re: MBA and School Attended

Who you know not what you know is universally true.

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If its a PMBA and you are going to use it to advance in the company you are currently at, then I think its a great idea. LSU MBA is not anything to sneeze at, but the flipside is that it will be impossible to get a great NYC investment banking job without solid connections.

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That's the type of program I am doing, and I plan to stay with my current company. Investment banking isn't in my future.

One of the main reasons for doing it is that I'm actually interested in the courses...had I not done engineering, I would have liked to major in finance. I wish LSU's program had more of a finance focus, but I'll at least get a few courses on the subject.

ETA: Also, I feel that what you do on the job is much more important than what degree you have. Hopefully an MBA just provides a few tools to do my current job better.

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If you want the skills, you can get that anywhere.

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Finance, marketing and economics aren't skills you either have or you don't. Some schools teach those skills better than others. Some schools teach skills that others don't cover. Just like I'd be a better quarterback if I learned from Andrew Luck rather than Jordan Jefferson, I'd be a better better equipped for investment banking if I went to Columbia rather than ULL night school. All business schools aren't created equal and 'you get what you pay for'.

I think one of the largest advantages of getting an MBA is its ability to allow you to transition your career towards a different field (ex. Corp Finance to IB). And that's where I feel the value of a more prestigious MBA comes into play. An MBA from Chicago ceteris paribus is certainly going to provide a greater variety of quality exit opportunities than an MBA from LSU. For this same reason, I feel it's a poor decision to get an MBA out of undergrad--because it essentially wastes an opportunity to transition careers down the road.

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IMO, people too often choose schools like TCU, Tulane, LSU, SLU, etc. because it is the closest school or the cheapest school, not the best school for them.

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Cheap and close are the ONLY reasons to get an MBA at LSU.

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Cheap and close are the ONLY reasons to get an MBA at LSU.

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I wouldn't go that far. We're not talking about University of Phoenix.

It is still does fairly well in some rankings, especially some that give a higher weighting to recruiter surveys. It's still second best in the state and although UNO or SLU would be closer, I would driver further to LSU since it is a more highly respected program.

I think he was referring to something with a little bit of a further spread than br/nola. Something that requires an actual move/change in life.

Vanderbilt

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Once you get past the top 50 schools (and that might even be too many) I don't really think "highly respected" should really be a consideration anymore.

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the quote was "more highly respected." So you're saying that a company would view a Nichols, SLU, ULL, or UNO MBA the same as an LSU MBA? I doubt that.

I'm not saying LSU will get you a job with a major investment company, but for those who plan to stay with their currently employer and especially those with a technical background, I don't think it's a bad choice.

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I have also determined the strength of the network, along with every other thing in life, is what you make of it. You have to actively use your network to realize any value. Do not expect a great job to fall into your lap just because you are in the network. There are very few schools that have that power, and chances are, if you go to those schools, you will think you deserve a better job than you end up with.

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As a non-MBA, my perspective is probably different.

I'm guessing many responses here are from folks still relatively early in careers, so I understand focus on what an MBA diploma from a particular school might personally accomplish in the short term (job placement, initial salary, etc). However a career is not short term. My interest as a business owner is in creative performance, execution, and result rendered by those same consultants much further along in their careers. Insofar as any particular program bestows creative qualities consistently on its grads, training background would help peak my interest.

Otherwise, it is far less an equation of LSU vs TCU vs Vandy vs Harvard. Instead, it is more one based on the individual and his/her work product. Underperformance/undercapability in MBA-type (or corporate JD) work is often insidious. Creativity can be equally inconspicuous. E.g., setting up initial structure, valuation, stock characteristics, etc. of a closely held company might seem mundane and unimportant for years. However on sale, creative structural/planning nuances (or lack thereof) can dramatically impact profitability. For a business relying on such expertise, it isn't necessarily a WYSIWYG scenario.

My interest is in the MBA who will thoroughly present all pertinent options/probable outcomes allowing me the benefit of a well informed decision. If TCU, LSU, etc get you there in a manner concomitant with Penn or Duke, my suspicion is networking will take care of itself. In the end, the program matters for all the reasons listed in this thread, but it is not nearly the only factor.