Is The MBA Worth It? If So, When?

Throughout my 18 years in MBA Admissions at Yale SOM, I’ve often been asked whether getting an MBA is worth it – and if it is, when is the right time to do so.  The answer obviously depends to some degree on individual circumstances, but I very much continue to believe in the transformative potential of the MBA degree, and I also believe that for many individuals, now is a particularly good time to get it.

I work in MBA admissions, so you could argue that I am dispositionally inclined to be in favor of the MBA.  That’s true, but I would humbly turn the statement on its head and argue that I’m not a booster of the MBA because I’m in MBA admissions, but rather that I’m in MBA admissions because I’m a booster of the MBA.  And I remain so, despite ongoing and longstanding predictions of its demise.

To understand my viewpoint, you need to have a long-term perspective in mind.  Especially in uneven and unstable economic times like these, for many people, it may feel that getting an MBA is not the best next move.  Some of you may have benefitted from the recent hot labor market and seen your roles and compensation grow, so stepping off that track may not feel like it makes sense.  And some of you may have been victims of the even more recent cooling in certain sectors and may be feeling pessimistic about the options that are available to you.  In both circumstances, stepping back and looking at the big picture can be helpful.

At Yale SOM, we teach students to have the long-term perspective in mind, because focusing on the short-term can foreclose longer-term opportunities.  Deciding whether and when to get an MBA is exactly the kind of question that requires long-term thinking.  That’s because, although the immediate return on an MBA degree remains strong, its full value reveals itself over time.  The MBA is about expanding opportunity and raising your professional ceiling.  You may already be on a strong career path, but an MBA will amplify and elevate what you otherwise could do without one.  Similarly, if you feel that your current professional options are limited or uncertain, an MBA can open new paths and present new opportunities.  In the end, it’s about investing in yourself for the long term – whether accelerating your current path or retooling and repositioning yourself for a new one – regardless of your short-term circumstances.

I would also argue that an MBA is not just about improving yourself, it’s about improving society as well.  You need to look no further than the current headlines about companies like FTX, Theranos, and Nikola to know that leaders who don’t know how to do things the right way can cause serious damage to their organizations, industries, and the world more generally.  Companies need proper managerial controls, they need people who can see problems and know how to solve them the right way.  You may have instincts now about how to handle the professional issues you face, but as you progress in your career you’ll need to turn those instincts into rigorous structures and strategies to have the impact you desire.  An MBA is what will give you those structures and strategies.

On a more practical, tactical level, if you’ve experienced a job disruption recently and are thinking about an MBA, you may be wondering both what the next steps are and how we view this disruption in the admissions process.  I would start by saying that we have incredible empathy for those of you who’ve had a recent professional setback.  It’s happened to many of us and is painful to go through.  Know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that where you are now is only temporary.  We take context very much into account when reviewing applications, knowing that applicants’ paths are not always linear and don’t always follow a neat narrative.  And I’ve seen a great deal in my almost two decades in admissions, including the professional challenges applicants faced over a decade ago during the Great Recession, so I and my team know how to appreciate these circumstances with nuance and understanding.  We’re used to taking context into consideration when reviewing applications – such as first-generation applicants whose undergraduate record is informed by familial and vocational obligations, or military applicants whose test scores are informed by their deployment – and we will apply the same context here.

In terms of the actual process of applying, there may well be time between now and our January 5, 2023 deadline to prepare an application.  But as I’ve noted elsewhere, applying for an MBA is a process of reflection and introspection, so if you don’t feel as though you’ll be ready to submit an application in January, we do have another application round in April.  It’s important that you take the time you need to prepare your strongest application possible, and my sense is that the April round will be more active than typical.  We do feel that it’s important to the process to prepare a full application, which is why we require all applicants, regardless of their status, to complete all the required application components.  We will approach these components with care and appreciation of context, but we still do need to receive all of them from every applicant in order to conduct a full and fair review.

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Bruce DelMonico is Assistant Dean for Admissions at the Yale School of Management in New Haven. He joined Yale SOM in October 2004 and has led the Admissions Office since November 2006. Before joining Yale, Bruce was an attorney focused on First Amendment, white-collar, and commercial litigation. He worked primarily on cases with exposure ranging from $10 million to $10 billion.

Bruce holds a BA in Honors English from Brown University, an MA in Literature from the University of Texas at Austin, and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. He has three children and in his spare time, he enjoys playing hockey and learning piano.

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