Valuing an MBA

Quite a few of people I know (themselves MBAs) feel that the MBA degree is a sheer joke, that people go through two years of arbit stuff to get a well paying job at an end. Talking about the value of an MBA has, in fact, become the favorite past time of a lot of people - heck, people like Mintzberg have made a career taking pot-shots at it.

Now bubblegeneration makes a comment on this issue:
"My personal take on the MBA: If you are passionate about business, economics, strategy and leadership (as I am), you can't go wrong with a top MBA. However, if you see the MBA just as an escape hatch that takes you from being a code monkey at tech shop and land you a spreadsheet monkey job at an I-bank or become a consultant droid, you would most likely miss out on what could potentially be the most rewarding and enriching educational experience of your life.

I *loved* each and every moment I spent at b-school. Just pick a school that in non-parochial and attracts smart people from around the world."

During my induction at XLRI, one of the Professors told us that what we would get out of our two years of stay there would be proportional to the effort we put in - we would have immense learning resources at our disposal, whether we choose to use it or not would be up to us. We could, if you want, while away the two years and get our 'dream' job at the end, but we would have learned nothing new. But that is because, we chose to do so. After all its GIGO.

Personally, I loved the time I spent in the MBA - learnt exciting stuff I never had access to before, got a new perspective on analyzing issues and problems, met a lot of interesting people and made awesome friends. In sum, I think I got more than my time and money's worth.

And to think people view consultants as droids... ha ha ha