All questions tagged MBA Experience - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hello!

I would, but I am biased since it was my choice -which fitted my personal circumstances, restrictions and aspirations-. I would ask myself the following:

• Will it be financed? If so, by Mck? (Since this compromises you 2 years after)
• If not financed, where are your planning to do it? For how long? (e.g., INSEAD is 1 year and IVY LEAGUE in USA is 2, etc.) Where do you plan to stay after? (since it´s not the same to pay that loan from USA or Singapore than Spain)
• How similar is it to the studies you have done before?
• Do you want to change industry? If so, couldn´t you do it via your current clients?
• etc

Feel free to PM if you want more details, since I was in the same position not long ago.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,

Based on what I've seen at Harvard, the programs are completely different:

• MBA usually has a required curriculum (finance, marketing, accounting, etc) and elective classes
• EMBA usually has multiple programs (e.g. for entrepreneurs, for corporates, etc). They don't have the required These courses are usually standardized and are less about technical skills and more about soft skills (leadership, negotiations) but are more advanced than traditional MBA courses. There can be specific EMBA programs that cover a particular topic - e.g. venture entrepreneurship

The major difference is networking. At EMBA the people around you will be more qualified. However, you will spend less time together (that will limit your opportunities for networking)

Best

Hello,

That program seems to be good and ESCP is a good business school, but studying those topics is something far from being able to build a start up alone. I would rather read something on my own and ask for someone's help at least in the first period.

Hope it helps,
Luca

Hi,

It depends also on your academical background: if you have technical studies (e.g. engineering) every business course is appreciated.

This program is really a good one, but It can not be compared to a full-time MBA

Hello!

THe mini-MBA from McKinsey is a super-super-concentrated 3 weeks program.

Have you considered doing an executive MBA, so you can make it compatible with your work? Most top programs have the E-version.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,

I actually think there is no difference from an MBA / EMBA at your level of expertise.

That brings to the second question: you are definitely going to be offered a different position than an MBA.

An MBA has roughly 3-5 years of experience and is almost always offered an Associate/Consultant position.

Giving that you have more than 10 years of experience in consulting, you would probably be offered the position of expert in your field (pharma/healthcare) with the equivalent starting level of an Engagement Manager at least, if not Associate Partner!

Hi,

It's hard to say without knowing your University. But in most of the cases MBA is different in the following:

• Learning method - Mostly case method with little to no lectures
• Electives - they are totally different from BBA
• Diversity - lots of internationals
• Networking - your classmates already have 3-5 years of work experience and can contribute the discussion
• Recruiting activities - totally different

Best

Hi there,

to assess whether an MBA is the right choice in terms of your goal, I would recommend to first check the current alumni of the target MBAs you are considering on LinkedIn and see where they are working now. I would then select those MBAs with the highest number of people in your target firms. Finally, I would try to organize a call with some alumni to ask information on how they found the application process given the brand of the MBA.

Hope this helps,
Francesco

Anonymous,

Your perception of MBAs is biased. Your focus on academics is narrow-minded and not strategic. Think about where the future is headed. We will have robots doing most of the technical/objective skills within the next few decades. Unless you plan on doing a PhD in a highly specialized STEM subject that very few others have mastered (Statistics/ML/AI), soft skills and problem-solving in ambiguous environments are the way of the future. This skillset (leadership, creativity, critical thinking, sound judgement) is what is taught at top MBA programs. This is the glue that holds together MBBs and will provide value for future businesses.

The MBA goes well beyond academics and into more important contexts, such as leading teams, building relationship currency, and driving impact. The importance of these soft skills is substantially greater than an individual course selections and how smart you can be. When you graduate with an MBA, it opens doors to not just MBB, but product management at top tech companies (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, facebook), investment banking, and management roles at startups. Your impact is exponentially multipled. You will have learned how to communicate with diverse people. You will stop discriminating against liberal arts majors and learn from them. You will value different perspectives. You will build a network of the next generation of future leaders. These will be your closest friends and peers, and people you can trust to support in your career you well beyond the 1-2 year MBA program.

Side Note: MBB actually pays very little compared to post-MBA roles in investment banking and the tech industry.

Final Note: I disagree with the notion that you need to go to a Top 3 business school. You need to go to a decent business school (measured by the corporate partnerships at the firms/companies you want to work).

Meaning, unless you're on scholarship, don't go to Harvard for $150K in tuition and 800+ class size when you can go to University of Michigan for $50K and get the exact same interviews at McKinsey.

Think critically about what you want, and then decide on an action plan to get there. If it's the textbook knowledge you're looking for, you're better served by coursera.

Anonymous B

Hi,

The best way of learning entrepreneurship is basically failing a couple of times. Solving the cases will help you learn how to approach complex problems (consulting at MBB will help you much more btw), however, I believe that you can spend your time in a better way, trying to realize different ideas.

Best,

From a pure strat perspective, I'd go with RB. Huge caveat however, they are both Tier 2 and with significant geographical differences. Ultimately, I doubt it'd matter much so chose based on local strength in your area of predilection, and based on the people you meet.

Another thing to keep in mind is the value of staying in current company (strengthen existing network) vs. adding another company's (developing new one + getting access to that new company's resources). No wrong answer, just make sure to include in your calculus

INSEAD and LBS remain my top 2, just like Harvard, Stanford and Wharton are the perennial top 3 in the US.

Hi Anonymous,

many questions here. I generally agree with Guennael and added my perspective based on my experience as founder post BCG.

Does an MBA give you all the basic business fundamentals to successfully build and scale a company from zero to 100+ employees?

An MBA is not the best path to learn how to build and scale a company. The best way to learn how to do so is to actually start your own company. Many entrepreneurs achieve success after two or three attempts, often failing in the first one (think Travis Kalanick). You learn how to become successful as entrepreneur acting as entrepreneur, not studying it.

An MBA will mainly give you three things:

• Business knowledge (in broad sense - including soft skills)
• The opportunity to "reset" your previous career and become interesting as an hire for companies that otherwise would have not found you interesting
• A network of Alumni from the program

Out of these, the most relevant for building a company is the third one (good option to raise money/sell your company in the future). However, you have to consider if it is worth to pay $100k+ and invest 1-2 years for such opportunity, versus investing the same money and time in your own business (and learn exponentially more on how to build a company).

There is also a big hidden problem with MBAs - it will increase a lot your opportunity cost to found your own company. Founders usually get $0 or very low pay for the first year or two. Out of an MBA you could easily do $100-150k. You may also have debt deriving from enrolling in the program. And you will be older, maybe with a family and kids. This makes a lot more risky/difficult to start your company then.

This doesn't mean you cannot succeed building a great company with an MBA - there are several examples of successful founders who did it. But if you want to build your own company, there are probably better ways to invest such time and money.

Is there a possibility to go into a school like INSEAD for an MBA with my computer science degree. I'm not sure because i think that i need better grades and a more recognised university instead of a university of applied sciences?

There is no much sense to do an MBA right after a bachelor degree, thus you would have to work for some years. If you get a top brand name (eg MBB) you can definitely get there.

So will i learn more with the undergraduate and master degrees St. Gallen instead of 11 months at INSEAD because i invest much more time?

You will learn more technical stuff in your bachelor+master. But as mentioned you don't do an MBA to learn technical stuff only.

The costs for swiss cizitens to study at the university of st. gallen is very low (BA + MA around 10'000$ )when you compare it with an INSEAD MBA (> 100'000$). Which way would you go? Every answer and experience is welcome.

If your final goal is to build your own company, I would go for the following options:

• If you have a solid team, tested idea, can ensure funding and are ok with the idea you will probably fail, you can consider starting your own company right after your bachelor or master. The odds will be against you (as it is always the case when you start a company) but you will learn a lot and in the long term you will more likely to succeed (and you just need to succeed once in this game).
• If you don't have all the above, an alternative good path would be to complete your bachelor (and master if needed) and to work in a top consulting firm or for a startup/top tech company for the time needed to ensure you have a proven concept, team, funding and are ok with the idea you could fail. Then move to your company. The more you wait though, the higher will be your opportunity cost, thus I would recommend not to stick to that too much.

As final remark, the place where you start your company is critical. Be sure you research in advance the best geography where to start your business, and be willing to relocate if needed (not necessarily in Silicon Valley).

Best,

Francesco

Hi Anonymous,

As for your first and third question: there are several criteria to define which is the best business school; Marco provided a good analysis here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-are-the-best-mba-programs-341#a698

MBB will usually have recruiting events in all the top 15 best programs. Generally speaking, the top business schools in the US are considered to be the following:

Harvard, Stanford. Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, Sloan, Tuck, Hass

They are not in particular order, although the first three are usually always considered the best. You may change order or add or drop names on the basis of specific criteria, but the previous mentioned are almost always in the top 10.

As for your second question, they would also depend by the specific university, however in general terms you would need:

• 750+ GMAT
• Top GPA from previous universities
• Leadership roles
• Great extracurricular activities
• Good stories for essays
• Clear goal on what to do post MBA
• Great communication skills
• International experience
• Prize and recognition from previous activities

Hope this helps,

Francesco