Graduate School Questions

Appreciate the advice from a lot of you guys.

A little more context on what I'm planning on doing (ideally). I currently work in a mar/comm position at a state university where I contribute in a lot of different ways (copywriting, graphic design, strategy, etc.). I really enjoy working in higher education because I believe in it as a product and opportunity for young people. Having worked there, I have come to recognize that a lot of positions above me are held by people with advanced degrees. And while I enjoy the finer parts of my job, like being able to write things in recruiting materials, I know that I want to achieve more in my career and I feel that having an advanced degree will open up more opportunity for me to accomplish that. I would love to be working at a university in a director-type role overseeing communications and playing a big part in how the university's image is managed and portrayed. I'd also like to be part of an athletic program and contribute to its messaging efforts. I'm pretty flexible about what I'd like to do in the overall scheme of things, but I've really come to find that the kinds of positions I would like to find myself in are filled by people who have degrees higher than my own. Additionally, wanting to continue to work in higher education, I know advanced degrees are looked at more favorably by administrators who make those kinds of employment decisions.

I also really enjoy the opportunities that come from being in school and being able to participate in meaningful work. I know going to grad school may sound really superfluous, but for me it goes beyond just the number of zeros on my paycheck. It is important to me that I find fulfillment in my work and I feel like there are things that I could really benefit from by going back to school and earning an advanced degree. I totally and completely recognize the value of having some of the skills you guys have mentioned, but I 'd be lying to you if I told you I wanted to do those things. I really enjoy my work and am pretty committed to staying in this career field.

And to be honest, the cost to go back to school at BYU is unimaginably affordable. Semester tuition is like $3250. It's a two year program with four total semesters, is $13000 (yes, I know about cost of living, books, etc.). What I'm saying is that for $20k in student loans, I can get a master's degree in a field that I enjoy. I'm recently divorced, so I no longer have the familial obligations I once had and I've kinda been floundering since my wife left me. Grad school presents incredible value to me beyond the knowledge I'd gain, such as social and networking opportunities, and kind of being able to reinvent myself as a person post-divorce. I've felt really good about this choice to go to grad school (or at least apply), so we'll see what happens.

Took my GRE couple of weeks ago and got my scores back:

Verbal Reasoning, 159 (81st percentile)
Quantitative Reasoning 154 (56th percentile... never was a math guy :lol: )
Analytical Reasoning, 5.0 (93rd percentile)
 
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Those are really good scores. No lie, Harvard would look at you with those.

Some good advice already given, I would highly recommend not going full time. Any program worth its weight in gold will have a weekend program/night.

Also, the application process is INTENSE. It is not undergrad where you finish the app in 2 days. Some schools (mine) Required a 20 page writing sample among other intensive requirements. Never too early to start the process.

I will be attending the university of chicago next fall, any question regarding the process you have I would be happy to help.
 
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I try to tell dudes about BYU all the time. Man you can give up 2/4 years of abiding by a "honor contract" for that top tier schooling for like 20k.

You already know people are circumventing it left and right anyways, especially if you're non LDS and you go there.
 
LoL, forgot about that honor contract and them kicking that student athlete out for having sex. Don't listen to NT and all this you have to go to a top 10-20 school stuff, my x was making 6 figures in Manhattan working for RazorFish doing accounts/campaigns for all our favorite fortune 500 companies getting tons of freebies until she got discovered by Google at an idea fair and they offered her a huge raise pushing her probably closer to 150k+ and she went to the University of Rochester, and she's average to slightly below/above average looking (depending on what you're into) for what it's worth. Hell, she even had a public access tv show for a short period of time and was getting calls from 3 different NBA teams on the fly to do their smaller media events in the summer leading up to the season.

Look into Grand Canyon University too, not a big name yet, but they'll fly you out there for free to their prospective student event and treat you like a God (or like a D1 athlete they're trying to sign :tongue:). Pick you up from the airport, go get you some In and Out if you ask your enrollment advisor for some, the whole 9, then have you back on a bus to their airport and home in the same day.

http://www.valuecolleges.com/rankings/best-big-data-graduate-programs-2016/

http://www.bestvalueschools.com/cheap/online/masters-and-mba-in-marketing-degree-programs/

http://www.topmanagementdegrees.com/rankings/affordable-online-mba-degree-programs/
 
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http://niketalk.com/t/503809/graduate-students-of-nt
Fam this isnt absolute at all, hell I wouldnt even call it the prevailing mindset, I'd call it an almost even split. I know pretty much almost as many people who wet straight undergrad/graduate as I do people who did the two years work experience followed byMBA.


I will say that in our age group, the latter is FAR more common, but both ways happen almost equally from my experience.

If you went to Grad School and arent in a Senior Contributor role or Management role upon completion you wasted your money UNLESS you went to Grad school to change career fields.

I agree with this. I also feel like I'd never pay for grad school myself, if my employer wants me/subsidizes me to go then maybe. I might get a MBA in the future, but as of three weeks from now I'm not sitting in a classroom again for the rest of my life :lol:
 
My employer offers tuition reimbursement. Contemplating an mba however I'm not sure what field I'll end up in. Kinda a no brainier at this point though.
 
I agree with this. I also feel like I'd never pay for grad school myself, if my employer wants me/subsidizes me to go then maybe. I might get a MBA in the future, but as of three weeks from now I'm not sitting in a classroom again for the rest of my life :lol:

there are affordable Grad programs that if you want a structured path to gain new skills, that I`m not against someone paying out of pocket BUT these 60k-90k grad programs with someone taking on the whole load than nah that isn't a good move.
 
I try to tell dudes about BYU all the time. Man you can give up 2/4 years of abiding by a "honor contract" for that top tier schooling for like 20k.

You already know people are circumventing it left and right anyways, especially if you're non LDS and you go there.

Well, I'm already LDS, so the Honor Code isn't a big deal to me.

But yeah, it's a pretty incredible deal.
 
 
I try to tell dudes about BYU all the time. Man you can give up 2/4 years of abiding by a "honor contract" for that top tier schooling for like 20k.

You already know people are circumventing it left and right anyways, especially if you're non LDS and you go there.
Well, I'm already LDS, so the Honor Code isn't a big deal to me.

But yeah, it's a pretty incredible deal.
This seems like an obvious choice to me.

Dont take anything I said as offense to being LDS, I was out in Utah in October when the convention was in town, some of the nicest people were out there.
 
This seems like an obvious choice to me.


Dont take anything I said as offense to being LDS, I was out in Utah in October when the convention was in town, some of the nicest people were out there.

Not at all fam

I don't look for offense when it is clearly not there.
 
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