{"id":7844,"date":"2015-07-10T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2015\/07\/10\/why-get-an-mba\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T18:17:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:17:19","slug":"why-get-an-mba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2015\/07\/10\/why-get-an-mba\/","title":{"rendered":"Why get an MBA?"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head>\n<\/head><body><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">by Amador Zuazua, MBA &lsquo;10<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Amador-Zuazua-320x.jpg\" alt=\"Amador Zuazua, MBA &lsquo;10\" class=\"wp-image-7845\" srcset=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Amador-Zuazua-320x.jpg 320w, https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Amador-Zuazua-320x-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Amador-Zuazua-320x-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We all have different answers to that question. Maybe it is because the industry we are in requires an <a href=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/hub\/2025\/09\/10\/is-the-roi-of-an-mba-worth-it\/\">MBA to advance<\/a>, we want to change careers, we want to become leaders, or better leaders, in our current jobs. Regardless of how you came to this decision, I&rsquo;m pretty sure it took some thought. After all, it is an expensive venture given the cost of tuition as well as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.econlib.org\/library\/Enc\/OpportunityCost.html\" class=\"external\">opportunity costs<\/a> left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, it was a little bit of everything. I was stuck in a finance role where I couldn&rsquo;t see myself advancing without an advanced degree. I wanted to become a better leader to those I managed and had an interest in exploring different fields. Most importantly, I wanted to gain additional knowledge and skills in specific topics like finance, strategy and operations that would allow me to make better decisions throughout my career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I arrived at Johnson, I had no idea what my second semester focus might be. Having been pre-med in college, I was very much looking forward to enrolling in classes with topics yet to be explored. My first exposure to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnson.cornell.edu\/programs\/full-time-mba\/two-year-mba\/curriculum\/areas-of-focus\/\" class=\"external\">marketing<\/a> came during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnson.cornell.edu\/programs\/full-time-mba\/two-year-mba\/curriculum\/core-courses\/\" class=\"external\">core<\/a>, and it so happens that it was enough to peak my interest in exploring it further. I saw marketing as a skill that could be applied in anything I did going forward. It would help me know how to better position or sell a product\/service, because as I see it, pretty much everything is sales. We are all trying to sell our products, service, and ourselves during our career search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnson.cornell.edu\/programs\/full-time-mba\/two-year-mba\/curriculum\/immersion-learning\/strategic-product-and-marketing\/\" class=\"external\">Strategic Marketing Immersion<\/a> I experienced my first opportunity to work on a semester-long project, in a real-life situation, in a group setting. We gathered frequently to work on our project, review weekly assignments, and plan presentations. Some meetings were easy and went great, and others just weren&rsquo;t. Through all the trials and tribulations, it is during those intense, late-night sessions being stuck in a break-out room at Sage Hall that gave me the real-world experience I came to value after graduation and through today. I feel very well prepared and ready to act cool under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what career path you choose to pursue after Johnson, know that with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnson.cornell.edu\/programs\/full-time-mba\/two-year-mba\/curriculum\/immersion-learning\/\" class=\"external\">immersion learning<\/a> you will gain highly valuable knowledge, crucial presentation skills, and problem-solving experiences that will put you one step ahead of your peers during your internship and in your career. The decision you made to acquire an MBA was\/is the right one.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Amador Zuazua, MBA &lsquo;10 We all have different answers to that question. Maybe it is because the industry we are in requires an MBA to advance, we want to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":7845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[199,200,180],"ppma_author":[],"class_list":["post-7844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","tag-graduate-student","tag-immersions","tag-two-year-mba"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why get an MBA? - Cornell Business Centers &amp; Institutes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Amador Zuazua, MBA \u201810 We all have different answers to that question. 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Maybe it is because the industry we are in requires an MBA to advance, we want\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2015\/07\/10\/why-get-an-mba\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Centers &amp; Institutes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-10T04:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T18:17:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Amador-Zuazua-320x.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel Cherry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel Cherry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rachel Cherry\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98\"},\"headline\":\"Why get an MBA?\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-10T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-14T18:17:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":432,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Amador-Zuazua-320x.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Graduate Student\",\"Immersions\",\"Two-Year MBA\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blog Posts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why get an MBA? - Cornell Business Centers &amp; Institutes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/10\\\/why-get-an-mba\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Amador-Zuazua-320x.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-10T04:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-14T18:17:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98\"},\"description\":\"by Amador Zuazua, MBA \u201810 We all have different answers to that question. 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