[jluetjen]

I went back to school for my MBA and I think that it was valuable. In no particular order here are my thoughts...

1) It gets your ticket punched. If you're up against someone for a job, and that someone has an MBA, if you've got one two that no longer becomes an issue. So no, it won't set you apart, but yes the lack of an MBA could set you apart.

2) If you're planning on making a career change, this is the way to lay the foundation. The first half of my career was in operations, but I wanted to move into sales and marketing. So when I took my MBA I focused in those areas, and specifically the subjects which I was weak in.

3) You've done the right thing by working before getting your MBA. Lots of people get their MBA immediately after getting their BS/BA. I'm not sure if that is particularly useful. It might be helpful if as a recent BS/BA grad you hope to work for a major consulting firm or Wall Street firm, and you're going to a top tier MBA school. But it doesn't sound like this is the career path that you are on. Instead you've got a lot of real-world experience under you belt and I agree that it's helpful to go back and refresh.

3A) I got my BS/BA and my MBA from the same school (BU), but I worked for 10 years in between the two. I was surprised how different my MBA experience was from my BS/BA experience.

- Based on my real world experience I got the basic business points right off the bat. So while some of the students who were coming from other non-management disciplines were trying to get their minds around some of the basics, I was able to pretty much jump straight to the applications, as well as recognize academic ivory towers on the few occasions when they appeared.

- Some of the classes that I struggled through for my BS/BA suddenly "clicked" when I took my MBA. In my undergrad accounting classes I remember struggling to get the credits and debits to equal each other. After seeing accounting at work at my employer, I actually enjoyed accounting in my MBA program and I really got to see how the numbers roll up from a cost and management perspective. I was clueless about Finance as an undergrad, but when I took it in the MBA program I really got a strong understanding of how individual investments decisions roll up into markets, develop into risk management strategies and "exotic" investments. So my MBA really helped to fill in what had previously been weak areas of mine.

4) Finally, you can take "advanced" classes about areas of interest or personal growth. For me, I had always been unsure about negotiation. Not just intellectually, but personally -- I didn't feel comfortable negotiating. As part of my MBA program I was able to take a specific class in negotiation which gave me a great foundation of the process of negotiation. Then I was able to go a step beyond and I took some classes in Statistics and Competitive Decision Making (aka: Gaming) with a noted professor which opened my eyes to a whole new way to look at problems and competitive situations. Compound this with a new-found understanding of Financial Investments and Risk Management, and now I am very comfortable with the strategic aspects of business situations, both from my perspective looking out, as well as from my customers perspectives.

- Bonus: In my case my reinvigorated understanding of statistics has come in helpful when trying to argue global warming on the PARF forum!

So those are the benefits which I've found from getting my MBA. I felt that it was a great experience. Did I walk out with a degree and immediate get a new job? No. But I was able to move into inside sales while I was still taking my MBA, and now have a sales job at another company (11 years on) which I really enjoy. So it certainly helped get me to where I wanted to be.