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So if you have your heart set on making a “career change” into a field like investment banking or private equity but you can’t get into one of the top business schools, well, you probably want to reconsider your plans before you end up with a $150K liability.īefore you sign your life away for student loans, ALWAYS do your due diligence and weigh your expected return against your initial investment. Just one problem, though: both top business schools and those ranked well into the #80’s and #90’s cost the same amount ($50K+ per year)… and the lower-tier schools offer nowhere near the ROI that a top business school can provide. Sure, if you worked in marketing for a few years, then you go to Harvard Business School and take out that $150K loan, but you land an offer at a hedge fund afterward, your earnings could easily be a multiple of what you paid in only a few years.
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Here’s the short and blunt version: if you are not attending a top business school and you have your sights set on investment banking or private equity and you’re paying for the program yourself, you’re making a big mistake.

Congratulations! You Now Owe More Than $150K+ USD in Student Loans. Usually, attending the right business school is a net positive.īut there are dozens of ways that it could turn into a disaster instead – five of which I’ll go into below:ġ. The US alone has more than 600 “business schools,” but not all of these are officially accredited in business by the AACSB – and even fewer are entered into the composite rankings for US News, The Economist, Financial Times, and Bloomberg Businessweek.Īs if choosing to attend business school weren’t already difficult enough, choosing the right program seems to multiply the pressure.Īnd in the ranks of finance, it’s becoming less and less common to have only a bachelor’s degree – unless you already have an amazing network, specialized training, a prominent certification, or something else that sets you apart.īut if you’re not careful, you could end up making a very costly mistake – not only in terms of money, but also in terms of opportunity cost, personal sacrifice, and your own life over 2 years. So it was only a matter of time before other educational institutions with lesser reputations started to take advantage of that trend.Īfter all, everyone wants more responsibility, prestige, and pay, but not everyone can get into the top schools.Įnter part-time business programs, for-profit schools offering business degrees, online graduate schools, Executive MBA and distance education programs, just to name a few. Over time, more and more professionals began to seek business degrees from the top schools in the world to boost their intellectual capital and their future earnings potential… When business school offered a great ROI, I was still playing homerun derby with the neighborhood kids in my backyard.Īs formal education became less of a luxury and more of a necessity over the years, almost all graduate institutions saw an increase in applications. If you’re thinking about a career in investment banking, corporate finance, or anything else with “investment” or “finance” in its title, there’s one question that will come up repeatedly once you’ve completed undergrad and just before your hair begins to recede or you add pounds that you just can’t seem to shed…īefore you commit yourself to two years of drudgery and drinking, you may want to think long and hard about your decision before you take the plunge – unless you want to ruin your own life, of course. Those are “life events” that I deem inevitable.īut what about career events in your life that will also make a long-term impact? And eventually owning a Doberman named “Hulk.”.Begrudgingly getting married at some point in the future.

You can’t be certain that too many things in life will absolutely, positively happen to you.
