Should you skip the tuition and just by a $12.50 MBA?
There are a lot of measures of the value of an MBA and some people have been questioning if it‘s worth its salt recently.
But the dollar value of my MBA hit home when I filed my taxes this week.
I earned more this year that I’ve been in b-school than I did in almost every year of my pre-Darden working life.
That’s a combo of three months of internship salary and signing bonus, neither of which are as high as my classmates entering more lucrative fields like investment banking or consulting. So my MBA could have been worth even more …
(Side note: This means either I was paid really well this summer or really poorly before. Since I was a journalist, I’ll go with the latter. It’s another example of how pay doesn’t always equal importance. Good journalists uphold the First Amendment. In my new job, I’ll be selling cereal. It’s not quite the same.)
Lucky for me, earning my MBA has always been about more than the potential monetary payoff (something you may have figured out if you’re a frequent reader of this blog). My time at Darden has been worth it for the new skills I’ve learned, the network I’ve built, and, yes, my future husband who I met here.
And the money is a nice bonus.
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February 25, 2011 at 4:58 am
BUSINESS CAPITAL » Blog Archive Retain Working Capital Guarantee scheme
[...] The value of an MBA « Plan MBA [...]
February 25, 2011 at 8:08 am
Fridays From the Frontline « Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog
[...] Kellogg ’11 D.G. asked his readers what barriers they put in front of themselves. Darden ’11 Atish took a break from multitasking and focused on reading a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel or two. Boston’ 11 Felish expressed her concern that the book was on its way out and shared a choice quote from Studs Terkel on the fun of reading. Kellogg ’11 Shobhit wrote a quick letter to prospective students about proper classroom etiquette. Harvard ’11 Military to Business shared data he had compiled on the historic number of former military members attended Harvard. Kellogg ’11 Orlando was glad to a quarter free of midterms. Darden ’11 Miss MBA found that she earned more in the past year of b-school than she had in her full-time work before it. [...]
February 27, 2011 at 1:59 am
singhsboy
hello mam ..I agree with ……u
February 28, 2011 at 12:41 am
Courtney
Kudos for this refreshing perspective. I’ve just read the entire blog — every single post starting from July 2009 on — and as a future applicant, it was tremendously helpful to read about the personal experiences of another woman with a non-traditional career background. Thank you!
February 28, 2011 at 2:25 am
missmba
Thanks Courtney! I’m flattered that you read the whole thing and found it useful. I just looked at your blog and it’s awesome. It’s great to see more language-loving folks pursuing MBAs. If you have any questions about b-school in general or Darden in particular, let me know!
March 3, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Jenn
This post cracked me up (and by “cracked me up,” I guess I mean “resonated with me”) for a bunch of reasons. Reason 1) My summer internship earned me more than my entire pre-Kellogg working like, 2) I also do not measure the value of my MBA monetarily, 3) I also met a great guy at business school in spite of the hazards of dating there.