Is an MBA worth it?

median2k9 links to a NYT article "Was earning that Harvard MBA really worth it?"

I've always maintained that the value of a MBA is in its signaling properties. Read the article if you're contemplating an MBA.

UChicago moves up my list of preferred schools.

From Freakonomics:

The guy sitting in the chair next to me was reading a book the whole time he was having his hair cut.

As he left, I managed to catch the title: “Quantam Physics in America.”

Only in Hyde Park.

T minus 20

I scoped out my GMAT test center today. The building seemed a bit too cold for my liking so I'll be dressing in layers on G-day. I'm off to Cookeville, TN on work for the next two weeks, and I'll be spending all my down time on revising number properties etc.

And yes, practice does make perfect (Tips for the GMAT and for life...)

Steve Levitt writes in the NYT that practise and determination has more of an impact on performance than does genes and hereditary factors.

This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one. In other words, whatever innate differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person "encodes" the information. And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task — playing a C-minor scale 100 times, for instance, or hitting tennis serves until your shoulder pops out of its socket. Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.

This reinforces the advice given to me by one of my mentors -- a former deputy attorney-general turned law professor -- that practice and discipline are the keys to success. Professor M had never lost a case in his entire career as a trial attorney and prosecutor, and he attributed his winning streak to "always researching and studying the case more than the opposing council."

And for those of you studying for the GMAT, remember to set specific goals, evaluate your weaknesses and to then work on fixing those weaknesses.

Their work, compiled in the "Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance," a 900-page academic book that will be published next month, makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers — whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming — are nearly always made, not born. And yes, practice does make perfect. These may be the sort of clichés that parents are fond of whispering to their children. But these particular clichés just happen to be true.

I see this everyday in the dojang -- my students who practise at home -- are much better than the students who come in once or twice a week and just go thru the motions.

Even an MBA can do it!

Not-so-stuffy MBAs

Follies, a Columbia Business School (CBS) student organisation has produced two great videos: “Dean Dean Baby” and “Every Breath You Take.”

CBS Follies traces its origin back to 1773 when Alexander Hamilton staged the first show entitled "Tea Party for King George."

Dean Dean Baby stars CBS Dean Glen Hubbard dancing far better than is possible for most male economists. Memorable lines include: "HBS chumps, you're mistaken; I'm cooking B-Schools like a pound of bacon" and "If Excel was a drug, I'd sell it by the gram."

Every Breath You Take is an even funnier spoof by CBS students where the students skewer Hubbard’s disappointment at losing the Fed Chairmanship to Ben Bernanke. This is absolutely hilarious and is made even funnier with lines such as“When demand then dips, and the yield curve flips, I’ll be watching you,” “I feel so wronged and I long for Greenspan’s place,” and “ I keep crying Benny, Benny, Pleeease…,” and "Bet that beard's fake."

CBS was always among my top schools, but I’m now even more inclined to look at CBS favorably. MBA students have a reputation for being very arrogant, stuffy, and rude, but I’ve been very impressed in all my interactions with CBS students/alums, and the above videos seem to suggest that, perhaps, some MBA students even have a sense of humour.

Thanks to Marina for the link.

EDIT: CNBC interviews the students who made the videos.

The formula for strong global growth appears to be (an) "undervalued Chinese RMB, high oil prices and a growing US current account deficit financed by the central banks of really poor countries and a few really rich oil sheiks. The formula is just so counter-intuitive that it took a long time to discover..."

So for how long will this last? Will there be a soft-landing or a hard-landing? This is important
(ed: Ain't you self-absorbed?!) because I'm contemplating MBA school --and the associated loans -- in 2007!

Thanks to Brad DeLong for the pointer!