MBA Salary

[money9111]

I thought these were interesting... compliments of my Google reader:

https://www.businessweek.com/interactive ... etime.html

https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/co ... 243715.htm

[asamaverick]

Good read, thanks for sharing.

[student22]

Very good read, thanks.

And also, what a stark contrast, you have the top top 15 schools with the 100k+ salaries.

And then most of the rest are in the 60s and 70s. 2 years on top of undergrad + 50k a year tuition. Basically 6 years of schooling to be making 70k? Scary.

[McKagan13]

Interesting. I'm heading to UW Foster this fall. I currently make $4k more than the 2-yr median, not including $10k annual bonus. But, I also live in the NYC metro area and can't afford a 300 sq ft studio apartment.

[money9111]

yeah i don't make anywhere near any of those salaries haha... the opportunity cost of me going to b-school is nill

[aveekguha]

A lot of variables are going to come into play over the next few five years

Huge wage pressure in financial services sector, wave of consolidation in consulting industries, renewed interest in entrepreneurship, & more emerging market hires. On top of that, you will have a large exit of the boomer population out of the workforce.

Overall, I think the net effect will be largely...neutral on median salaries but the distribution to industries could look very different -- interesting stuff to follow over the next five years.

Aveek Guha, President, www.mbadaycamp.com

[ozzy10fl]

If you're making $70-80K already, then I don't think it makes sense to go to business school unless you get into a top 15 program. If you're like me, making around $55K, any of the top 25-30 are a huge advantage, especially if you're switching fields. I'll be going to Georgetown (top 20), and with the lost pay, tuition and living costs, it will take me about 7 years to recoup the true cost of business school. That said, based purely on statistics, I should end up about $1- $1.5 million ahead over my career.

[eskimoroll]

yeah i don't make anywhere near any of those salaries haha... the opportunity cost of me going to b-school is nill

I'm in the opposite situation. I currently make just shy of six figures (should be in the six figure range by next year) at a great company with tons of upward potential. While I'm extremely lucky to be in this situation, it makes the b-school decision much much harder. If I get into one of the programs I'm applying to (top 5), I'll be giving up two years of work experience/advancement, a couple hundred grand of salary, and a couple hundred grand of tuition/living expenses on top of that. That's $400 grand of cost for an MBA. I'm not planning to go into i-banking or PE so it's going to take me a LONG time to recoup that.

On paper, I shouldn't be going for an MBA. However, I'm rolling the dice to see if I can transition from a job/career that I like to one that I LOVE and can be passionate about. It's a hard sell to family and friends since I'm considering going into entrepreneurship which runs a high risk of working for significantly less pay after school than I'm currently making. I guess in twenty years or so, I can look back and hopefully say that I made the right decision.

[student22]

eskimoroll, what do you mean by entrepreneurship, and why can't you do a part-time MBA?

[McKagan13]

If you're making $70-80K already, then I don't think it makes sense to go to business school unless you get into a top 15 program. If you're like me, making around $55K, any of the top 25-30 are a huge advantage, especially if you're switching fields. I'll be going to Georgetown (top 20), and with the lost pay, tuition and living costs, it will take me about 7 years to recoup the true cost of business school. That said, based purely on statistics, I should end up about $1- $1.5 million ahead over my career.

I think the above statement is a pretty narrow generalization. I suppose if you strictly look at the ROI on paper, and your interest in only in managing your personal P&L, then I would agree. But, with out going into too much detail and running the risk of sounding cliche, there's more to life than money.

[gkumar]

I agree with McKagan. There is more to life than money. I applaud your desire to pursue your job you love, but I'd be wary in saying you want to do entrepreneurship as a reason for going to BSchool. You can found a company without an MBA.

You will need to find a stronger reason to convince MBA people that an MBA is necessary to help you achieve your entrepreneurship goals. And you also will need to discount why a part-time MBA as an option either if you want only a full-time program. If you have a hard time convincing friends and family without using monetary reasoning, then it'll be difficult to convince the admissions committee. I'd suggest some soul-searching and research on specific MBA programs that have strong entrepreneurship programs to help you figure out why an MBA is necessary, especially when you already have a successful career. That's my two cents.

[PurpleReign]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing!