MBA

The new school year is approaching quickly, and I can't seem to make up my mind on what to do. I've been out of school seven years, working in sports journalism as a writer/editor. I want to go back to school this year to have another career path for when I hopefully get married and have kids.

I have two options. One, a prestigious school where I'll have to quit my job and end up in some serious debt. Two, continue my current job and go to the mediocre local university, where I won't have to take many loans and will finish without much debt. It's really a tough decision.

Anybody get an MBA? And what was your experience in searching for jobs? One of the main selling points for the prestigious school is it's internship program. Going to school full time will allow me hands-on experience, whereas going part time won't with a full-time job.

One more thing....the local school is going to give me a bunch of credit for my undergrad work since I took econ and stats and such.

 

A friend of my family is a V.P. in G.E. He went to a state school for Master's.

Interview well and be willing to move is how he said he moved up. Be flexible.

Go to the state school and work at a company you like while attending. For example, do some type of sales job until you have the master's in hand. Then you will be able to use references in the company when you apply for the position you want. Many times, postions will be posted internally before they are posted outside the company.

 

Thanks for the advice. I was planning on continuing to work at my current shop as a journalist, though it's not a bad idea to search for another job in business.

 

It depends on what you want to do with your career once you graduate. If you are looking to work in middle management, then a state school is fine. If you want to break in to serious financial companies and have a shot at a high paying career on the street, then the prestigious school is the only way to go.

 

Yeah I applied a while ago - deffered, actually, because I wanted to cover my beat at least one more year - and paid my deposit and everything. Now I just need to decide since my lease is up soon and classes start soon.

 

You're anonymous here.
No need to be nebulous, as well.
How much debt?
What is the prestigious university?
I can understand you not wanting to ID the local school, but we could provide more help with more details.

 

FYI, the friend of mine who is a V.P. at G.E. sits over a $14 billion arm of the company.

True, a lot of people like the college you came from, but a lot also like how you handle yourself in person.

 

Easy player. Northwestern (Kellog) is the school. I'd probably end up 80 Gs in the red after all is said and done.

I've always been a big advocate of it's what you put in your education and job search, not what school you go to. But I'm starting to rethink it with the advanced degree.

 

After you get your MBA, please don't come back to the journalism business unless you plan to be a newsman who knows business. Otherwise, you're going to be one of those pinheads who advocates byline counts, worries about offending advertisers and uses non-verbs like "synergize."

 

I've thought about getting an MBA too. The local university has an executive MBA program, so you can get one in a year. I don't really have an idea of what I would do with an MBA (dream job would be serving as a casino industry analyst for an investment bank, but I figure I could also be a middle manager at a newspaper/online news company). I'm just curious as to how much of an attraction an executive MBA degree from a pretty decent public business school would be to employers. Should I just shoot for the whole enchilada?

 

I will likely start working toward an MBA in the spring. I have seven classes I need before event starting the actual program, and I'm limited to six hours how many hours I can, so it's a five-year plan for me.