What is an MBA?
The Master’s Degree in Business Administration, or MBA, is a very flexible graduate degree that allows for specialization in a variety of disciplines such as Finance, Strategy, Technology, Marketing, Supply Chain and Operations. MBA grads are well-versed in a variety of business-related disciplines, from accounting to management and everything in between.
A traditional MBA program is a full time 2 year on campus program. You go to school Monday through Thursday and generally have Fridays off for team projects, recruiting and travel.
Essentially, MBA programs allow people to switch careers and go into a high paying corporate job at a young age. Corporations recruit you for elite white collar jobs that often involve corporate strategy and put you on a path to rapid career advancement in the civilian marketplace. You can expect to make more than a Battalion or Brigade Commander in your late 20’s to early 30’s. I have detailed salary information at the bottom of this page. Because of this huge salary increase and access to very competitive and elite corporate jobs, admission to top MBA programs are extremely competitive. The admissions committee at each school evaluates a variety of factors, including GMAT/GRE, GPA, professional experience, undergrad institution, letters of recommendation and interviews.
Overall Outline of an MBA program
Full Time 2 Year MBA programs are generally structured the same with slight differences. In general the first year is focused on common core classes, internship networking, recruiting and club activities. You will do a PAID internship during the summer in between the first and second year. Internship recruiting is akin to job recruiting and requires intensive networking and interviews. For an overview of executive MBAs check out this helpful presentation!
1st Year
Fall
Common Core Classes (Finance, Marketing, Operations, Statistics)
Company information sessions
Resume reviews, career coaching
School club treks to companies across the US but typically in major urban areas
Internship Networking and Recruiting
International Travel as part of clubs or school curriculum
Spring
Remainder of common core classes
Career Coaching
Internship Interviews and Offers
Electives
Spring Break with school clubs. Often international travel
Summer
Paid Summer Internship
Travel
Time off
2nd Year
Fall
Electives
Career Coaching
Company Information Sessions
Full time on campus recruiting and offers
Travel
Spring
Capstone Classes
Career Coaching
Electives
Full time job recruiting and offers
International Travel
Graduation
Salary Information
What sort of salaries are we talking about? The top 25 schools as reported by Poets and Quants breaks down the salary information as follows. Note that starting salary and bonus can vary greatly by the post MBA industry (Consulting versus Supply Chain for example)
