When I start discussing career options with "young people," i.e. professionals with a college degree and in their first or second job, this statement usually comes up: "I'm thinking about going to B-school." And too often the response to my question "why?" is pretty lame.
It's usually something like this: "I want to learn more so I can take the next step in my career." Which really means: "I'm underpaid and overworked and if I can get a diploma to hang on my wall, I can double my salary." I know this is correct, because many people talk about how quickly they can finish or how they can keep working their current job.
Well, the good news is that most people are right. Business school is all about money. It's about learning how to make more and lose less, both for yourself and for your employer. Sometimes they're the same. The bad news is that most people don't recognize the critical factors that can help guide you to a full vs. part time program, case study vs. lecture, or top 10 vs. top 100.
Here's how I see it. Business school is about four things:
- Academics. Some schools like Darden, my alma mater, are more rigorous than others.
- Networking. Schools like Harvard will help you develop global connections.
- Recruiting. Some schools like Columbia and NYU have great access to major corporations.
- Personal life. People get divorced and married with frequency during and right after their tenure. Others party like they're undergrads again or ski/golf every day possible.
That's the way I see it. The importance or relative weight of each factor depends on what you want to get out of your business school experience.
