really contemplating business school

I take it you want to go for a MBA. You should price out the various programs if you are paying yourself. I was very surprised at the prices for some of the programs.

 

I did not go to business school. You know who else didn’t go to business school? LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant. They went right from high school to the NBA, so …

 

I thought about going back to school to get MBA. But even UH is $60k for the program. And then take into account opportunity costs, ie time spent away from home and doing other things. In the end I decided against it.
But that's mainly because I'm in a well-paid job and could probably advance myself in other ways, on my own time, without spending that type of money. If you're still fairly new into your profession I think the MBA would be a good way to go.

 

I am applying for the UT MBA program in Houston... I think its the best one if you want to remain in Houston and work full time.

if you want more info - contact me through the board.

 

Many employers will pay for some or all of a MBA program. Something to check into at your current job or when looking for a new job.

UH is up to $60K? Dang, even a couple years ago it still was in the mid $20K range.

 

OMG I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the title lol

 

Finished my MBA from McCombs in May '08. Best career move I've ever made. Went from being a deadbeat engineer to a strategic role providing equity research and input to M&A and private placement deals. Making the transition from engineering to finance was well worth it, and don't think I would've had the opportunity without a MBA.

Make sure you go full-time if you want to maximize your experience. Your two years will fly by, you'll make a ton of new friends, and get drunk 3-4 nights a week. It's a great life. By the time you finish, 2011, the job market will be back on the right path too. Remember, education is always an investment, so don't worry about the cost. Student loans will help you cover the tuition.

 

Isn't that what undergrad is for?

 

Every good story needs a sequel.

 

How exactly did you make the transition from engineering into finance? ...summer internship? ...on-campus recruiting? I thought most finance positions would require at least some work experience in finance (not just an mba)?

I am a software engineer and would like to transition out as well... but I don't see an obvious roadmap (for myself anyways)...

 

Getting into business school this year will be harder than ever before thanks to the recession so be careful.

 

took my gmat last november and just started my mba at uh this past august. so far i feel ive made the right decision as i already am having great experiences.

i also switched industries from real estate to finance so im concentrating on finance through the program.

 

I also recently graduated with my MBA. I worked and did evening courses. I recommend the day program, if you can swing it, though the evening program isn't too shabby.

Rice's strength is in finance. So you'd want to consider them. But, I know in my class, none of our real estate guys got jobs before graduation.

One thing that I think people should realize before going in: there are still winners and losers when it comes to employment after school. A lot of recruiters come in and there will be some guys not much different than you (you might be one of them) that will be deciding between 4 $100k offers. And, there will be other guys who won't get any offers and will be panicking about graduating and being unemployed with a $80k debt to repay.

 

I would say that about 1/3 of my class, maybe more, had technical backgrounds, so that's not an issue. Load up on accounting, finance, and economics electives and you should be fine. Also worked a practicum with a pureplay downstream refiner doing market analysis. In fact, of my 60 hours, I think about 39 of them were of the latter. My favorite classes:

Financial Markets and Institutions - Spellman (your textbook is basically the WSJ)
Financial Strategies - Titman (energy asset valuation)
Financial Risk Mgmt - Ronn (energy options, derivatives, and hedging instruments)
Investment Theory - Hallman (portfolio mgmt, fixed income, etc)
Macroeconmics - Brandl

And of course, you'll do a summer internship in finance after your first year is completed.

 

I got my MBA from McCombs in May '07 (marketing FTW). (Baqui, I'm sure we passed each other in the halls and didn't even know it.) Now, instead of working in a fun, but ultimately dead-end job, I'm making roughly twice what I made before, and I actually have a *GASP* career. MOST IMPORTANTLY, though, is the fact that I get to root for the Longhorns not as a T-shirt fan but as an actual graduate of UT. (Plus, I still get to maintain my Ivy League street cred from my undergrad days.) Win-win!

Man, I miss McCombs.

 

I liked Brandl and Leeds. Were you on the Fund, by chance?

 

You're in Houston now, right? Surprised we never hung out in the Carpenter room. Those were two of the most fun years of my life. I stopped by the tailgate at the Mizzou game, and things are looking pretty bleak for the '09 folks. Hiring is slow right now, and % of student with FT offers from their internships is way lower than expected.

I wasn't on the fund, but had Sandy for the core -> great instructor and even better guy as long as you're not late for class. Brandl's class was entertaining as hell. Never took a Doggett or Nolan class though.

 

Is your current job with the same company you did your internship with? ...Was it easy getting the job?

And also.. yeah, if you get an mba from a high ranked school like mccombs (ranked 18th), it's probably worth it.. but how about from a school like Rice (ranked 40th)?