Scruff McGruff says stay in school.

So let’s talk about grad school. Some people want to leave college and enter the world of responsibility…why, I don’t know…but some do and enter the real world and later return to get their MBA or Master’s degree.

We’ll start with the SANE folks who don’t want to enter the real world of responsibility and would like to stay in the play-land known as college. 5th year programs are really nice because it just gets you more education for your job and allows you to become more valuable before you enter the workforce. If you don’t go to an Ivy League school, that’s about the biggest advantage you can get as I’ve said. It’s also a really great idea (as I’ve said previously as well) that you should get a degree in skills that are complimentary to the ones you already have. For a 5th year student with an undergrad degree in accounting, getting a grad degree in finance might be a good idea. Could also match up Finance and Accounting with Economics if you feel like, same idea.

For folks who want to come back, you have 2 options really. Get a Master’s or get an MBA. Typically, they take a similar amount of time to achieve (my friend going through it will take 4 semesters, it’ll take me 3 to go through my MSQF) but the MBA is what people like to see next to your name. if your gonna go for your MBA though, typically it’s because your company is paying for it, so you infrequently get a choice in the concentration.

I will point out, avoid doing your MBA directly after graduation. The programs are designed to work off your real world experiences. Many employers will simply not take you seriously if you get your MBA right after graduation. I’ve written about this before so I won’t drone on about it any longer.



PS – Red Sox, it’s getting to be a habit.