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MBA...any thoughts?

J

.JahJahwarrior.

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 1, 2007
438
0
I had everything all figured out until last night.

Started dating this girl almost two years ago. She's a year ahead of me in schol due to high school college credit, even though she's 4 months younger than me. I worked my tail off (taking 21 credit hours right now, for example) to graduate at the same time as her. We spent time finding graduate schools that would work for both of us, and applied at those schools.

She got accepted at FIU before I did, and they gave her a deadline to accept a tuition waiver and TA position, so she took it. I got accepted to FIU as well, but last night she sits me down and says "I want you to go to UCF." Well that was the start of a 2 hour conversation which ended with her saying "I don't know what I want, so I'm breaking up with you." She says we'll see about getting back together at the end of summer, but she wants to take some time apart to make sure that dating me is what she wants.

So, I'm in at UCF and FIU. Few facts:
Tuition:
UCF: $12k
FIU: $32K

Average Pay After Graduation:
UCF: $50k
FIU: $59k

UCF has offered me a $3k scholarship, FIU might but I don't know. The UCF MBA, I could do taking out only a small loan, probably ten grand or under. FIU would require atleast a thirty grand loan, more if they don't offer me a scholarship.

I think part of the pay difference might be the living conditions down there being more expensive. In terms of long term pay differences, I imagine they are similar.

I did my undergrad degree in Econ at UCF, and I kind of want to get out and try another school. But, it would mean going a lot more in debt, which would delay things like buying a house for several years.

I don't know if the girl and I will patch things up, but the schools are 4 hours apart. We'd still see each other every once in a while if we went to seperate schools.


Can anyone tell me some really good reason why I shouldn't go to UCF to save the money?
 
Forget the girl - get the Masters.

I'm officially "older" and the last time a girl gave me an ultimatum I dumped her like a bag of hammers. That is unreasonable, immature for her to say she wants you to go here or there.
Breaking up is hard, but making a decision regarding your future that you won't be happy with is even harder.
 
UsedMacGuy said:
Forget the girl - get the Masters.

I'm officially "older" and the last time a girl gave me an ultimatum I dumped her like a bag of hammers. That is unreasonable, immature for her to say she wants you to go here or there.
Breaking up is hard, but making a decision regarding your future that you won't be happy with is even harder.
Click to expand...

What he said. x999999999
 
Yeah, this is girls aside. FIU has two benefits:
1. new location, new school, new atmosphere, could be nice. I get bored of the same school.
2. More money after graduation, on average, the first year or two.

But there are some cons:
1. I cave dive, and I'd have to drive 6 hours to get to caves from fiu, while they are 2 hours from ucf.
2. I don't know anyone down there at all, ecept my ex.
3. the 3x cost of education, which i don't know if it's worth that.


So the question isn't, "do I get my masters?" it's "is there ANY benefit to FIU that would mean I should go there?"
 
Go to UCF. Once you get your first job, employers arent going to care where your MBA came from, just that you got one.
 
to the OP:

I thought he meant MacBookAir.

Just kidding, I know what I meant. Education is something nobody can take away from you.

Broken hearts are something we all have to deal with. You're what? 19 years old? When I was 19, the Diamond Rio PMP300 held 12 mp3s at 128kb, cost $200US and had a parallel port interface.
 
The heartbreak wasn't the focus of the story...really what I want to know is, are there any people here who got a graduate degree from one school, and they regretted their decision and wished they'd gone to another, similar school?
 
.JahJahwarrior. said:
The heartbreak wasn't the focus of the story...really what I want to know is, are there any people here who got a graduate degree from one school, and they regretted their decision and wished they'd gone to another, similar school?
Click to expand...

Oh.
Hm. Chalk that one up to my lousy reading comprehension. I sort of skimmed the post rather than read.

No, I went to a small school for my MBA and don't regret it. I could have gone to Villanova, but I didn't like the giant classes and driving on the Expressway every day is a great way to prematurely grey one's hair.
 
OP: As you're an economics student, you should know that correlation does not imply causation! Just because after graduating the students at one school have a higher salary than the other, does not necessarily indicate how much one would get after graduating from one school. There are many other factors in play, such as the quality of the people who go to that school etc. For example, if there was a study showing the people with Red Cars had higher IQs than people with other coloured cars, it does not mean that because they had red cars made them smarter. So if people with other coloured cars decided to buy a red car, it would not make them any smarter. Just because there is a correlation between multiple things (e.g. red cars and IQ) does not mean the one is caused by the other. A (red cars) could be caused by B (IQ), or B caused by A or there could be C (a completely different factor) causing them both. It is neigh impossible to determine causation without adjusting for other factors, and even then causation may not be found at all.

If I were you, go to UCF. It's cheaper (student loans are a killer) and in the long run, it will have very little effect on your pay. And as the average pay will likely not apply to you (causation and correlation) just go to UCF. It's closer to your caves too!

King Mook Mook
 
You're going to carry $20k more debt to earn $9k more per year for vagina? She dumped you because she doesn't know what she wants which is code for "I want someone else and my eye is already on them." So yeah, go to UCF, not because she said but because it's more economical. Also, keep in mind that if FIU does offer you something more substantial than UCF then of course, you should go there. I'm just not seeing it.
 
if you are referring to macbook air - yes
if you are referring to MBA as in school - no
 
.JahJahwarrior. said:
The heartbreak wasn't the focus of the story...really what I want to know is, are there any people here who got a graduate degree from one school, and they regretted their decision and wished they'd gone to another, similar school?
Click to expand...

Go to the Wharton School of Business
 
Wharton is UF, right? I'm from that area, don't really want to move back to town with the parents there and all. Plus, UF is not super highly ranked, but costs just as much or more than FIU. Also, I think I missed their deadline for fall already :)

Undergraduate degree in economics from UCF.
 
.JahJahwarrior. said:
Wharton is UF, right? I'm from that area, don't really want to move back to town with the parents there and all. Plus, UF is not super highly ranked, but costs just as much or more than FIU. Also, I think I missed their deadline for fall already :)

Undergraduate degree in economics from UCF.
Click to expand...

Wharton is at U-Penn. It's one of the best business schools on the planet. I think they're saying that if you're going to go for it, go big.
 
.JahJahwarrior. said:
Wharton is UF, right? I'm from that area, don't really want to move back to town with the parents there and all. Plus, UF is not super highly ranked, but costs just as much or more than FIU. Also, I think I missed their deadline for fall already :)

Undergraduate degree in economics from UCF.
Click to expand...

Haha, Wharton is the University of Pennsylvania.

Honestly, I'd go to UCF. Its not worth the extra tuition and student loans to go to FIU. Unless you were stuck between an elite program like Wharton and a standard program like UCF, I'd mostly tell you to go for the least expensive one.; you'll like learn the same things and have similar networking and career opportunities at both schools.

Do you have any full time work experience or did you decide to go to an MBA right out of undergrad?
 
Whoops, getting my grad schools mixed up! :D

I have work experience but not between undergrad and grad. I have experience managing people in several jobs I've held over the years, and I feel I have a fairly impressive resume. I wanted to go ahead and get an MBA out of the way now, so if I decide to go to school later, I can go to law school, and I know I want atleast a masters degree...so might as well get a masters now and keep open the option for a doctorate later.

I really appreciate the advice. I just wanted to be certain that I wasn't missing something.
 
I'm from the UK so I don't know either of these schools.

Academically - which is the better school? Ignore the average pay packet after graduation. Which school has better facilities? Has a good teaching facility? Don't base a choice on the average pay packet once graduating...remember the word average. That is just a statistic and does not define what will happen or what you will receive.

In regards with staying at the same school from your Degree. In the UK - if you do your Degree then do your Master's at the same school - they usually give you a reduced tuition fee - for example 8 - 10% reduction. Do they do anything like that in the US?

I have just finished my Degree and I am starting my Master's in Business and Finance this year and I have decided to stay at the same University (In Newcastle) instead of moving away. Mainly because I work for HSBC and I have the security of my job, plus all my family is here.

I have always liked the idea of completing my studies in my home-town then branching afar once I graduate for my career.

Also I know you did say the post was not mainly to do with the ex...but please, I do urge you - do not base your choice on this girl. It will be the biggest mistake.

I unfortunately did that. I had a scholarship of £3000 a year and an unconditional offer in London and I turned it down because I was thinking of my boyfriend - we had been together 2 years and I turned the place down and I didn't want to be apart. It is the biggest mistake I made and I regret it everyday (needless to say, we did break up after being together 4 years and now he is moving to London...oh the irony.)
 
.JahJahwarrior. said:
Whoops, getting my grad schools mixed up! :D

I have work experience but not between undergrad and grad. I have experience managing people in several jobs I've held over the years, and I feel I have a fairly impressive resume. I wanted to go ahead and get an MBA out of the way now, so if I decide to go to school later, I can go to law school, and I know I want atleast a masters degree...so might as well get a masters now and keep open the option for a doctorate later.

I really appreciate the advice. I just wanted to be certain that I wasn't missing something.
Click to expand...

If you think your ultimately going to go for a law degree, just do it now, don't waste your time/money on the MBA.

As far as schools, I wouldn't let the girlfriend or the cave diving factor into your decision.

If your not going to an Ivy League school, it doesn't matter too much where you get your MBA from. Just make sure it's an accredited school.
 
I don't really want to be a lawyer, I just enjoy the study of law. :) I want to be a businessman, and I also sort of want to do research, so if I don't get a job that allows me to do and publish some research, I might eventually go back for a masters in economics. An MBA will earn me more money than a MS in econ, or an unused law degree, and when I'm an old fart and have time and money, I can get degrees for kicks and giggles :D
 
.JahJahwarrior. said:
I don't really want to be a lawyer, I just enjoy the study of law. :) I want to be a businessman, and I also sort of want to do research, so if I don't get a job that allows me to do and publish some research, I might eventually go back for a masters in economics. An MBA will earn me more money than a MS in econ, or an unused law degree, and when I'm an old fart and have time and money, I can get degrees for kicks and giggles :D
Click to expand...

A law degree will take you further in the financial corporate environment whether you practice a day of law or not. That degree means more than most MBA's.

Once you get a job and maybe they'll send you for your MBA.
 
At this point, I'm stuck with my MBA. It's too late to apply to law school, and I haven't tkaen the LSAT, or anything. Basically, I saved about $12k by getting done a year early with undergraduate, so I'll be able to graduate with a masters with about the same expense as I had originally calculated my undergraduate education to cost. Then, I can start looking at other jobs.

At this point a year ago, I thought I wanted to get a phd in economics :D
 
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