[Mr Beau]

Well, thanks everyone for your input. As expected, there are varying opinions... :-)

To those that think it's not worth while, I guess it's like and degree/tool where some think that it's not valuable or necessary. Sure you can often get by without--it just may take a bit longer. I've run into people who think that engineering degrees are a waste of time ('school of hard knocks' is better) but unless you've gone through it, there are just certain limitations.

With that said, the field of 'business' is such a broad term and much you need is gained by just being exposed to it, hence this thread.

Dennis,
If someone does come out of the MBA that has the 'soft skills' and doesn't have a God complex, do you find them worthy employees? One of my options is to move back to Alberta with the way things are booming, but part of me would like to live in a major center (i.e. NY, London, Chicago etc). An MBA would help in this end.

Ronin,
I think the average out of Columbia is $110k+, but with my quick calcs, that's still a ~6 yr payback period when the opportunity cost is taken into account. A 1 year program pays back much quicker, with ~20% ROI after 5 yrs. Try that with the stock market... :-)

1967 R50/2,
As you mentioned, the NPV is definitely a factor but not everything. With that said there are no guarantees especially if the economy takes a downturn. The payback is tough to judge partly due to salary assumptions after say 3 years (fresh out is obviously readily available from the schools.)

Cowtown,
It's definitely not just about the money though it does have to be taken into account. I'm single and without children (as far as I know...) so it does seem like a now or ever decision. Once I have more responsibilities, I imagine it would be near impossible to complete.

snowman,
I've made some pretty good advancements in the past 6 years, and moving to a foreign country without being bilingual teaches someone a lot about themself. I'm confident that I could go back to the business world and continue on this path, but I'm thinking the MBA would provide a bit of a jumpstart and allow a change of field more easily (quick generic stats: ~1/3 of intake are engineers and ~1/2 of all grads change industry).

BlueSkyJaunte,
Make sure to PM where you work so if I do this, I don't inadvertently send you an application! :-)

jyl,
LBS is certainly respected, and it better be at 40k pounds (say $75k) (edit: total, not per year)! FYI INSEAD is a 'competitor' of LBS but is only a 1 yr program. INSEAD is also strong in finance but focuses a bit more on an internation profile (i.e. need to speak 2 languages to get accepted and third before graduation).
My experience with engineering is that while the school has some impact on your perceived ability, the things you have done also play a major role. But with business schools, the companies that recruit and the base salaries are largely tied to the particular school. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but just the way it is.

Thanks again for all the feedback. Time to do some more relection. I think that I'll apply to some schools (unfortunately it's rather late in the applications process but I hadn't planned this situation) and continue to search for a job that catches my eye.