluable. In other schools, you WILL find exceptional candidates, but there’s an undoubtedly higher percentage of those with more connection/pull are more likely to be in the big name schools

2) you will get a privileged foot in the door for the interview over other candidates, but the rest is up to you to close the deal and get the job

After that, it’s luck, humility, hard work and how the cookie crumbles.

Good luck in your summer associate position hunt for next year, and hope to see you around more often!

FS

It’s the bell curve like you say. At each level, you have to compete with brighter and more accomplished people. But, that’s just the way things are and you have to BELIEVE you can compete. You were a top student in HS, why can’t you be a top student your final year? Effort requires no skill.

We’re in the worst hiring environment in our lifetimes probably. Don’t blame yourself for your lack of intern success. In fact, getting an internship is often HARDER than getting a full time position! Just keep hustling and start from the bottom of the bottom if you have to. It is actually quite easy to make a leap in your career if you get the proper mentor to sing your praises.

If I had to go back to making $3.3/hr (well now it’s $8/hr) at McDonald’s to support myself, I would. There’s no shame in work, it’s just work. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail, and maybe we can talk more about it.

Hang tough!

FS

Having said that, a good GPA and/or a good GMAT answers the first. Good work experience and charisma answers the second. And for the third you are on your own.

When evaluating schools, I think some of the most important aspects (especially for career switchers such as myself) are looking at alumni who are currently in the market, firms who recruits at the school and the diversity in your classroom (beyond the items listed in the Magazine).

Now adays, an MBA is table-stakes. It’s necessary, but not sufficient to succeed in many competitive jobs (Associates for IB or Consulting) or top management positions. Especially in today’s markets, it’s always necessary to have an “edge” over your competition.

I think the fact that I did so well in high school makes it that much harder for me to accept that I’m struggling at the moment. I wouldn’t say that I was lazy in high school; I did my job and got a 3.9 unweighted GPA and 2100+ on the SAT (equivalent to 1400+ on the old standard). I got into UCLA and UC Berkeley along with NYU. I didn’t apply to any Ivys because I was afraid of the cost (mistake on my part). High school was tough but not overly challenging for me. Once I got to UCLA though, I didn’t feel so good anymore. My current GPA is barely above 3.0 and I’m currently failing some of my core econ courses. I feel like I’m on pins and needles trying to hang on long enough to graduate without failing.

Even putting the thought of b-school aside, I’m incredibly worried about what I can do to get work experience. I think the bittersweet part of attending a good school like UCLA is that you are surrounded by such bright students who are all competing for those elusive internships with you. I have tried my luck applying to intern positions at Smith and Barney and Morgan Stanley but I get not so much as a reply. The sad part is that I don’t really blame them. I wouldn’t hire myself looking at my own resume–there’s just no work experience or extra curricular worth mentioning. That seems to be a catch-22 to me…you need work experience to gain work experience.

So what would you recommend? Should I aim lower and apply for a campus position or small business instead? Am I looking in the wrong places or grossly miscalculating my actions to get work experience? At this point, I’m starting to feel the desperation as my peers all seem to be moving on to bigger and better things while I’m trudging in the back kicking myself on why I didn’t do better from the beginning. I am completely open to your words because spending this summer trying to fill up a one-page resume was like gouging my eyes out repeatedly.