Back to School, Back to School

You have to sing the title like Adam Sandler from Billy Madison to really get the effect...

Excellent comments yesterday:-) I love long, well-thought-out comments, and there were a bunch yesterday! I also think there was a lot of sound advice in there, especially from some people who have gone through the same decision.

I basically agree with everyone who says "Don't worry about the schedule problems, you will work it out." That was kind of my feeling, but it is always good to hear it from other people, even if I only know you in your virtual-selves:-)

Some people raised the issue of the cost and the idea of employer reimbursement. The company I work for doesn't have any kind of reimbursement program for the simple reason that virtually everyone who works here already has all the degrees they need. While it is not a hard and fast rule, it is really unlikely anyone would ever get hired who would need another degree at some point. Except, of course, for me:-) But that is kind of the issue, having an MBA is really sort of a pre-requisite for what would be my next job.

That, however, is not really a huge deal. Aaron raised the concept of return on investment, and under that lens, the decision is easy. I may not get a direct reimbursement, but if the degree is required for promotion, then that promotion would come with a very, very large raise that would more than offset the cost of the degree in a very short period of time. As I have mentioned before, the lowest paid person on the investment staff other than me probably makes three times what I do, or close to it. I am not really worried about the degree paying for itself.

And then the idea of part-time came up, and everyone I ask says the same thing "It is WAY harder than full-time, and you don't get as much out of it." (In addition, the industry can be really snobby about where you went to school, and most of the "acceptable" places don't have part time programs...I don't really care about that because I can't really see me ever working someplace other than here, but I guess you never know.) Basically, what I hear is that the real value of business school is the time you spend hanging out with really smart people, and that the part-time people are so busy with actual work that the same spirit isn't there. Plus it takes forever...one guy told me "You just have to decide that, for that period of time, you aren't really gonna do anything else."

Which leads to what I have kind of "decided". And I should stress that I haven't really decided anything, and have at least one more very important conversation to have before I can make a decision anyway (more on that later on, maybe.) Mostly, I just don't think I am really ready to go back...I still feel kinda young and inexperienced. I still feel like I am learning a ton and am no where near "stalled". Would I feel differently next fall? Maybe, but I doubt it. I don't see me really getting the entire hang of my current role for another year at least.

So, I think I am really looking at the fall of '09. I would be a year older and a little closer to having learned all I can in this current role. I would also have a little more money saved, and could well be in a very different life situation. Munchkin will be 14 by then and will be much more independent than she is now...I wouldn't feel bad about her coming home by herself after school some times, for example.

But I reserve the right to change my mind if I really want to go back next you:-P