MBA more of a scam than Catholic Church
Wake up people.
MBA is more of a scam than the Catholic Church. Paying $250k for a pReSTigiOus degree instead of making $200-$350k in PE (this mostly applies for anyone in high finance), while putting people under pressure of assigning grades based on a curve with the possibility of getting “too many 3’s” and flunking out (HBS, even though only a small %, disincentivizes people who want to learn something completely outside of their comfort zone). All for a “fancy” name. You guys simping over these large institutions makes you powerless.
The value of a university’s prestige is largely derived from people’s sole belief/perception. Look at Harvard for example: many of their programs are complete cash cows - but they know that people will simp over the Harvard name so they give away shitty degrees and are bloating the endowment enormously. Out of the % of that endowment that they could afford to dish out to society (research/scholarships, etc.) - how much of that capital is actually being redeployed for the greater population?
Hell, Albert Einstein medical school, NYU medical school, others are now fucking TUITION FREE. Meanwhile, people are paying an arm and a leg for other useless degrees.
People are also wasting an incredible amount of time studying useless vocabulary words/ other useless material for standardized tests.
When are people going to wake up? People are wasting money on degrees instead of using that money to buy a home and are just becoming even more of a slave to the system.
Also a huge burden on taxpayer money. Bloodsucker of the system.
Instead of fundraisers aimed at providing $ for largely useless degrees - why if they created a fund to help people buy homes instead? The result of our current system is that most people are hugely indebted and won’t own a home until like half your life is over.
Wake up people.
You went to a non-target and join the marines / F500 / consulting. You are starting to burnout from your career and want to start fresh in a different field.
You can:
a) Try to network into your new field with your relatively small college network.
or
b) Get a great brandname on your resume, network, two years of internships, self-introspection and partying and get to leave to a fair levelled position at pretty much any business related corporation without having a huge gap on your resume. Also, you get to take some pretty interesting classes.
Option a) is still great, but no way it’s as black and white as it being better
Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to do all of that to switch careers (spoiler alert: you don’t)?
Universities have tricked people so much and perpetuated the scam so deeply that you now think you have to do all of that.
The most successful people in the world criticize the system for what it is. Think Gates, Musk, Altman, etc.
I’ve learned more from YouTube and a fucking IB technicals guide than any MBA will learn.
Don’t conflate education with knowledge. Two different things in this world.
I agree with you that most of what you learn in University can be self-taught in the Internet age. However, until top Consulting/IB/Buyside Funds stop prioritizing the Ivy brand for when they fill seats, people will shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars. I do not agree with it but its how the system works.
The Gates, Musk, Altman example is not relevant. These select few don't need degrees because they have the natural intelligence / drive / luck to build generational companies. You can't expect 1,000,000 other people to do that.
Pretty much everything is set up that way.
Came as an international and was shocked how people buy every thing from a phone to a car on multi-year debt.
And a lot of people have no financial literacy. Making dumb decisions to buy things they don’t need and can’t afford.
All corps just tricking the public in every industry. Phone plans you don’t use to medicine 10x the same cost in Europe and even 50x-100x for the same in Asia.
The system is set to keep the public in debt, paying their entire earnings in taxes and interest throughout their lives.
All with perceived glory and prestige.
Same with many degrees with inflated stickers in the name of prestige - which again people take loans they spend a lifetime paying off.
All for perception.
It’s literally insane. The result of all of this is: I work at Starbucks getting paid $20/hour, while inflation runs rampant and I have a useless degree. So then you’re incentivized to “take a break” and go back to school— and there you go, the shitty Ponzi scheme perpetuates itself.
I’m doing a STEM PhD.
Anything outside of STEM RESEARCH is a complete waste of time and money.
STEM pushes society forward and creates actual value.
Learning assets and liabilities for $200k is useless. I’d actually rather have MBA programs teach philosophy courses so people can learn how to think more critically.
As far as institutions go these could not be more different. The Catholic Church is arguably the single most important institution to western civilization and is the only reason the post-Roman world is not living in the dark ages.
Harvard, on the other hand, has allowed itself to be co-opted by poisonous Marxist ideology. The university chose popular politics to boost enrollment at the expense of long term going-concern. This has been going on since the 60s but accelerated in the late 2010s. You can’t teach kids to tear down the system when you are the system …
Harvard and the current ‘elite schools’ are purely destructive entities, while the Catholic Church has preserved philosophy, culture, and art across two millennia. In one thousand years I guarantee the Church is still around and Harvard is not.
In a slightly different direction, but related:
I am often surprised that more people don't consider the academic alternative (i.e. PhD / Professor), as it results in a LOT less work each day, much more relaxed, and starts out at a decent entry-level salary, and with a nearly-guaranteed job upon tenure.
Consider (as of 2014) tenure-track Professor roles, were offering:
• PhD in Finance = comp started (~2014) well over $200k/yr ($200k- 230k) (w/No Experience)
• PhD in Accounting = comp started (~2014) right at ~$200k/yr (w/No Experience)
I know this, as I was in a relationship with someone who finished her PhD in one of these, and I was with her throughout the process throughout the process.
She is currently a Professor at a target/semi-target, starting around $200k, and mid ~$250k within a couple years -- but she worked under 20hrs/week (estimate) and it was very casual, beyond teaching a few classes and some research writing, at her own pace. For a casual, relaxed role, it's not bad -- and upon tenure, you are pretty much guaranteed to keep your job.
The PhD programs for Accounting or Finance have such demand that it's pretty standard for schools to give you a full ride + pay you to teach a couple classes while a doctoral student... and then you get offers thrown at you before graduation.
I have a few old contacts from around that time (both Accounting and Finance) and they went that direction because they discovered it was very much a lighter and more relaxed job environment, and you get to essentially set your own rules in many ways.
While almost guaranteed to keep your job forever once tenured, I think (at least back then) they topped out around $300 to $400k I think... but for an almost guaranteed job, with only several hours of casual work, it's not a bad deal, compared to the heavy pace and exhaustion that many in banking will endure.
I think some schools are picky for PhD programs and were selecting like 1-2 PhD students each year, but if you get it, not a bad scenario after that.
(I know a Wharton MBA who left banking, to go for his PhD and is now a Professor at a target school as well. He didn't feel like dealing with the banking industry anymore, for all the obvious reasons).
Perhaps something to consider, as an alternative to banking.
I hope this helps.
I’ll just say it can make sense for accessing a particular .edu email account if you’re interested in finance-academia partnerships down the road
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