It really wont open any doors that you yourself cant open if you put forth some effort..... Add up the opportunity costs of a 100K plus per year job and the 60K plus direct costs and you are talking over 300K to do this MBA. Are you really unable to advance your own career without an MBA ? If true then the MBA will be of no help. You will get into Stanford if you have the connection and background that they desire: if you dont then you will not be admitted. The admission is as much for their benefit as it is for yours .....
We'll just have to agree to disagree. My own experience was a vast acceleration of career growth directly related to that piece of paper. It opened doors to entirely new careers and doubled my salary right out of school. That was before they even tried me out -- and I didn't go to Stanford.
I think it depends upon what you are doing : If your goal is to work for someone else then the MBA may - or may not - be useful. On the other hand if you are starting, running, or aquiring busineses then the MBA itself will be of little use - and nearly everything that is taught in business school (even Stanfords) these days can be learned without going and incurring direct and opportunity costs.
You need to keep in mind though, that the markets will always be there, but your ability, time etc to get a great education may not. Get the education, if you can.
Again, I totally disagree. An MBA is extremely useful for buying businesses -- where business is not a subway franchise. It is also very helpful for fine tuning business processes, raising capital, writing business plans, teaching you what calculations matter, how to do them, and why, etc.. Does it provide you with current best practice? No way. You get that from a job. But it provides you with all the frameworks to get going. Could you learn it all on your own from books? Probably. But how would you choose which books and what chapters to study? Part of what you are buying is the professor's expertise and knowledge of cutting edge issues. Another major part of what you are buying is entree into an existing network to help you get going and support you down the road. etc...
Another classic naive quote. It's not some state college. Stanford MBA accepts 8% of its applicants. You obviously don't realize how competitive it is. You keep on making excuses to make yourself feel better.
StocksSniper, All posts by tomcoles, prt_systems, and ssternlights posts have merit...if you take part of their paragraphs and ignore some parts. Basically, Getting a great education from a solid school like Harvard, Stanford, MIT.. is invaluable and the *probability* of you getting some good JOB with high salary are greater than some non-rep school, or just no MBA. But does this MBA from top notch schools guarantee you will stay employed?.. NO.. but the *probability* of finding some similar jobs after getting laid off is easier..probability wise. Remember that some places tend to laid off people who have higher salary and who are not that important to the company. So compare that with your situation now where if you ,knock on wood, get laid off in this 100k job of your, can you easily find a similar job that paid just as well (aka your marketability). ..but remember like I just say MBAs get laid off too and also I know one with MBAs from Harvard, yes Harvard, who is unemployed for a long while and end up working in some job that a bachelor degree will get you in. I also know a few phds, who is working in a job that a bachelors degree can get in while other are working temporary as some no-degree-needed job so they can get the bills paid. So like prt-systems said, finding a job is not an issue..it's what type you get. Sternlight said that MBA from Stanford or Harvard, etc opens up doors.. that is is true.. but it is truer what some people didn't know is that going to these top school, you end up getting that Harvard or Stanford NETWORK. It is this network that is most valuable once you get in. Graduating from these school and you will eventually end up getting interviewed from another Harvard grad in those Finance places and thus increase their chances of getting the job. But if you don't network with other people in Harvard when you're in there, etc, than your edge is not as great. So it's who you know from that school. But this applies to everywhere. So if you plan to climb the corporate ladder, MBA is most likely a necessity. Whether you will get up there or not, that is an uncertainty. This uncertainty chance is almost like you starting your own business or trading and hitting it big. People say the days of going to school, find a good paying job is over. This statement applies to everyone, but much more so to people who are NOT going to a top notch school. But If you want to just make mad money, MBA is not needed. Just ask most of the top 10 wealthiest people in the world. . Mike Dell, Li Kai Shing, Charles Wang, Bill Gates.. I know IBM's lou gerstner got an MBA, but he is not as wealthy as Mike Dell. Even with an MBA, you might reach a 'dead end' in your career where you say, now what... I'm plateauing. So if you ask is MBA good? people say yes, (good for what tho? ego, prestige, bratting right?probability of 'success'..hhmm ok). Does it guarantee you to become very wealthy, NO. Does it guarantee you to be employed with 100k salary.. no, but the probability does increase greatly for it. But remember one thing, if you get an MBA and got no job, people will laugh at you behind your back...proofing to them that it is pointless.. and also if you don't earn as much either.... because I know many individuals personally who has no college degree (just hs) and has networth over 500k. ( a few over 1.5 mil) ..and over 100k in cash savings....by first working menial jobs for a while, then starting businesses. Their passive income exceeds their expense..some of them as much as 4:1...so they don't really have to work and they are now just hitting 30 yrs old. I will bet that if they ever go against some MBAs head to head in business competition, they will win, because of their real world experience, and their witted minds to take advantage of others. So if you have their skills and talent, you don't need an MBA to make money. If you want climb the corporate ladder and take over a company in which you work, get an MBA. So my question to you is 100k income, you can start other business parttime (not just trading). And if you built a business slowly and built more, I can tell you that it is more addicting and fun than going to school to get MBA and come up working in a corporate enivornment with politics. just my opinion.