B-school Confidential: MBAs May Be Obsolete by Penelope Trunk Posted on Wednesday, October 3, 2007, 12:00AMThe Master of Business Administration degree has been a holy grail for decades. If you wanted a career that mattered and didn't have the aptitude for medical school, an MBA was a good ticket to prestige and riches.
But things aren't so clear anymore. If the MBA used to be the entrance fee to climb the corporate ladder, there are few corporate ladders to climb anymore -- and people are increasingly experimenting with ways to speed up that climb anyway. One way is to skip the MBA altogether.
So if you're thinking of getting an MBA, you should probably think twice. Here are five signs that the MBA is becoming devalued:
1. Only the top business schools have high value.
The difference between the value of a top-tier MBA and all the others is very big. In fact, if you don't get into a top-tier program, the value of your MBA is so compromised that it's not worth it to stop working in order to get the degree. Go to night school instead.
A lot of people already know this, which has made the competition to get into a top-tier b-school fierce. So much so that you probably need a consultant to help you get in. Wondering how effective those consultants are at gaming the system? So effective that schools are publicly saying they're trying to change the application process in order to undermine the effectiveness of application coaches.
2. Business schools are compromised by a lack of female applicants.
Harvard Business School is so concerned that it's not receiving enough female applicants that it's changed the admission process to accommodate the biological clock. This means that students will have less work experience coming into the program.
In the past, business schools have said that prior work experience is important to the MBA education. But apparently, the lack of women is so detrimental to the education that Harvard is willing to take less work experience.
While the changes are beneficial for women in some respects, one has to wonder if this doesn't compromise the value of an MBA for everyone.
3. Business school is like buying a high-priced recruiter.
The best thing you get out of business school is a good job afterward. But how do you know you wouldn't be able to get that job without business school?
In an article in The Atlantic, management consultant Matthew Stewert says you probably could. He also says you should consider paying a recruiter to get you a good job, and spend your time taking philosophy classes instead. That's because philosophers, as Stewert writes, "are much better at knowing what they don't know. ... In a sense, management theory is what happens to philosophers when you pay them too much."
And if you are thinking of becoming a CEO, Sallie Krawcheck, herself the CEO of Citigroup's Global Wealth Management, says you should be an investment banking analyst first. That's because being a CEO is really about making decisions with limited information, and that's what analysts do best.
4. Hotshots don't go to business school anymore.
For a while now, it's been clear that the true entrepreneurial geniuses don't need degrees. The most effective way to learn about entrepreneurship is to practice in real life. You don't need an MBA for that.
Now that trend is filtering into the finance industry. Pausing one's career to get an MBA used to be non-negotiable for investment bankers. But today, the top candidates in finance are choosing to forgo business school. They're already making tons of money, and they're well-positioned to keep making tons of money, so the MBA seems unnecessary.
The upshot of this is that business school might start looking like something for people who are feeling a little bit stuck in their careers and need a jumpstart, rather than just a starting gate for superstars.
5. People go to business school for the wrong reasons.
An MBA is very expensive in terms of time and money, and it solves few problems. If you're not a star performer before b-school, you probably won't be one after you graduate And if you just want to make a lot of money, the odds of you of doing that are only as good as the odds of you getting into a top school -- currently about 1 in 10.
If you're still wondering if an MBA is necessary for you, here are five more situations that might put the nail in the coffin of the MBA.
The bottom line is that very few careers today really require an MBA. If you're getting one for a career that doesn't require it, you might look more like a procrastinator than a go-getter.
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dari milis beasiswa malah jadi masuk dan kedaftar di milis MBAIndonesia dan dapet artikel di atas... personal opinion, banyak benernya juga koq apa yang dia bilang tentang MBA itu... walopun dibahas dan dibantah oleh anggota milis yang laen...
vi gak mo ikutan posting pendapat vi... secara vi baru di milis itu dan vi bukan MBA pula...
tapi... mungkin juga... pendapat penulis itu... bisa jadi bwat semua hal juga begitu...
misalnya gini...
lulusan s1 aja disini, kan kadang emang ngaruh gak ngaruh klo kamu kuliah di UI atau di universitas2 top yang laen... bahkan ada yang dengan bangganya bilang klo dia lulusan dari salah satu universitas terbaik di indonesia... :b
tapi emang gitu sih... menurut vi klo gak bisa masuk universitas negeri, maka carilah universitas swasta yang bonafid... klo gak... mending gak usah kuliah kali yaaa... :D
hehe... gak bener juga sih...
emang gitu klo kuliah karena mo cari kerjaan... yup! kaya' yang dipaparin diatas adalah klo orang kuliah MBA karena mo karir yang lebih bagus, bukan karena pengen bisnis sendiri... sebenernya klo kuliah bisnis yah... berbisnislah... bukannya trus jadi karyawan... iya kan?
dan tentang kuliah... apapun majornya entah itu MBA atau filsafat sekalipun... pasti berasa gak ada gunanya klo emang bwat nyari duit... karena tanpa semua embel2 itu pun... bahkan cuma asal bisa baca dan ngitung, orang mungkin bisa kaya...
kadang emang kita lupa klo kuliah ya bwat nyari ilmu... dan klo mo sukses di kerjaan yaa... kuncinya cuma satu... pengalaman... (++ pengetahuan managerial dan laen2 :D tapi bukan cuma modal titel doang!), setelah dapet ilmu baru ilmunya diterapkan di kerjaan... bukannya langsung setelah punya titel langsung sukses
dia nyontohin itu CEO-nya citifinance... ya iya lah... mesti jadi finance analyst dulu... secara emang itu main job-nya kan? gak mungkin dong klo mo bisnis agroindustry tapi caranya nanem sayur aja gak ngerti? nonsense banget gak sih?
artikel itu bagus bwat orang2 yang jangan trus asal ngambil MBA trus berharap langsung sukses, karena untuk sukses itu banyak hal yang harus diperjuangkan, bukan sekedar punya titel doang :D
]... vi mo blogging aja ah... abis males mo kerja, tadi abis ada tamu... nanti juga ada meeting sampe jam 4 sore, males sebenernya... tapi... yaaa... secara vi juga lagi males kerja... capek 
abis banyak banget kerjaan beberapa hari ini...
cakep deh... dulu biasanya klo dia dateng beberapa kali... vi gak pernah ikutan nemuin dia... pernah sih dikenalin... tapi cuma dikenalin doang... dikasih kartu nama, trus aja udah...
sebenernya vi itu tampangnya emang bener2 cepet terlupakan gitu yah? ato mungkin vi itu selalu bikin impression yang berbeda jadi orang bakalan mengingat vi dengan cara yang berbeda juga... jadi setiap kali bertemu dengan vi... trus orang akan pangling? gak tau deh...
...
males! dasar pemalas!
posted by Ade Via at 11:21
dan vi pikir vi bisa berenti dulu ato bisa pulang cepet... tapi... ternyata kerjaan yang satunya lagi udah dateng.... 
hhhuuaaaa hiks hiks! dengan semangat mo presentasi proposal budgetting yang reliable ke penyandang dana untuk project once in a life time... pagi ini vi browsing2... dan vi sadar klo banyak yang mesti disiapin sebaik2nya dan seperfect2nya... walopun vi juga gak yakin persiapan itu harus dikerjakan dengan susah payah... tapi yaaahh... better prepared well than nothing, right?
aaaarrrggghhh!! duh! sapa yah yang mo invest on me? any one? wanna review my proposal?
vi tinggal pergi [dengan tampang jutek!]
vi doain gak laku! emang gak telalu laku lagi kan yah breadtalk? yaahh... paling gak vi gak akan beli2 disitu lagi!
dan jadi stress 
klo mesti telpon2 orang...
apa harus ikut sekolah kepribadian supaya enak begaul sama orang ? 
walopun udah mulai terbiasa, tapi puasa emang nguras tenaga vi... kurang tidur ato tidur kebangun2... cuaca emang panas banget juga... agak2 stress karena pikiran gak jelas berseliweran... pokoknya gak terlalu menyenangkan deh... :(
kurang istirahat, sendi2 vi mulai sakit... dan karena vi lagi gendut ini emang berasa banget, gerak vi jadi terbatas karena baju yang sempit dan jaimnya vi sendiri...
