Welcome to the day and age where college degrees are a dime a dozen. College is becoming more and more affordable, and students are somehow becoming more motivated than in the days when my grandparents contemplated universities. In order to stand out against all the other applicants for a particular job, or to simply increase your current clout (and salary!) at work, a master’s degree has become something to consider.
I graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Business in December of 2006 with my Master’s in Business Administration. I took classes there for two and a half years. I enjoyed my experience there, but also felt that it would be worth leaving some words of advice to any who may be thinking about following in my not-always-sure of themselves footsteps. After all, investing that much time and money into any decision is something that deserves extra opinions and research.
To preface the entire rest of this article, if I had the chance to go back and do my schooling again, I’m not sure that I would. Has my degree really helped me advance in my career? (This seems to always be the question people ask.) The answer: I’m not sure. Doors have opened since graduation, and I’m in a job situation now that I’m much happier with than when I lived in Birmingham. Did I get here because of my MBA, though? Somehow, I doubt it.
I did my undergraduate degree at Samford University (also in Birmingham, AL). Samford is a smaller, private liberal arts university. As such, admission requirements tend to be a bit stricter than at your standard state school. I was a good student, and graduated with my bachelor’s in business administration. At the time, Samford did not offer the option to specialize in any particular concentration. (I’ve heard that is offered now.) I believe I received an excellent education during those four years. Perhaps, even…too good of an education. I say this because, after experiencing what Samford had to offer its students, I’m not certain I could pinpoint anything that I took away from UAB that I didn’t already know.
UAB was not my number one choice of school, however, at the time, my employer was paying for my classes. A free MBA seemed like a brilliant business plan, and as I had no social life anyway, I committed to the classes. As a self-proclaimed bookworm, studying has always come naturally to me. Did I put effort into studying for my UAB classes? Absolutely. Was all that effort necessarily required? No. I specifically remember my first semester as a grad student, in classes with 30ish other students, all older than me, all having much more business experience than I have even now. I had a marketing course and an economics course that semester. And I aced my very first economics exam. (not to toot my own horn…but I have already admitted to being a bookworm.)
I believe that in my entire educational career with UAB, I only made a “B” in one course…and heaven help me, that was some sort of global financial markets course, and I signed up for a 6am time slot. Let me tell ya…there is not enough coffee in the world to ace that one.
I was put on a wait list when I first applied to UAB. Per their admission requirements, they expected students to have certain undergrad GPAs, meet a benchmark GMAT score, and have two years worth of ‘real world working experience’ under their belt. (Still not real sure what that means?? Ha.) At the time, I’d only been out of college for a year. I wasn’t informed that I’d made it in the program until about a month before it was time to register for classes. Here I was, a youngster, ready to take on a graduate program and work on my MBA? Seemed a bit intimidating for a girl who had dreams of someday being a financial planner on Wall Street.
Soon I would learn that my expectations were perhaps set too high. Not to discourage anyone from attending the school…after all, really, a degree is a degree regardless of which institution of higher learning grants it, but I felt that I was gypped with the program. The majority of students did not come from cultures that spoke English as a first language. For that matter, many of the professors also had slight issues with thick accents, making it difficult to fully grasp all the concepts they tried to explain. Many of my classes seemed to be the type where minimal effort was all that was needed to satisfy the professor.
Once again, granted, I had a strong business background from my Samford years. As such, several of the courses that are typically required for the MBA were waived for me. Several of the classes also emphasized group work for major projects, meaning that I didn’t need to be strong in every area. Someone else in the group could pick up the slack where I fell short. Even still, As and Bs were very easy to come by for final semester grades.
My words of wisdom to someone who may be considering this path are simply to re-evaluate your motives for going back to school. I truly did not feel overly challenged with my coursework there; however, I can see where the classes could be painstaking for someone coming from a non-business undergraduate experience. Professors were willing to keep office hours, most responded promptly to emails and phone calls after hours. If you’re entering this prospect with the rose-colored glasses idea of graduating and walking into that brokerage job in New York…then I hope my few collected thoughts here will offer a slice of perspective for you. Obviously, your career will be what you make of it. Will a degree look good on your resume? Absolutely. Will it make you stand out against someone else who only has the bachelor’s? Of course. But…would you be able to survive a financial conversation with anyone?
As the old saying goes, you can survive on charm for about 15 minutes; after that, you better know something. I have my MBA. An emphasis in finance, actually. I’m not real sure I could make it 16 minutes in a Wall Street conversation. I put effort into my degree, did the required work, earned the good grades. I’m very sad to say that I can’t attest to earning the expected knowledge.
Evaluate the program before you send the tuition check. Are there any other schools you are considering? If your heart is in international finance, consider UA, as they offer study abroad programs. Looking for a smaller, more intimate classroom setting? Look at Samford or Birmingham Southern. Smaller schools offer more opportunity for interaction with the professors…and for more intense assignments that will stretch your brainpower capability.
