Lauder: $22,000 for a Useless Degree?

Part of my take on Winter Welcome Weekend 2005

I have to get this one out of the way because the title worried a few people. Just to set those of you who emailed me at ease: no, the Lauder program's MA in International Studies is definitely and emphatically not a useless degree (but I find your lack of faith unnerving). There are number of uses for this degree, including (but not limited to):

• "Footwear has been one of the most popular uses for sheepskin" (source)
• Build very sturdy paper airplanes.
• Frame and hang on office wall, where it will add to the aura of gentility and erudition that emanates from your workspace--the aura that the common man generally refers to as "eau de stuck-up, overeducated prick who's got his head so far up his ass he needs a glass navel to see where he's going."
• Bud too wet? Spark it up with some hot-burning sheepskin so you don't have to respark it every hit. (Or so they say.)
• Dinner placemat.

Of course I'm being facetious. I got the title for this post verbatim from a PowerPoint slide that displayed on the big screen at the Follies show during the Winter Welcome Weekend event. It said, "Lauder: $22,000 for a Useless Degree?" I'm not going to try to answer that question now, but I do have some opinions formed of the program.

Lauder is for people who speak a foreign language better than the average American (not saying much) but not well enough to use it in business. It's not that a MA in International studies unlocks more lucrative careers, it merely grants the bearer better access to more internationally-flavored jobs. This is important because it lifts the Lauder graduate above the average American MBA student when it comes to competing for these sorts of jobs. Less competition for similar jobs should mean more job offers for Lauder students.

I don't know if the data bear this out. Does Wharton publish statistics on the placement rates for Lauder program participants versus the rest of the MBA program population?

One final note: it's been suggested a few times on the forums where the general rabble carry on that applying Lauder affords one a better chance of admission at Wharton (the same advantage, they say, that applicants who declare intent to major in Healthcare Management get). I don't know if that's true, but I'd imagine that it does help differentiate an applicant versus the rest of the pool. I've certainly seen no qualitative difference between the general MBA admits and the Lauder admits. (But what do I know? As the class admissions mistake, I'm in no position to assess.)

Suggested reading: How to Make Use of a Useless Degree: Finding Your Place in the Postmodern Economy

Question: Is it pronounced "louder, please, I can't hear you!" or "lawder"?