Any value in an MBA?

[olop the dwarf]

So I'm looking at development and I see alot of people without degrees. Especially in my chosen area, design and production. Progammers and artists seem to more often have degrees, but in their obvious profession, Computer Science or Art.

 

As far as designers and producers, it seems that everyone I run into started some college and then...(enter story about how college doesn't mean anything). A few have degrees, in history or english. And then the occassional random person has random degree (Heh. You know, like Bioware).

 

Now, I received my BA and I am considering an MBA program. Here are my pros and cons:

 

PROS

As a aspiring producer, understanding business and project management, law and ethics, marketing, etc. seems to be a pretty good idea. Especially if I succeed, since success seems to lead to one of two directions: becoming the head of a division at a successful publisher or starting a development company.

 

More and more companies are requiring or preferring degrees. The BA helps, but the MBA may put me over the top in a competitve market.

 

Higher profile companies may allow me in the door where they wouldn't before, just because I have an MBA.

 

CONS

It takes time and money. The money is between 20k and 60k and the programs take 2-3 years. I would be attending a "fully-employed" program which would assume I was working full time for a game company, but "fully-employed" would not necessarily recognize the unique challenges of "crunch time". I could potentially throw my money away, by not having the time necessary to meet the requirements of the program or not meet the demands of my employer, limiting my chance of promotion or worse be terminated.

 

With an MBA I may end up pricing myself right out of a job.

 

I may intimidate a developer, walking in the door with a shiny MBA badge. They would assume I thought I was the shizzle or that I was a college dweebie with no real understanding of games.

 

Thoughts and opinions? Other pros and cons?

[deganawida]

I can't speak from the perspective of someone in the industry (as I'm not), but given how many layoffs and company closings in the gaming industry in the last five years, I say go for it. Even if you can't get into the industry immediately, you will at least have a really good degree to make a living on while you keep trying.