What specific MOOCs are recommended for the first one?
I don’t know if my MBA program is particularly good. Whilst it’s run by a legitimate institution it’s certainly not a particularly prestigious one. I’d expect that it is in a lot of ways very middle-of-the-road.
One thing it has done is reaffirm my pre-existing vague suspicion that, whilst there are obviously no shortage of formulaic, uninspired, and largely street-dumb MBAs out there, a lot of the hate for those with an MBA that I see in communities like Hacker News is probably misdirected hatred toward the realities of business. Especially given how many people here have grown up in a zero-interest environment where they could bounce from place to place being paid very well to sit around in beanbag chairs thinking about engineering problems whilst the money fairies without fail backed truckload after truckload of cash up to their San Francisco office loading docks.
The reason people pay is the math works out. Spending $120k to unlock career tracks that include roles that pay $500,000 or more is a pretty straightforward cost-benefit analysis.
My spouse did an MBA at a top school and 15 years out a very large chunk of the class are CEOs of large corporations, founders of private equity firms, etc.
The value is mostly in the signaling and network. Being able to get time with half a dozen CEOs simply because you went to the same school is invaluable.
You’re (mostly) not paying for the content of the courses.
Reasons to go/pay (in no particular order):
1. It’s a finishing school, with all the good and bad that implies. Some of the details below fall into that category.
2. Developing your peer network. Includes classmates, professors, and alumni.
3. Access to incredible research opportunities and research resources (yes, even for MBAs).
4. Access to jobs that (mostly) only go to grads of Wharton and similar. Think consulting and IB.
5. Access to job networks of niche and often super interesting jobs via peers and professors.
6. Signaling, although this does work both ways. While it opens doors for some jobs, it makes you overqualified for others.
7. Being in an environment of driven and (mostly) competent people. The scope of “what is possible” will probably be redefined for most/many Wharton students. (This might be worded somewhat poorly… not exactly sure how to say it).
8. Related to 7, being graded on a curve against motivated and competent peers can… build character. I’m not sure what it’s like these days.
9. In the past, there were some niche concentration courses that were super interesting. I’m not sure what they are now, and I’m not sure they make it to MOOCs.
10. Wharton Follies.
To close, if someone goes to Wharton primarily for access to the classes, then I would say that they have pretty much failed Wharton, regardless of what their grades end up being. Most of the knowledge from the classes can be gained more easily and cheaply in other ways.