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Hey /biz/, I'm 22 years old and currently gainfully employed with a degree in economics. I make about $55k/yr when you throw in bonuses and stuff. I've been with this company for a year and a half now(I graduated from college a year early and started working here immediately after).
Anyway, I really like the people I work with and I've made some good friends and contacts but I just don't see the room for growth here. My rich as fuck grandfather is offering to pay for me to go to grad school. He's been pestering me about it for a long time and I've just told him I would think about it. I've thought it over, making sure that this is something I would do even if I were footing the bill and I think the answer is yes.
So anyway, I have a few questions, preferably for those of you with graduate degrees or currently in a graduate program.
Realistically speaking, I'm looking at going to a university in Texas (UT if I can get accepted, have some backups if not).
In my situation, would an MBA be useful at all? What about an MS in Econ or Finance? Is there anyone with one of these degrees who can tell me what to expect as far as employment prospects? Also what's the best way to prep for the GMAT? Should I sign up for a class or is that a waste of money? I'm pretty sure I can get some letters of recommendation from some corporate level officers, is that even a thing that people do or do recommendation letters come more from academia? I haven't kept in contact with any of my professors. Is all this trouble even worth quitting my job to do a full time grad degree? Would it make more sense to do a part time grad degree at a closer but less reputable university?
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put it all on options like that other thrreadad says
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>>1702438
i have an mba from a decent school.
mba is useful for a career change, but you really need to line everything up to make it worthwhile - have a clear, reasonable, and straightforward career plan that ties into why this particular MBA program is the match. Texas has the energy industry stuff - if you have exposure to the energy industry, then i'd probably work with that.
the biggest problem i saw is that people waste a lot of time on their internship/job search because they have unrealistic ideas about what an MBA program can do for them. your background will make you attractive to certain employers, and less attractive to others. i had a roommate who was a software engineer at microsoft - he was fighting an uphill battle with anything related to finance. he wound up at some other tech company.
recruiting is very competitive for certain industries/employers.
if you want to get a job in an actual company (like one that makes stuff, as opposed to a bank or consulting firm), you will really stand out.
letters - usually they want at least 1 letter from a current or former boss. if you are young, a professor is okay, but they'd prefer people that work with you, not teach you. you should have 3 or 4 years of work experience to actually contribute to class discussions.
part-time mba is a waste of time. your employer should be paying for it, and it is only used as a pre-req for a promotion.
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>>1702519
Thank you for the response anon. Realistically speaking, I probably would be applying for the 2018 school year and using this year to get all my ducks in a row as far as applications, GMAT, and letters of recommendation. By then I will have three years of work experience.
My current work experience is in the auto industry, but my job role more deals with data analytics. I'm not entirely adverse to remaining in the auto industry but I'd like to set myself up to make more money in the not too distant future.
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>>1702564
all programs want some level of career progression. some programs like younger people, some like older.
all of the applications will have you to speak to some issue or story from work, so you need to have a lot of fairly concise stories that address the types of questions that come up (conflict, failure, success, influencing/changing peoples minds, etc).
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Man I graduated in electrical engineering from the state university and the only reason I want an MBA is my insecurity that I didn't go to a posh top tier school and I know that's a terrible reason but I can't dispel this feeling of missing out
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>>1702588
I'm a deployed officer with the marine corps, will my superiors be considered good letters of rec?
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>>1702685
Grad school is worth it. I plan on getting an MBA or go to Law School from a top-10 school from either category. Already have my masters in econ from UT. (Which gives me an easy path to acceptance to their law school as a backup, which is still very top-tier on the top 10 list)
Really hoping for Yale, or Harvard for the MBA or Law School equally because of the weight behind those names.
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>>1702702
yes, though a common trap for people in the military is they pick the highest ranking person they can to write their letters. it's better to have people that have worked closely with you and can speak at depth about your strengths/weaknesses.
the way i think about it is an grizzled old CEO (or general) has maybe worked with 10,000 people and someone one level above you has worked with 200 or so. you are a lot more likely to stand out to the guy who is only comparing you to 99 other people than 9,999 other people.
military is pretty good experience for mba applications because increasing rank is a very clear career progression, there's very tangible leadership stuff, usually a lot of international experience, and the application stories are often a lot better than "i needed to work over the weekend to finish a spreadsheet".
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