Back to School

Lately, I've been considering a return to school, a la Rodney Dangerfield, but I don't plan on joining the dive team. It's always been a personal goal of mine to return for an MBA, but for both personal and financial reasons, I haven't felt ready for a return. That is, until recently.

It has been six years since I've graduated from Shepherd. In that span, I have assumed the personal roles of husband, homeowner and father, which are and will always be more important than any job title. Professionally, I have had the good fortune to fall into a career that I enjoy as a procurement officer. This position has given me the opportunity to interact with the gamut of internal staff, from bookkeepers to Superintendents. Also, I've been able to collaborate with every major department within the organization during the procurement process. As a function area of the finance department, procurement consists of two staff members, me, the supervisor and a purchasing specialist. This staffing situation, while sometimes challenging during peak seasons, has further afforded me the opportunity to oversee the procurement of most major purchasing categories. To name a few, office supplies, group health insurance, and financial advisory services. I've also been able to work on the development of a public/private partnership (PPP) that resulted in the construction of an elementary school and am currently working on another PPP for a county-wide transportation facility.

With this experience, I now feel equipped to attend B-school. The program I attend will need to be a part-time program, because of my aforementioned personal roles and the fact that quitting a good job in this economy would be very un-businesslike, in my opinion. I've looked into a few local schools, Shepherd and Shenandoah, along with a few nearby major universities. Of course the smaller, local schools are more affordable, but the larger institutions carry a little more clout and a larger network of both alumni and recruiters.

Which gets me to the question that probably every prospective MBA student has asked, "What is the return on my investment?" Which, I guess, is a great question to ask, and sounds very "MBAish". It is true that the job market in the U.S. is currently in the doldrums and the once very real prospect of stepping out of b-school and into a $100k position is unlikely. But is that the real reason to return to school? Certainly, I'd like to be able to earn a decent wage to support my family and retire comfortably, but I argue that the non-monetary rewards of advancing your education outweigh the monetary. One university that I've researched says their program is geared to prepare principled leaders for the world of practical affairs. And isn't that the point? Don't we need more of those?

Why am I writing this, you might ask? Simply practicing for the analytical writing assessment, which is a part of the GMAT exam. So, if I haven't bored you to death with this post, stay tuned...