5 Reasons Why It Pays to Go to Business School Now

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With so much talk about the looming recession and challenges ahead, getting a business degree or MBA might not be on your mind right now. Not to mention the hype about billionaire high school and college dropouts like Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the controversial Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. You might be wondering if it is still worthwhile to devote your limited resources, time and energy to a business school.

Sadly, there are a lot of misconceptions about business schools and their impact to your personal and professional life. Below are the major reasons why you should consider attending a business school now:

1. Finish just in time for economic recovery. Many will find this insight strange but if you look closely you will understand its logic. In fact, it is erroneous to assume that business education follows the economic cycle. On the contrary, it is counter-cyclical. According to the Financial Times:
   

   When economic conditions are favorable, potential students may worry that if they return to school, the economy may have turned down by the time they try to return to the job market.

   Instead many students aim to start their course close to the onset of a downturn, hoping their graduation will coincide with renewed growth. This is why applications tend to increase when future prospects worsen.

2. Edge over competition. Expect the job market to be more competitive as the recession continues. Naturally, employers will be more selective in hiring new employees for they want to maximize their limited resources. Sorry to say they will not go for average Joes. Instead, they will be keen on employees with either extensive work experience or superior education background. This is where a business degree comes very handy. Even if the economy is good, your business degree or MBA will give you an unfair advantage for faster career advancement.
3. Better compensation. Why waste time and money if you will not get something better in return, right? At the end of the day, it is still a question of compensation or the cliché question: “what’s in it for me?” Just to give you a hint, the starting salary for a Human Resource Director is around $72,000 while an MBA graduate engaged in business consulting usually gets $101,736. Here is a list of starting salaries for business school graduates.
4. Not everybody is a genius. The media loves to play up fairy tale-ish stories about business success, giving too much buzz about billionaire dropouts. I’m not saying they do not deserve the recognition. They do. Then again, we almost always forget the brilliant people behind these billionaires who are adept in the field of finance, marketing, HR, strategic planning and other business-related tasks. These business degree holders are the pillar of our economy and the savior of companies. You cannot force yourself to be a genius but you can certainly train your mind and hone your skills through business school.
5. Build better business networks. A business school is not only a place to understand the complexities and principles of this trade but also create a massive network of intelligent, highly skilled and even prominent people who can help in your future employment or fund your business ventures. From highly esteemed professors to brilliant classmates, a business school is a hub of business networking.