Restart masters now or wait ? Brainstorm.

M

marlon2006

Registered Users (C)
I think this can be a useful topic while we are in this situation. We have lots of smart people in this forum and I would like your feedback on this:

My PD is April ROW 2002. I have a chance to continue my studies towards a masters from a top school. Initially I put the thing on hold because I was concerned with the costs ($40,000+) and waiting for the GC to let me change jobs for a potential employer in this area who could pay the masters studies for me.

My nightmare now is that I keep waiting, waiting, getting older and this damn GC takes undetermined years to come and I just waste so precious time of my life. My current employer doesn't pay the masters at all, but at least my schedule there is pretty flexible and light.

I learned that the best thing we can do while waiting for this mirage GC is to keep ourselves busy and productive. Therefore my question is, if you were on my shoes would you restart the graduate studies (and pay $28,000 to get it done from your pocket) or you would just wait for the GC decision and then move on and get an employer who could pay the study for you ? The only advantage that I have now at the I-485 stage is that it seems we are eligible for Federal Aid loans.
 
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I might be the wrong person to guide you, here is what I did,

My PD is July 2002,

luckly I was able to apply for I485 before retrogression,

now I used AC-21 changed employer and I am planning to do MS as my current company sponsers studies,

researching on good distance study universcity

so which school are you planning to go
 
pay for your school only if it is top 10. from the tuition amount you provided it doesn't seem that it is. if it is a secondary school you will not see the rise in income you expect because of the MBA.
 
questions that come to my mind:

1. do you think that doing the MBA is going to get you a better paying or a job of your interest

how sure you are that the MBA will make a difference....

say for eg: I can say that if i was to do MBA from one of top 10 Universties....my income will double.....and my job will be interesting......that means even if i spend 100k.....i will be able to recover that amount in 2-3 years.......and i will be able to increase my income by 50% for the remaining time in my work life......and the career improvement.....PRICELESS..


so if you think this MBA will make a considerable difference.......and you will be able to manage the study being in the current job......and you will be able to recover the cost in 5-6 years.........GO FOR IT......
 
I do not know any of the top 10 MBA or Law schools that offer part-time calssses. You just have to quit your job to do those things....and do not assume that you will be given admission just because you want to make more money in your life...

Either you are too naive, that you really do not understand what it takes to get in to top 10 MBA program, or too smart and ultra-confident and capable guy that you know what you are talking about. You are the one who can decide for yourself. good luck...
 
pssenthilnath said:
I do not know any of the top 10 MBA or Law schools that offer part-time calssses. You just have to quit your job to do those things....and do not assume that you will be given admission just because you want to make more money in your life...

Either you are too naive, that you really do not understand what it takes to get in to top 10 MBA program, or too smart and ultra-confident and capable guy that you know what you are talking about. You are the one who can decide for yourself. good luck...
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You may want to remove your foot from your mouth, since at least one top MBA school - Stern school of NYU - offers part-time classes. In addition, several top schools offer executive MBA classes, which are NOT full time.
 
Top 10

stucklabor said:
You may want to remove your foot from your mouth, since at least one top MBA school - Stern school of NYU - offers part-time classes. In addition, several top schools offer executive MBA classes, which are NOT full time.
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Guys and Gals,

Its all well and good to state that its useless to go to any MBA program that is not in the Top 10 but how many can actually get into the top 10? Even if we can get in, how many can afford it? I agree that its foolish to spend thousands of $$s on unknown schools but if your company pays for part of it and if you are able to get some sort of aid or scholarship then its not a bad idea to complete your MBA at a school that may be inside the top 25. If everyone could get into the top 10 schools then all other schools would shut down. I personally know several people who have completed their MBAs at schools that were ranked 15th and at times as low as 20th that have benefitted from it. They paid very little for the education and they were able to find jobs that they liked. The only caveat here was that they got their GCs before they got their degrees and interviewed as PRs.

Ultimately there is no sure fire formula for success but all of us need to be realistic about the situations we are in and what makes most sense to us. If one is capable enough to get into a top 10 school and is willing to quit and go to school then there is no better idea but I am certain that most of us are probably not in that position. I surely am not .. there is nothing wrong in second best if one wants to do his/her MBA ... the payoffs are not going to be as good as going to a Top 10 school but it will not be a waste either ...

What is more important is to be sure that one wants to do an MBA be it Top 10 or Top 25 or whatever. It is not the solution to every problem and may not even be a good idea for a lot of us. It all depends on our individual situations and goals.

regards,

saras
 
My school is considered a top 18.

I don't think the masters by itself would leverage my salary in the short-term, since I am planning to stick to a senior engineering or IT architecture role for the next few years. In my personal opinion, sometimes if you put the initials "MBA" on your resume and you are looking for positions as a senior systems engineer or security engineer for example, those credentials actually can go against you.

However, I have friends with similar background who finished the program in my area and are now teaching part-time at night and making from $40-100/hour. In reality I had that experience for a quarter teaching 300 level courses at $45/hour and I have to tell you, I enjoyed the extra income and experience.

Regardin rankings, from talking to professors from my MBA program, they always tell me that many times rankings make a difference for jobs in the financing sector in Wall Street, if you are taking a first job in major consultancy companies or if you are perhaps changing fields from IT to financing, for example. That's not my case and probably not yours. For those of us in IT, top 10 rankings are just a myth and novelty. For those of us taking the MBA looking for a directorship or CIO role, I seriously doubt a top 10 ranking would make a lot of difference. I think that your related IT experience and the fact that you have done an MBA from a reputable school should suffice. If you are in IT and with several years of experience to back you up, I thought that top 10 rankings don't make much difference anymore. I think if you are planning to teach part-time as I mentioned, I believe that coming from a major school probably would help you for sure, especially if you are applying as a lecturer on a State school or major university. To teach in technical institutes in the private sector, that would also be more impressivel, but that would not be a major requirement to come from a top school, even less from a top 10.

The other option would be to trigger the damn AC21 and get another job. I just need to decide between spending money with the masters now, or take the risk and do AC21 to get a job with an employer who can pay the program for me. Let's see my gut feeling in the next weeks ahead. The only thing we can't do is missing chances while we wait for this insane process to develop.
 
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You will be amazed to learn that "top 10" or top 20 doesn't make much difference for most of us. It doesn't for me.

pssenthilnath said:
I do not know any of the top 10 MBA or Law schools that offer part-time calssses. You just have to quit your job to do those things....and do not assume that you will be given admission just because you want to make more money in your life...

Either you are too naive, that you really do not understand what it takes to get in to top 10 MBA program, or too smart and ultra-confident and capable guy that you know what you are talking about. You are the one who can decide for yourself. good luck...
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Marlon,
I did'nt have any idea that we can teach part-time. Could you offer me some leads on that ? Or is it based on the location ??
 
Nyte_Crawler, technically speaking some colleges in my area let you teach 300 level courses if you have 18 or moe credits towards an accredited masters degree. It is true that many - if not most - schools require you to have the complete masters degree though.

If you have 18 or more credits, send me a personal email and I can see hint you where to look for work.

nyte_crawler said:
Marlon,
I did'nt have any idea that we can teach part-time. Could you offer me some leads on that ? Or is it based on the location ??
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