引用一位斯坦福MBA校友的观点回复

Hi ,

This is Max from Stanford GSB. I saw your post on our list. I think you have asked a very good question.

A little bit on the background of GSB students:
Out of 370 MBA 2012, about 100 came from consulting. The second largest group is finance, (and then PE and VC). Very strangely, people who held "real jobs" are in the minority.

For people who graduate from the GSB, the same ratios probably hold. There are some internal movements, but the overall percentage is largely true.

I think the biggest reason for this is salary. According to our historical data, people who enter into the finance industry can earn up to $300,000USD salary excluding bonus (whether this is a good job in terms of health, time, work/life balance... this is a personal decision).

At the GSB, a lot of people go into entrepreneurship. In the class of 2011, 16% (IIRC) are doing startups. Here in Silicon Valley, there is a never-ending stream of start-ups. I am working on one too. There is talent, investment money, and exit opportunities here; the silicon valley is unique in the world in that regard.

Some of my classmates are planning to go into non-profits, work in the tech industry, or into other industries. The problem with a lot of these choices is that the investment return is not very good. After all, an MBA is expensive; if your salary post MBA is not very high, your return period would be longer.

We are often told to follow our passion, and to eventually change the world. I think that is a good advice for anyone, whether going to do an MBA or not. If you think you could more effectively change the world (or follow your passion) by doing an MBA, I think it is a very good reason to do it.