Decide as a Business Major if You Need an MBA
Many people who get a master's in business administration can safely assume their degree will lead to several must-haves for an upper-middle class life: a six-figure salary, a corner office and job title that allows them to flex their leadership skills.
But for undergraduate business majors, an MBA isn't always needed to boost their careers in the business world, experts say.
"Don't assume you have to get an MBA," says Sean Treccia, national director for campus recruiting at KPMG, a tax, audit and advisory firm. College grads should get a few years of work experience to get a sense of what they want to do in their career, he says.
College students who are studying business should consider three factors before planning to add an MBA to their resume, experts say.
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1. Career goals: Michael Capella, the associate dean for graduate and executive programs at Villanova University's business school, says the MBA program trains students to be leaders and is ideal for students who want to manage people or get a more senior position at an organization. The degree covers all of your "functional core," he says. "It's broad-based."
Students who don't have this broad interest in various tenets of business, such as marketing and operations, may do better with a specialized master's degree. "If you know there's a specific industry or career path you want to go into, that might make sense," he says.
Villanova, for example, offers them in several areas of business, such as analytics and finance, Capella says.
2. Cost: Many specialized master's degrees take one year to complete, which is half of the time students typically spend in a full-time MBA program. And the more time students spend in school, the more they'll need to pay for it.
The drawback of getting an MBA is the financial cost, says Treccia, if a student does not want to become a leader. At KPMG, for example, having an MBA is helpful for becoming a partner. If a student does not have this goal, investing in this kind of degree may not be as advantageous.
3. Salary: An MBA can lead to a big salary jump -- or not.
"It depends on the role," Treccia says. Some positions at KPMG require candidates to have an MBA, while others don't. Employees who decide to get an MBA may not automatically get a raise, but with stronger business acumen they may begin to perform better, and their new success at work can then lead to more money, he says.
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Undergraduate business students can better understand which roles within a company are most appealing to them and what kind of career they would like by interning, says Pat Dickson, the associate dean for undergraduate programs at the Wake Forest University School of Business.
"That gives them the opportunity to get into that organization, to look at those positions, those individuals that they aspire to be like in that organization and really understand how did they get there," Dickson says.
College business students who ultimately decide that an MBA will be needed in their future can do several things now to prepare, experts say.
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"Focus on strong grades and a solid GPA," advises Tammy Fox, director of admissions and financial aid for graduate business programs at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business.
Treccia, who received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, says students should plan to match a strong GPA with activities that show their interests outside of academics.
"Get involved in other activities that show you're a well-rounded person," he says, such as doing charity work or joining a fraternity.
Students can also begin researching MBA programs that interest them and make sure they take any prerequisite classes that schools ask for, Fox says.
She believes how an employer views an MBA depends on the specific job, company and hiring manager, but having the advanced degree is generally a plus. "The MBA will definitely give candidates an edge."
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Delece Smith-Barrow is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering graduate schools. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dsmithbarrow@usnews.com.
