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Learn what truly sets the UC Riverside MBA apart and how it helps in your professional growth
20 May 2015, 14:39
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Hi Everyone,
Ever since I was in highschool I decided that my plans were going to be to do a business undergrad degree, work in the financial services sector for a few years and then do an MBA. At that time and until recently I thought an MBA was the logical next step in my career/life path. At this point in my life I am now approaching the time where I thought it made the most sense to do an MBA. For context I want to do my MBA in the UK for a variety of reasons and plan on only applying to LBS, Oxford and Cambridge but my long-term plan is to remain in Canada.
Im currently 24 years old, I have an honours in business administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business (Canada) and have been working at one of the big 5 banks in Canada since I graduated. I am now on my second job at the bank (got a promotion a few months ago after only a year and a half working here) and both of my jobs have been in strategy/project management type roles which I really enjoy and would like to continue to do. I made 71K/year in my previous role all-in, and I am going to make 85K/year all-in in my new role. I have built up an incredibly strong network at the bank and the city I live in, and have no shortage of options for my next role at the bank or trying something new at a different company.
Now the big question I'm wrestling with is, should I drop all of this and go do an MBA?
Many people have told me that the most value in doing an MBA is for either a career change or career progression. I don't want to make a career change as I'm already doing the type of work in business that I always wanted to do. In terms of career progression I can't see how an MBA would help me speed it up any faster than its going. On top of that I'm a little worried that leaving for a year and coming back may even hurt some of the career momentum I've built up. There's also the financial concerns. I am close to having enough saved up that I would graduate with less than $30K debt, but thats still ~$120K + ~$85K in lost earnings to pursue a degree that I'm not confident will help me that much.
Some of the reasons I want to do an MBA are for the learning experience, the prestige of going to one of those schools (assuming I can even get in), the network and the overall life experience. I dont know if these reasons justify the $200K+ price tag.
Have any of you been in this situation and do you have any advice? Are there any of you that are now in there 30s that regret not doing one for the reasons I just stated?
Thanks! Any response is really appreciated!
Ever since I was in highschool I decided that my plans were going to be to do a business undergrad degree, work in the financial services sector for a few years and then do an MBA. At that time and until recently I thought an MBA was the logical next step in my career/life path. At this point in my life I am now approaching the time where I thought it made the most sense to do an MBA. For context I want to do my MBA in the UK for a variety of reasons and plan on only applying to LBS, Oxford and Cambridge but my long-term plan is to remain in Canada.
Im currently 24 years old, I have an honours in business administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business (Canada) and have been working at one of the big 5 banks in Canada since I graduated. I am now on my second job at the bank (got a promotion a few months ago after only a year and a half working here) and both of my jobs have been in strategy/project management type roles which I really enjoy and would like to continue to do. I made 71K/year in my previous role all-in, and I am going to make 85K/year all-in in my new role. I have built up an incredibly strong network at the bank and the city I live in, and have no shortage of options for my next role at the bank or trying something new at a different company.
Now the big question I'm wrestling with is, should I drop all of this and go do an MBA?
Many people have told me that the most value in doing an MBA is for either a career change or career progression. I don't want to make a career change as I'm already doing the type of work in business that I always wanted to do. In terms of career progression I can't see how an MBA would help me speed it up any faster than its going. On top of that I'm a little worried that leaving for a year and coming back may even hurt some of the career momentum I've built up. There's also the financial concerns. I am close to having enough saved up that I would graduate with less than $30K debt, but thats still ~$120K + ~$85K in lost earnings to pursue a degree that I'm not confident will help me that much.
Some of the reasons I want to do an MBA are for the learning experience, the prestige of going to one of those schools (assuming I can even get in), the network and the overall life experience. I dont know if these reasons justify the $200K+ price tag.
Have any of you been in this situation and do you have any advice? Are there any of you that are now in there 30s that regret not doing one for the reasons I just stated?
Thanks! Any response is really appreciated!
20 May 2015, 15:06
Kudos
Bookmarks
At ~25 you would still be pretty young for a UK MBA - students you'll see are average around 29-30 on matriculation and have an average 5-6 years of experience. That means getting in at the moment is going to be more challenging as you're being compared to people that have a fair bit more experience.
If UK is where you want to do it then you are quite alright to wait a couple more years and see how your career progresses, whether you feel it stalls at all or whether the MBA can help you transition to that 'next step'.
If you are interested in continuing in Strategy then an MBA will help in the long term especially from a brand school - when it comes to going for future jobs at a director/executive level the MBA is another favourable factor - might not inhibit success but will help facilitate it.
Ultimately its a very personal choice to step out of work for another year or two and reassess your life. If you are comfortable with your current trajectory then it wouldn't harm you to continue as you are?
However there are some things you can get started on - 1.) Sit the GMAT - you need to know whether you are competitive at those schools - the score will last you five years and starting studying early will help achieve a good score. 2.) Research those schools thoroughly - I think you might find that they are all different beasts and that one or two might not 'fit' the experience you are looking for (you don't find many applicants for all three schools). 3.) Start padding out the extracuriculars that separate you from the many others like you. 4.) Start building international experience. A large part of those schools in working in multinational and cross cultural teams in an international context - finding international projects at work will help ensure admits to the schools and from what the brief statement above you might come across as being domestically focused.
If UK is where you want to do it then you are quite alright to wait a couple more years and see how your career progresses, whether you feel it stalls at all or whether the MBA can help you transition to that 'next step'.
If you are interested in continuing in Strategy then an MBA will help in the long term especially from a brand school - when it comes to going for future jobs at a director/executive level the MBA is another favourable factor - might not inhibit success but will help facilitate it.
Ultimately its a very personal choice to step out of work for another year or two and reassess your life. If you are comfortable with your current trajectory then it wouldn't harm you to continue as you are?
However there are some things you can get started on - 1.) Sit the GMAT - you need to know whether you are competitive at those schools - the score will last you five years and starting studying early will help achieve a good score. 2.) Research those schools thoroughly - I think you might find that they are all different beasts and that one or two might not 'fit' the experience you are looking for (you don't find many applicants for all three schools). 3.) Start padding out the extracuriculars that separate you from the many others like you. 4.) Start building international experience. A large part of those schools in working in multinational and cross cultural teams in an international context - finding international projects at work will help ensure admits to the schools and from what the brief statement above you might come across as being domestically focused.
20 May 2015, 17:09
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Bookmarks
Thanks for the reply, really appreciate the honest advice. I haven't done a ton of research yet but I'm surprised to hear that the 3 UK schools I'm interested in are very different. Schools in Canada tend to be pretty similar so going to one top school can be pretty similar to another one. Anyways, thanks for giving me lots to think about!
