gmatclb wrote:
aaudetat wrote:
Mark4124 wrote:
Making 50k in the US is a joke... I would expect the opportunity cost to be at least 100k for nearly all US applicants.
Until I got my big bad raise this fall, our household income was around $45k. Only now are we finally breaking through the $50k mark, but not by a lot. BTW - we're homeowners and don't feel pinched. Nope, very little art on my walls, but we have no credit card debt. And we're not living off our parents at all.
There are a lot of people out there who don't make tons of money - many of whom do it on purpose. Ithaca is filled with simple-livers -- people who decided that growing a garden, spending time with their kids, and avoiding that burgeoning ulcer was more important that making gads of money. These are people with PhDs who simply opted out of the rat race.
Now I doubt that many of these folks are applying to business school - or would ever event want to. The opportunity cost might very well be closer to $100k, once you've thrown out international applicants. But as for the non-MBA types out there, if you don't live in NYC or have a passel of kids, I wouldn't say that living on $50k in the US is a joke.
If you're already making 100K, then going back to school would probably be a bad decision. Full-time, that is.
Coming out of b school, (non IB and MC) average salary is less than 100K.
I would disagree. It really depends on what you want to do. A lot of US based engineers pull down near 100, and I myself pull down about that figure.
I know that when I go to school I wont be making that much more than I am now - but there are a few key differences.
1) I'll change industry. Out of IT. COMPLETELY. That alone is worth it to me.
2) The options and long term earnings potential I will have so far exceed those in my current industry its not even funny.
So, in your case, if you make $100K its not worth it. In my case, it is. The lost income is a b1tch sure - all told I'll loose out $200K in salary and $100K in tuition, for what will amount to a $10K salary increase. My payback period, if you look at it that way, is 30 years.
If however, you consider that I've been making about $100K for the last 3 years, and I can't seem to get a raise above that - it makes sense.