A few months ago it dawned on me that I should go back to school. Well, it probably dawned on me a while ago, but I started taking it seriously then. I feel like I am setting out to get my Masters in the fall, but don't really know if it is the right next step for me.
I do not like school. Some people really like school and seem to make every attempt to keep going to school forever. I, however, found college to kind of be a waste of time at certain points. I am somehow smarter than the average bear, but have a great degree of difficulty retaining information. College is not organized for people like me. You are expected to learn a lot of often unrelated things in a short amount of time.
Since I don't like school, I am really only considering getting my Master's so I can 1) further my career 2) hopefully learn more about a specific field and 3) feel superior to other people (j/k!!). Unlike most people considering a Master's program, I am only looking at one school. Justin works for KPLU NPR & Jazz, which is affiliated with PLU in Tacoma. Since he is an employee I receive 75% off tuition as his spouse. Not a bad deal! PLU has an abhorrent selection of graduate programs, but they do have a MBA Program. In an ideal world I would love to go to UW because they have an amazing MBA program, but I'm also cheap. $40,000 vs. $12,000
Since I love bulleted lists, I'd like to show you the pros and cons of going back to school
PROS
- Relatively inexpensive. The discount I get through Justin makes it only about $12,000 for the whole program
- More experience and overall knowledge
- PLU's program includes an international trip
- Evening program that meets 2 days a week would make working and schooling quite possible
- Opportunity to advance my career
CONS
- Still costs money. If we plan to buy a house next year life will be expensive
- I don't like school. Despite always being a good student, I find it hard to pay attention and retain knowledge sometimes
- Not sure PLUs program is all that good. Wasn't terribly impressed at the January info session
- Will involve Math. Math is bad and I think I have to relearn all of it
- Is the program right for my needs? What are my needs?
- Not sure it will help my career. What am I doing with my life?
- I don't want to lock Justin into working at KPLU for another two years, so I can get a discount
When it comes down to it, I think I want a Master's degree just to have a Master's degree. I guess there are worse reasons. So far, my first steps have been attending the info session and enrolling in South Seattle Community College to take a Statistics pre reg in the Spring. Next steps: applying and taking the GMAT
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