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To B-school or Not to B-school? Going to business school certainly doesn't guarantee entrepreneurial success--but is it valuable? <em>Entrepreneur</em> went to experts from both sides of the lectern for firsthand accounts of the pros and cons of MBA programs.

By Carolyn Horwitz

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The professorial view comes from Timothy Faley, Ph.D., managing director of the University of Michigan's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies (part of the university's Ross School of Business) and an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship.

The student view comes from a 2010 graduate of USC's Marshall School of Business who works in the venture capital sector (and asked not to be identified by name).

On core curriculum
Professor: There are six distinct bundles of skills that make up entrepreneurship: identifying opportunities, framing them into a business construct, assessing feasibility, operationalizing, resourcing and managing growth. It's not that the core courses are bad. It's not like finance is not important. But you need to know how to do finance when you don't have a 10-year history--how to do it from a blank page. It's not like marketing is not important. But you also need to know how to do marketing when you have no budget.

Student: They bombard you with core classes during the first term--accounting, statistics, economics, strategy, leadership, management, finance--it's all over the place, so it's basically cramming. I don't know if that kind of model is the most effective.

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