[Fede_V]

Again, my impression is that the main 'value added' that things like a business school gives you is the credentials and the network of alumni.

In terms of tangible things that you learn, if you want to study calculus and statistics, you can pick those up from 1st year classes at any decent technical university.

I'd also argue against your example of 'professors outside of the real world'. At any top tier University, professors will be world experts on their particular area of expertise, and will be able to apply it to real world problems, and I'd be happy to provide as many examples as you'd like in technical fields that I'm familiar with.

[exelius]

I totally agree; most of what you get out of a top business school is the fact that it's a feeder program into high-paying jobs in corporate America. Your classmates will also have these jobs, so you become a group of rich, powerful people who all know each other. You do learn some content that is useful (i.e. you may learn statistics in community college but not necessarily how to apply it to a manufacturing operation) but yeah, the network is the biggest benefit. It's why I don't feel that an MBA is worth your time unless you go to a top 10 school -- you can get the education anywhere, it's about the people.

Professors can and do apply their research to real world problems, but their "solutions" are often idealized and make a lot of assumptions that don't always pan out. They're not dumb by any means, but coming up with a solution and implementing a solution are two very different things.