MBA in this economy

Is it a good time to get an MBA? Can you ride out the recession during school or will you graduate with 6-figure debt and no job?

This is the question many b-school applicants and admits have been asking all year long. In fact, after chatting with hundreds of admits since January, I found a good number who turned down schools they preferred to attend to go to schools that offered more scholarship money. This is especially for minority admits who received Consortium Fellowships this year---for those who don't know, a Consortium Fellowship is a full or half tuition stipend that certain schools have decided to award to minority applicants in order to attract them to their schools. Aside from fellowship money, many others have decided to keep working through the summer to save up money for school.

In my personal opinion, I suspect that MBAs at top schools have little to worry about in terms of landing a job--even more true for JD-MBAs. While students will certainly come out with a lot of debt, their skills and marketability will be at a premium a couple of years from now in a better economy. Fortunately, despite the current economy, the majority of my MBA admit friends have not gotten laid off from their jobs. Also, a lot of my friends at b-school have done pretty well in summer recruiting. I have friends getting hired by all the big companies, banks and consulting firms for the summer. All signs point to good things for those who work hard for the next couple of years.

My current JD-MBA classmates are doing really impressive things. While its usually a 50%/50% split of those who go into business and law after graduation, more 2nd years are taking the law firm route this summer and are working at law firms. While the breakdown is a bit exaggerated due to the economy, it is usually weighted toward law since not doing a legal internship precludes you from getting a law job after graduation. Of the JD-MBAs working in business this summer, they are working in consulting and banking/finance. With options like these, I stand by my earlier comment and am not worried at all about the "odd" economic times.