MBA-less May Be the Best

I read an interesting article from Ad Age this morning that discusses the drawbacks of an MBA. Wait, drawbacks of a Masters degree in Business Administration?!? Yeah, apparently in the real world a piece of paper isn't as important as you think. Ask William Gates, or any of the hundreds of successful people that never went to college, or dropped out. The skits on Kanye West's "College Dropout" album really sum it up humorously.

This is all coming from a 3.5-GPA graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. Don't get me wrong, college and a college degree are important. They show you put your mind to something over an extended period of time and accomplished the ultimate goal. College is a great experience where you can learn a lot more than just the academics. A degree will also provide stability if a business or other venture doesn't work out as planned. However, I'm not a big fan of graduate school, especially when it's just a temporary solution because somebody doesn't know what they want. Again, graduate school is important for a lot of professions; medical professionals, lawyers, teachers, etc. However, they're not necessary to be truly successful, nor do they guarantee success. That ultimately lies within yourself and the company you keep, amongst other things, of course.