Is MBA worth it?

The question on most MBA aspirants' mind (also in a Bschool graduate's mind??)
: Is MBA worth spending so much money, time, blood and sweat after all?

Let's be realistic.

The one big mantra you need to remember - "MBA is a long term investment - do not start your ROI calculations the minute you step out of campus. "

MBA adds value to you - so it's a value add and not an end by itself. What you do in life and what you end up being is dependent a lot on you, your priorities in life, ambitions and what not ..you decide how you want an MBA to work for you.

OK - so what exactly do you get out of an MBA
Some obvious things like...
1. Exposure to varied fields like finance/logistics/marketing/etc
2. Frameworks/knowledge/skills to give you a "structured" way to attack varied problems in varied ways
3. A different perspective - again thanks to the exposure to look at a bigger and holistic picture
4. A chance to change your stream if you plan to do so.
5. Possibly, an accelerated career path and of course a chance to get jobs that are open only for MBAs
6. A decent starting pay package (compared to plain vanilla graduation)

... but then there are some not so obvious things..
1. Network (alumni, professors, investors, etc.)
2. Exposure to the intricacies of a business organization
3. Pressure handling ....and the list goes on..

Now, there is this frequent crib about "am I doing an MBA job"?
I am still not sure of what is an 'MBA' job - is it marketing/sales at an FMCG company, is it crunching data sheets in an i-bank, is it consulting, is it doing BD in an IT company ... what "IS" an MBA job? We know of guys doing pure coding, voluntarily, at premium software companies after their MBA from IIM. There are scores of MBAs doing high-end analytics at leading KPOs in Gurgaon and Hyderabad. Then there are ISB grads who spend their days following up with agents of supermodels to get the legal contracts signed before an ad shoot ... does all of this qualify for an 'MBA' job or does only cracking Mckinsey, BCG and GS meet the criteria ??? Remember not everyone lands there and you need to be realistic.

Be practical - you won't start talking 'strategy' as soon as you step out of a bschool. Everyone has to do some ground work - some dirty work before doing that. Yes you might be from IIM or ISB, but remember there are some tricks of the game you learn at a job and you HAVE to learn them before doing high level strategy talk. You are NOT taught everything in school. Yes you might have to learn to sell toothpaste in Munger, you might have to learn to look at spreadsheets, you might have to learn the technology in Microsoft, you might have to do presales before becoming a BDM.

Please be sure of what you want to do, how do you want to measure your success before hand and look for the long term ROI ..lest you fall in the frustration trap after your MBA.