Could I get the views of some of the more experienced consultants here about the value of an MBA? I will be starting a grad position at an MBBB consultancy next year which should be happy to fund one, and though I wouldn't even be thinking about going to B school for 2/3 years even at this stage I am getting varying opinions about their necessity. For example:1. Is it true that they seem to be better valued in the US than over in the UK?2. If you are looking to possibly exit into private equity, industry or a start up does an MBA offer any real advantage?3. Even though many firms fund MBAs, are they financially worthwhile in that you lose out on earning, promotion prospects etc?I'm sure there are many in my position who would appreciate insight on this issue so would love to hear some of the thoughts of the 'heavy hitting' regulars on this forum.

1. Not much in it, but probably not true currently.2. Yes, but there are exceptions. Think about it like this; most people that are successful at start-ups were not formally consultants. Do you therefore consider that if you were an experienced consultant that you would be at a real disadvantage? My guess is that the reverse is true, because having been a management consultant you would have insights into how to manage a business. Working in consulting or having a top MBA puts you in a real minority, but that is not the same thing as being at a real disadvantage. 3. They are an investment. The fact that some firms fund MBA's, often very financially astute firms, suggests to me that they are worthwhile financially.You are sensible not to think about going to B-school without sufficient experience to relate an MBA to. It can be done, but I have often heard sensible business people advise against it. My thoughts are that the consulting industry is better off with a good mix of people (MBA's and non-MBA's etc.)I can't help thinking that some of those suggesting that you must have an MBA, or must not, are being very subjective. They are often simply justifying what they have done. Nothing wrong with that except that it could very well be the wrong direction forward for those considering their careers longer term.

Im also interested in this, any help would be great.

After 8 years at this consulting lark, I have to say I come down on the side that an MBA isn't needed unless you're entering from a vastly different field. I started off bright eyed and bushy tailed, believing that after 2-3 years of consulting I'd need an MBA to move to the next step. I researched it hard, did the tests, filled in the applications and right in the middle of it my wife got pregnant and I re-evaluated my priorities (i.e. I canned the 2 years of study option). Never looked back, I can tell you. Let's face it, business school teaches you to be a consultant, so why leave consultancy to get an MBA? The point about "financially astute" firms sponsoring them above is false, it's a total scam. These firms do essentially as an excuse to push people out the door and to get plugged in to business school networks, the actual tools MBA students come back to consultancy with are no different to when they left.

nonmba,however, wouldn't you say that an mba sort of fills the gaps in your business knowledge? That is, for example, if you do operations and strategy, maybe it would be useful to learn about marketing and HR. This won't necessarily be learnt as a consultant. What do you say about this?

I'm lucky my job gives me great diversity anyway, but look at the standard MBA programme, learn case examples and theory then go and do internships to get real experience. Why not just ask to get put on different consultancy assignments within your company and get paid for the privelage!?As I said, it has worth for some people who want to change direction, but it genuinely makes me laugh at strategy houses sending their candidates to do an MBA and only to come back and do strategy consulting again. I'm sure people can point to stats saying how much more you earn from doing an MBA but these are all retrospective stats, MBA's are everywhere now and if you look at the average wage out of BS from even the top US schools at the moment (included in the FT rankings) it's really not that impressive.