Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAsianPlayboy
I don't want to sidetrack the thread too much, but what do you guys think of Cuban's stance on mba's?
Obviously he's right when it comes to just acquiring knowledge. But my concern is that when companies are looking at resumes, they'll almost always go with the guy with the mba.
I am getting a lot of pressure from family to go graduate school. I told them, give me 1-2 years to find work and if I don't find anything good. I'll go back to school.
like nearly everything else, it depends. here are my thoughts:
-for most people, it's probably not the right move. the exceptions are peopel who can get into a good school and have a desire to work hard and try to maximize their expected income. it's dumb if you aren't going to work hard and don't place a lot of value on doing as best as you can in your career. i know a fair amount of people who have spent a ton on school and then don't care to put their degree to use or quickly become a stay at home mom or whatever.
-when you consider the cost, i think there's very little benefit in going to an average or worse school. you really benefit from meeting a network of "like minded" people and from the doors that your degree opens up but only if those things help set you apart from the crowd.
-if there are no financial concerns (parents paying or you're rich from something else) then i'd almost always recommend it. you will learn things and look better on paper, without mid 5 figures+ of debt those things are definitely valuable.
the more i learn the more i realize success is about differentiating yourself from the crowd. having skills and experience that most don't have, working harder/smarter, exploring opportunities that most people can't or aren't looking at, etc. things change. at some point, any MBA was a way to differentiate yourself and get ahead of the pack, bothin perception and reality. IMO, that's changed, and there are sometimes better ways to differentiate yourself.
getting real life experience is VERY possible from a young age. for example, you could take $5,000 and start a small business online. $5k will get you a LOT these days if you are just operating on your own and it's only a fraction of the cost of one semester at business school.
finally, "your family pressuring you" is not a reason to be doing something. if it gets bad just ask them if they will be paying for your tuition too (maybe they will...that'd be awesome).
everyone is biased towards their own experiences and i'm definitely biased towards going out there and doing things and learning on the fly. so make sure you read my advice keeping that in mind.