Letters to the Editor
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Wrong MBA program?
I feel so bad for you. Perhaps you are in the wrong MBA program. If it was me, I'd think about transferring to another school that was more of a fit for you. But, before you do that, you might want to look around and see if there might be some students there that you have something in common with. Maybe it's not a monolithic as you though. The student interaction in B school is supposed to make it better, not worse! If it's so very awful, another school might be better for you. Some Business schools do stress a more cooperative approach - students working together on projects, that sort of thing. You can also look at the kinds of courses that you take, after your foundation courses. Perhaps, after those foundation courses, there will be courses that are of more interest to you. You also might look for organizations at B school that resonate with you. You might like Net Impact - http://www.netimpact.org . There are chapters everywhere, even at the top schools.
A 10% washout rate, that sounds high to me for B school, particularly a big name school. Is this people who drop out (don't like it, not a good fit) or people who flunk out? There is a difference. Once you are in, it's not in the school's best interest to flunk you out, particularly if you are paying a lot of money. It looks bad for them and bad for you. Generally they want you to graduate, get a good job, make a name for the school and possibly donate to the school. I also can't tell how you are doing - are you failing, or not doing as well as you would like? Perhaps you are not doing as well as you would like, but not failing. That does make a difference. Another thing to do would be to see how you do after the first tests - that will give you better info about continuing in the program.
On Business school in general - you can use what you learn for anything that applies to the world of work - small startups, non profits, family businesses, tech companies, manufacturing companies, educational institutions, anything. You don't have to become an immoral person. That's so "last year" anyway - a certain emphasis on social issues and on responsibility is big in B school now. OK, maybe that's just a little trend, but I don't care - take those sorts of courses and make something of it.
I'm in an MBA program (not a name school) and it's great - people are nice and I'm learning a lot. I'm in a different situation - I'm an older student, and I'm going part time (started out full time, now part time), and, as I said, my program is not a name school. Some of the classes are a struggle for me, but that atmosphere is great. I think it is important to find a school that is a good fit for the individual person. You also don't have to pay a fortune to get a good MBA eduation. One thing to do is to look at the best state university schools in your state of residence. It will be cheaper, and you'll get in state tuition. Just another thought.
The best of luck to you.
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YOU HATE IT; YOU'RE IN DEBT - WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
Dear H, I feel for you since I am in a similar situation. But reading your letter, you obviously HATE your program, your school, your classmates. You haven't found one thing that pleases you - and my dear, when it comes to grad school, you had best like what you are doing.
The reason Cary wrote what he wrote is because you ASKED him to. You begged him to give you hope albeit false, to tow the line, to shape up and stop whining. Now it's up to you to make the decision if Cary's words are enough to overcome everything you hate about the program and the ungodly debt you will accrue before you graduate.
If you think grad school is a place you need to be, then find one you like, find a discipline that you love and move the hell on. Do it right NOW; get the applications filled out. By January, grad school deadlines are generally closed for the following school year.
Get your butt down to the graduate school office and talk to someone. Then run over to financial aid and talk to them. Do this IF you want to continue being a grad schol student SOMEWHERE.
If you want to drop out, then DO IT. Assuming you are young, you can always go back and get a graduate degree. The feds are most likely to continue to cough up loans to add to those you will be paying off.
I am a woman in my 50s. I wanted a change. I applied to grad school in a discipline different from not only my undergrad school of years ago, but also of work I had done with that degree. I moved me and all my belongings across country, 3,500 miles to a state and city I knew nothing about. I got a student loan for $20,000 for the school year as an out of state resident. I had $15,000 in retirement savings. I had credit cards.
It took me a couple months of grad school to realize the program was woefully inadequate, oversold and everything was done in GROUPS. Absolutely NO individuality. Zip. Nada. We received GROUP grades. This was unexpected because the discipline was not sociology or psychology - it had to do with the arts, for crying out loud!
When I wasn't bored to tears, I was appalled at what academia had become - those who speak out are chastised and freedom of thought or even, devil's advocate was NOT encouraged. This certainly was NOT the university attitude I experienced in the 70s.
I could go on and on but I began to hate absolutely every single minute of it. This was a well respected state university, and my feeling was I was not receiving the education promised. My GPA was nearly perfect - or would have been if one participant of a GROUP grade hadn't screwed around and lowered ALL of our grades. (Is this how all grad school is????) So GPA was not an issue.
What was an issue was the lackluster education to the tune of $20,000 - and I was in the three year program! The federals loans covered only my tuition with about $1,000 left over for each quarter for such frivolities as tons of overpriced books, software, syllabi, rent, food...things like that. For each quarter (three months), I would barely scrape by.
But WOW! I too was told to just hang in there, get the degree and the world would be mine. LOL. Stepping back and taking assessment, I decided to only be $20,000 in debt to the feds. I dropped out after a school year.
Out of about 30 students in the previous grad class, TWO found jobs in the field, and both had worked for their "new" employer previously. I lost touch with the 30 or so in my class, but at last count several were working in department stores as clerks and another had returned to Asia. I've yet to find one who actually got a job tied to the grad degree.
As for me, I am still struggling to find a job. I have emptied the retirement. I have maxxed the credit cards. I am in debt up to my neck; my credit rating is ruined - and all I can find is temp work after sending out hundreds of resumes, answering hundreds of ads (no lie) all over the country in not only my "new" field but also my "old" field. And I've not been choosy either - admin ass't, secretary, data entry - whatever, I simply want a good job so I CAN GO HOME.
I am stuck here, plain a simple, and I can't even get enough money together to get back to my home state.
So count me in with those who say if debt matters - quit. If grad school matters, find another one. You'll have about six months of grace before you must repay the loans...BUT you can get it deferred (renewable every six months) for three years if you are unemployed or temporarity employed or underemployed.
But you will always be required to pay your student loans. The feds will even garnish your social security or disability payments. The loans cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy. So please - if debt is an issue, think about incurring more than you can handle.
Good luck.