Role of a MBA

The reasons go beyond the traditional "I want to move up the ladder."

A lot of those working in the so-called "prestigious" institutions in banking and consulting do so because:

(1) They want a break -- analyst work is a real grind; for bankers/PE/whatever types, it's the long hours you do for 3+ years non-stop; for consultants it's the horrendous travel; after a few years, most of these kids just want to go back to reclaim their youth to some degree. Remember that most of these kids are in their early 20s, and spend all this time being surrounded by a bunch of 40+ year old executives and MDs. They are expected to be more "grown up" than they are. As an analyst, you are working with people who are closer to your parent's generation than yours. So the only peers you have are your fellow analysts. Moreover, because of the demands of the job and not being able to really connect with people your own age (not to mention trying to be with a girlfriend/boyfriend), they simply want a break without "a gap in their resume" so to speak. The work is a grind, but your personal life can be real lonely - it kills your personal life. So you are expected to have the experience/maturity to interact with the 40+ executive, but you have zero time outside of work to get that life experience in the first place - you live in a bubble that is your work even moreso than many other post-college jobs. Having been an analyst before, I can say that it does take at least a few months (and for some up to 9+ months or a year) to really decompress from that lifestyle. Yes, it's "prestigious" but it comes at a cost as well and it's easy to lose perspective at such a young age. So they go back to simply decompress, learn something, and meet people (read: make friends with) their own age but folks who they wouldn't have met in their jobs. And to simply recharge and live a life that they had no time for pre-MBA - and in the process gain some perspective about their own priorities (which may guide their career or life decisions going forward - and as one gets older one's career and life decisions become intertwined). For some the "personal value" of going back may not be worth the money, but for others it is worth it.

(2) They are hoping or seriously contemplating switching careers. A good number of these folks are looking to switch careers. A large chunk of the MBA class historically go into consulting or banking -- but a healthy majority are first-timers, not folks who were bankers/consultants pre-MBA. A lot of these ex-analysts are hoping to explore other career paths while in school -- even if some of them end up going back to banking/consulting. But they are looking at b-school as an opportunity to do that. At places like HBS, Stanford, and Wharton -- a good number of the "non-traditional jobs" whether it's entrepreneurship, startups, VC, nonprofit, etc. are taken by those who used to work at Goldman or BCG. Part of it is that they already have the blue chip resume so they have more confidence in taking the risk to do something different. The folks who covet the "brand names" in b-school are those who didn't have it pre-MBA. For the ex-Bain guy, he really doesn't care about "brand" as much as say the engineer who is looking to break into consulting.

(3) They are sponsored by their firms - at least for consulting. A good number of consultants are sponsored by their firms - usually McKinsey, Bain and BCG. In banking, you don't need to be an "exceptional analyst" to get promoted to associate. You just have to choose to stay. If you're sure about staying in banking, you don't need an MBA to progress (at least half the MDs at any bank don't have MBAs and are a hodgepodge of academic backgrounds). For consulting, they were far more hardcore about wanting MBAs, but in the last few years it's not quite as important. Consulting firms have broadened their associate hiring to include JDs and PhDs. Again, an MBA isn't essential to get promoted if you already have the experience. But quite a number still go anyway for various reasons.

For the "real reasons" why people want an MBA, you have to think beyond just "career" or "recruiting".