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18 Mar 2022, 17:05
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Hi all,
Would appreciate any insights on which choice to make.
Some background:
US Citizen
currently working in an analytic role in Nike, making 130K a year (just started and enjoying the work and the team a lot and seems to be a lot of growth potential. Got multiple positive feedbacks from manager)
Undergraduate university ranked 280 in the US
(This is one reason I want to get academic experience from a more reputable institution)
What I want to get out of the MBA:
not making less than what I am making now (likely I can make 150k as base salary in two years if not going to MBA)
Post-mba goal is to become a product manager in big tech firm
build good network
get some entrepreneurship experience
advance to management position in the long term
I have spoken with alumni from both UCLA and USC, and hear some very honest opinions that they don't think the ROI is worth the total cost (cost of attendance and opportunity cost), in my case, it would be around 340k that I am giving up for the 2-year program. The alumni from USC also told me that USC does not have a strong network in tech, especially in product management.
I always wanted to go to UCLA and applied for USC as a backup. Would experience at UCLA be worth the extra 60K? I do prefer the location at UCLA a lot more. Or is MBA make sense at all in my situation?
Would appreciate any insights on which choice to make.
Some background:
US Citizen
currently working in an analytic role in Nike, making 130K a year (just started and enjoying the work and the team a lot and seems to be a lot of growth potential. Got multiple positive feedbacks from manager)
Undergraduate university ranked 280 in the US
(This is one reason I want to get academic experience from a more reputable institution)What I want to get out of the MBA:
not making less than what I am making now (likely I can make 150k as base salary in two years if not going to MBA)
Post-mba goal is to become a product manager in big tech firm
build good network
get some entrepreneurship experience
advance to management position in the long term
I have spoken with alumni from both UCLA and USC, and hear some very honest opinions that they don't think the ROI is worth the total cost (cost of attendance and opportunity cost), in my case, it would be around 340k that I am giving up for the 2-year program. The alumni from USC also told me that USC does not have a strong network in tech, especially in product management.
I always wanted to go to UCLA and applied for USC as a backup. Would experience at UCLA be worth the extra 60K? I do prefer the location at UCLA a lot more. Or is MBA make sense at all in my situation?
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18 Mar 2022, 17:31
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Congrats on Admits!
In your situation, making 130K with potential for 150K, I would not believe the MBA is necessary. A lot of MBA grads come out making what you could make in a few years. With continued success in your role, there seems to be a lot of growth potential.
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In your situation, making 130K with potential for 150K, I would not believe the MBA is necessary. A lot of MBA grads come out making what you could make in a few years. With continued success in your role, there seems to be a lot of growth potential.
Posted from my mobile device
18 Mar 2022, 17:57
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Congrats on your admits!
A PM today has a $100k sign on bonus at Amazon so I am pretty comfortable that you will recover the investment. Though that’s $60k after tax 😬. The base for a PM is about $160. And then you have a few bonus flavors that add another 50-80k per year depending on the company. Within a few years (3?) you can get a promotion and switch jobs that would bump you to $240 + bonus. If you are loving what you do and you are passionate about your work, you are close to 500k in 10 years. Tech always paid more than marketing or sales for comparable positions even in non tech companies. I think the question is can you switching to tech without doing business school and do you really want to be in tech or are you doing it for comp?
In terms of your general question of the ROI and being worth it. From one perspective, it’s probably financially worth it but at the same time, people have an uncanny ability to spend however much they make no matter how much they make. There’s never enough 😂 Business school will be hard work. You can cut corners and take a break here there but to get the most out of it, it will need to be hard work and it will need to challenge you and it will need to come pretty don’t close to breaking you and making you feel pretty uncomfortable. You need more than just I’m gonna make a few more dollars to motivate you to go through this experience. I assume you have a desire for self improvement and lifelong benefits of higher education. And if you follow that model, I don’t think you really need to ask the question the fact about it being worth it. This is not a Masters in art history 😉 (no offense to amazing historians)
PS. Having a strong brand on your resume is great. Employers like multiple validations and a pattern of success.
-BB.
Posted from my mobile device
A PM today has a $100k sign on bonus at Amazon so I am pretty comfortable that you will recover the investment. Though that’s $60k after tax 😬. The base for a PM is about $160. And then you have a few bonus flavors that add another 50-80k per year depending on the company. Within a few years (3?) you can get a promotion and switch jobs that would bump you to $240 + bonus. If you are loving what you do and you are passionate about your work, you are close to 500k in 10 years. Tech always paid more than marketing or sales for comparable positions even in non tech companies. I think the question is can you switching to tech without doing business school and do you really want to be in tech or are you doing it for comp?
In terms of your general question of the ROI and being worth it. From one perspective, it’s probably financially worth it but at the same time, people have an uncanny ability to spend however much they make no matter how much they make. There’s never enough 😂 Business school will be hard work. You can cut corners and take a break here there but to get the most out of it, it will need to be hard work and it will need to challenge you and it will need to come pretty don’t close to breaking you and making you feel pretty uncomfortable. You need more than just I’m gonna make a few more dollars to motivate you to go through this experience. I assume you have a desire for self improvement and lifelong benefits of higher education. And if you follow that model, I don’t think you really need to ask the question the fact about it being worth it. This is not a Masters in art history 😉 (no offense to amazing historians)
PS. Having a strong brand on your resume is great. Employers like multiple validations and a pattern of success.
-BB.
Posted from my mobile device
