I haven't had a lot of tough decisions in my life. I chose my college
haphazardly based on bad geography, randomness, the desire to start something
completely new, and the process of elimination. I decided to get a MBA
because it helpful to do interesting stuff and make lots of money, and I want
to do interesting stuff and make money. I chose to apply to evening programs
instead of full time programs because I had a job I was reasonably happy
with. I chose which schools to apply to based on what I could get into
and what I could convenient get to without moving. None of these were
really that difficult to decide in the end. I didn't expect choosing a
school to be that difficult either. I had a rough pecking order of which
schools I wanted to attend, so it just mattered what I got in to.
Except Northeastern wanted to make things difficult. They saw my
profile and didn't process my application for the evening program, but rather
strongly encouraged me to do their full time program*. To the sweeten the
offer they agreed to cover over 80% of the tuition, enough where quitting my
job became a viable option. All else being equal I would prefer to do a
full time program. All else isn't equal though, which leaves the
dilemma. The below are some of things that have been running through my
head lately.
*I went to an evening MBA session at Northeastern where an admission's
employee encouraged to ignore everything said about how much better evening
programs are than full time programs.
Money:
Well, one school requires that I quit my job (or at least work only part
time) and the other lets me keep my salary, but the monetary differential is
actually not that clear. With BU I'll get some money a year from my job* but
not enough to make a huge dent in the bill. With Northeastern I'll have
little to no income for the first year, but the vast majority of tuition will
be covered. Year two I'll have a 6 month paid internship at NE, which
makes the finances more even. Year three I'll have graduated NE and can
make a MBA enhanced salary while at BU I'd still be working on a degree.
On the other hand BU has a significantly higher avg starting salary per
graduate. On the other other hand that number is for the full time
program and doesn't necessarily apply to the full time degree. You can
start to see my problem here..
*The money from work actually gives an incentive to take as long as
possible to finish.
Length:
One of the big factors in Northeastern's favor as a full time program will
be over in two years, while a part time program will probably take three or
four.
Sanity:
One I'll be working full time and going to school on top of it. The
other one I'll mostly be a student. I believe I can do the former without
it disrupting my lifestyle too badly, but I'm almost positive that I'm
wrong. Certainly only being a student will allow for much lower stress
level and a much higher ability to do things.
Location:
This is about even. They are about equidistant from our apartment and
from work. This, however is the category that eliminated BC and I really
didn't want to have to trek up there every week.
Facilities:
BU has a really nice gym. Access to it may be the thing Becky is most
excited about in terms of me going to grad school
Course options
Northeastern requires full time students to take one of three tracks, none
of which I'm especially interested in, though you do get some freedom among
them. BU has more options and is more easily tailored to my interests.
Career change
This is generally easier in a full time program where you can full access to
recruitment and can use the internship to get experience in a different
field. As I don't really want to securities lending forever this is a
definite plus for NE.
Recruitment process
Northeastern has been better in nearly every aspect. I should probably
not decide a school on which schools admission department I like better
though. Still BU being impersonal seems to be a fairly common complaint.
School quality:
I was disappointed with the quality of my undergraduate education. I
could have done better and while I don't regret going to Bradley, I don't want
to make that mistake again. While Northeastern is a fine school, I feel
like if I go there I'll again be going to a school that is below my abilities*.
BU is more on the level of where I think I should be.
*One of the nice things about having a blog is that you don't have to
worry about being humble.
Quitting my job:
This tends to depend on the day. I'll tell Becky now when I get home
whether it was a Northeastern or a BU day.
Career
There seems to be a general feeling that full time programs are more
respected than part time programs among employers. However, there are
definitely people who appreciate one's ability to balance the workload with
working full-time
Network
Northeastern strength is that they have really good connections with
employers. They are mostly focused on the local market though. BU
seems to have the stronger national base.
And so on... I have a week left to decide. Feedback welcome. Or perhaps a
lucky coin?
