How/Why I Chose my Graduate School

Now that I’m officially done with school and my MBA program, I feel like I can fully reflect on what I got out of my graduate education. Yes, I know. Another school post and another post about how I’m done, but it’s one of the last 🙂

After I finished my undergraduate degree, I took the Summer and Fall semesters off before I realized that I wanted and needed to go back. In order for me to grow in the financial area that I’m in, an MBA was definitely needed.

I’m the type of person who needs to thoroughly research EVERYTHING. When I say thoroughly, I mean I literally looked up every ranking, review and article that I could get my hands on. And then I read them over and over again, and compared them all. Probably not the healthy way of going about things, but it worked for me.

I knew I wanted to stay close to home, mainly because I had bought a house shortly before. I also got a good job after graduation, so I didn’t want to leave because of that as well. There are a lot of schools in the area where I live, and most of them have good reviews, etc. A lot of the companies prefer if you attended a local university as well because it definitely helps with networking.

I chose a university that offered me the best value. It was a good price, with great reviews and a lot of the companies in the area like it. It was also not too out of the way, so I could easily drive there from my work and then home afterwards. I knew that I didn’t want to choose a school that would be too costly and put me into too much student debt.

Career Advantages.

An MBA was needed for my career. More people will take me seriously, and honestly, just the more letters behind your name, then the better and more professional you look to clients.

My work said it would be preferable if I went for my MBA, and I don’t regret it at all. Because of this, I will be getting a decent sized raise this month. I will also be able to do more things at my work and become more involved. It’s a good step up for me.

 

Networking.

I was able to meet a lot of people through my classes. And this really benefits me because I am a financial analyst (I won’t say my exact job title because then it would be super easy to find me if you know where I live) and client contacts are needed for what I do.

A lot of our referrals come from lawyers and others in the financial world that my boss went to college with.

 

Education.

Yes, I am a firm believer that experience trumps education most times, but I do think that education opens up many doors and possibilities. I was able to learn how different people would approach different situations, strategies and so on.

It also can help you learn about new subjects that you might not have known much about before, or it might help reinforce something that you already do at work.

For you, what matters? Prestige? Distance? Cost? Value?