Do not ask questions that you never get answers of
An applicant goes to a MBA event. Soon he meets a lot of handsome, charming and aspirational business persons who talk about their MBA experience, concluding “MBA opened up my career opportunities, and that’s why I am here now”.
Of course he is not fool enough to believe in this kind of story. he googles “MBA” “Waste of money” and finds out a lot of articles such as “MBA is bullshit” “MBA only produces book-smart guys” “Massive investment and what a mess”.
Then he will consult his smart friend. His friend says “You have to weigh the cost and benefit” “You need more information”. Again, the friend does not get the answer he wanted.
Think about it. Who can give him an perfect answer? Those “MBA fair speakers” overvalue MBA because they think their successful careers are attributed to the experience. Those “bitching people” undervalue MBA because they think they didn’t succeed as much as they had expected after MBA. Both views are biased - who can find a perfect correlation between their post MBA success/failure and MBA?
Also, his friends would most likely play safe. They want to be friends with him forever. They don’t want to be blamed “60k and what a mess - because of you” after he returns from MBA.
How do you measure the value one year?
Please allow me to ask you humbly, how much do you pay for one-year, a freedom with dignity? MBA is something similar to buying a freedom for 1 year by paying 60k. For one year you will be off the work. Your bosses and colleagues that cause you headache are not there. For international students, you will be off from your family and friends as well. You are given time to do whatever you want, without thinking about anything else.
Of course you don’t need to pay just to gain freedom. You can just quit your job. But - instead of being regarded as jobless, you have a name card with MBA on top of it. You can use the card as an “weapon” to reach any companies you want, network and talk to anyone you want. You can talk to C-level people of global company. You can even reach out to government authority. You can meet people from different cultural background - a country you only have heard of.
Don’t take it for granted - time is not money. time is life itself
People often talk about by citing wise words that time is money. This is not perfectly right. I feel that time is almost equal to life.
I lost my younger sister at 9 by an accident. She went out to play and never came back. Until that day, no one had expected the incident would happen. If I had been able to buy a year of freedom at the expense of 60k, my family would have bought it for her.
Life is like a soccer, we are given certain period of time (nowadays 80 or 90 years?) to play soccer in this world. The only difference is that nobody knows when the game ends. We may die tomorrow,when the judge from heaven whistles. Suppose you are sick in bed and your life won’t last for so long, how much would you pay to live one year?
Think about what you can give to MBA program before you try to get.
Suppose you got an offer of manager role at global company and you are asked to interview 2 candidates, selecting one at the end of a day. In the morning applicant A says “I have chosen to apply for the company because I want gain experience. I want to get the most out of this company”. In the afternoon applicant B says “ I have chosen to apply for the company because I can contribute the most. I want to give something out of my experience to this company”. No need to mention who gets hired.
Business is all about doing something for others. Teachers are there to help students. Private bankers are there to help riches. Consultants are there to help companies. Money, promotion and successful lives will come after you give something to others.
Giving something is not easy, because you face challenge. When you want to give comments in class, there is always someone who challenge you. When you want to host cultural event of your own country, there is always “white noise”. I know it pisses you off, and you will fight back. After that, you learn something. Don’t you think it is better than sitting like a doll and taking notes? Of course we get something by taking notes, but who will look at notes after even after 10 years?
So. my answer to the question is “one year freedom with dignity - the value depends on you”.
