Posted on by Phil

Why Business School?

Last week I was hanging outside on a bench, getting some work done and enjoying another beautiful day on campus. As the day wore on, I was approached by a stranger as I was starting to pack up my things.

“Hey – do you go to school here?”
“Yes”
“I’m a prospective student, and I just wanted to know….why did you come here? I know it’s a great business school, but what drew you besides that?”

It was a good question, and I appreciated his guts to walk up to a random person on campus to quiz them about their life choices.

Over the past year, a lot of friends and friends of friends have asked my why I went to bschool. It’s a question that weighs heavily on a lot of people’s minds, especially as they get 3-5 years of work experience and start thinking if the opportunity cost of 2 years in school is worth it.

I looked back at the stranger, and related that a year ago I wasn’t 100% sure about bschool, or HBS. I want to start a company, and there is no MBA required for that. I went to undergrad business school, and have been interested in this stuff pretty much forever (I started investing in stocks when I was 11). So, it was unclear what I’d learn in the classroom…I also found myself talking about HBS’s insane track record of developing CEOs and entrepreneurs, the great people you’ll meet, and the power of the brand.

When people ask me if they should attend business school, the answer usually comes down to this: If you want to live your life around happiness, then you should go. People told me it’d be the best 2 years of my life. I didn’t really believe them, but it’s been pretty darn close so far. The people are great, classes are fun (and I hate school, generally speaking), and you get unparalleled opportunities to interact with people who are running companies, top investors, etc – every day of the week and in small group settings.

This is not to mention the people you get to spend time with in and out of class. I remember pinching myself one day last year when I realized I’d worked out with two Navy SEALS in the morning, and negotiated against two people who’d won the national championship in debate that same afternoon. The resumes are impressive, but the character of the people and insanely friendly atmosphere make it just plain fun. When I came back from my summer internship this fall, I’d forgotten how warm and fuzzy being on campus makes you feel – it’s just awesome (and yes, I’ve clearly had a bit of the cool-aid here).

So, happiness is at an all time high (which is what I think we should all be optimizing our lives around anyways). And, if you’re in the majority, b school will have a positive ROI for your career as well – with very few exceptions. Not too shabby.

I’m not sure if the stranger internalized what I said or not. I respected his lack of satisfaction with the mean salaries, GMAT scores, and rankings that you can find on the internet. I appreciated his desire to dig deeper, and hope he found what he was looking for.

2,232 Replies to “Why Business School?”

  1. You could definitely see your skills within the article you write.

    The sector hopes for more passionate writers like you
    who are not afraid to say how they believe.
    At all times go after your heart.

  2. I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your
    information. This article has really peaked my interest.
    I will take a note of your website and keep checking for new details about once a week.
    I opted in for your Feed as well.

  3. When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three e-mails with the same comment.
    Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Appreciate it!

  4. My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s
    to be just what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content for you personally?
    I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating
    on some of the subjects you write concerning here.
    Again, awesome website!

  5. I am really enjoying the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems?
    A handful of my blog audience have complained about my
    website not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome.
    Do you have any advice to help fix this issue?

  7. I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your
    blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire
    out a designer to create your theme? Excellent work!

  8. Good day! I know this is kind of off topic but
    I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website?
    I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
    I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of
    a good platform.

  9. We’re a gaggle of volunteers and opening a brand new
    scheme in our community. Your website provided us with useful information to work on. You’ve performed a formidable job and
    our entire group can be grateful to you.

  12. My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But
    he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on a number of
    websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform.
    I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into
    it? Any kind of help would be really appreciated!

  14. Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?

    I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any recommendations?

  15. I’m very pleased to find this page. I want to to thank you
    for ones time for this wonderful read!! I definitely liked every part of it and I have you saved to fav to see
    new stuff in your blog.

  17. I don’t know if it’s just me or if perhaps everybody else experiencing issues with your site.

    It looks like some of the written text on your posts are running off
    the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to them
    as well? This may be a problem with my browser because I’ve had
    this happen before. Thanks

  19. hi!,I really like your writing very a lot! proportion we keep in touch more approximately your post on AOL?

    I require an expert in this space to resolve my problem. Maybe that’s you!
    Looking ahead to see you.

  20. You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I
    find this topic to be really something that I think I would never understand.
    It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I’m looking forward for
    your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

  23. Hi terrific blog! Does running a blog such as this take a massive amount work?

    I’ve virtually no expertise in coding however I had been hoping to start my own blog soon. Anyhow, if you have any
    ideas or techniques for new blog owners please share. I understand this is off subject nevertheless I just had to ask.
    Appreciate it!

  24. An interesting discussion is worth comment. There’s no doubt that that you should publish more
    on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but
    usually people don’t discuss such subjects.
    To the next! All the best!!

  25. Whats up are using WordPress for your blog platform?
    I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my own.
    Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  27. I am really inspired with your writing skills as neatly as with the format for your blog.
    Is that this a paid subject matter or did you modify it yourself?
    Anyway keep up the excellent high quality writing, it is rare to peer a
    nice blog like this one these days.

  28. I’m extremely inspired along with your writing talents and also with the layout in your blog.
    Is this a paid subject or did you modify it yourself? Anyway
    keep up the nice quality writing, it is uncommon to look a
    great weblog like this one today..

  30. Does your site have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it but,
    I’d like to send you an email. I’ve got some suggestions for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
    Either way, great site and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.

  33. Thanks for some other fantastic post. Where else may anyone get that type of
    information in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such info.

  34. This design is incredible! You certainly know how to keep a reader
    entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved
    to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job.
    I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
    Too cool!

  37. I am sure this paragraph has touched all the
    internet viewers, its really really good piece of writing on building up new website.

  38. I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your website.
    It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to
    come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create
    your theme? Superb work!

  39. Howdy! This post could not be written much better!
    Going through this article reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He always kept preaching about this. I am going to send this post to him.
    Fairly certain he’ll have a great read. Thank you for sharing!

  41. Pretty great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and
    wanted to say that I’ve truly loved surfing around your blog posts.

    After all I’ll be subscribing on your feed and I hope you write once more soon!

  42. This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger.
    I’ve joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post.
    Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!

  43. My brother suggested I might like this blog. He was entirely right.
    This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!

  44. Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all folks you actually understand what
    you are talking approximately! Bookmarked. Kindly additionally seek advice from my site =).
    We may have a link exchange agreement among us

  45. I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. This kind of clever
    work and reporting! Keep up the fantastic works guys
    I’ve added you guys to my own blogroll.

  46. We stumbled over here different page and thought I might check
    things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you.
    Look forward to looking into your web page for a second time.

  47. Usually I do not learn article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to
    take a look at and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me.
    Thanks, very great article.

  48. Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The words in your article seem to be running off the screen in Internet
    explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser
    compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know.
    The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem solved
    soon. Cheers

  50. Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I
    stumbleupon every day. It’s always interesting to read articles from other writers and practice something from their websites.

Comments are closed.