full-time vs. part-time masters

jungle · Post by **jungle** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 11:54 pm

there is an opportunity cost associated with giving up a job to go back to school full-time. clearly, if the offer were from a prestigious enough school it would be worth it, otherwise it might not. my question is where is the dividing line?

exotiq · Post by **exotiq** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:36 pm

IMHO, the dividing line is not so much a function of how prestigious the school is, but how high the opportunity cost is for you as opposed to what benefits you expect from attending the program. If I didn't consider a school good enough to attend full-time, I probably wouldn't want to invest after-hours energy on such a program part-time either.

jungle · Post by **jungle** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 8:06 pm

thanks, exotiq...i think the benefits of studying full time at somewhere prestigious enough would outweigh the opportunity cost(s). the question is what is prestigious enough? the opportunity cost would outweigh the benefit at somewhere "tier 2". and so i would be better doing it part-time. that's my reasoning.

Crassus · Post by **Crassus** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:12 pm

i think that you're reasoning is sound. part-time is hard work. give yourself an idea of expected salary after school to get a quantitative comparison

JamesH83 · Post by **JamesH83** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 4:12 pm

maybe its just me, but ive always thought id would be hard to do a part time masters. If I was working at the same time I think I wouldn't be able to throw myself in to my studies as much. With other things on my mind I wouldnt be able to learn as quickly.

filthy · Post by **filthy** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 4:48 pm

i think it is very important to know where you are going with the masters. i used to have a couple of part time MBA students working for me and i was always frustrated by the fact that they put their studies ahead of the job. my point was that after they graduated they would do anything to get the same job!

many MBA programs just seem to be union cards for finance.

jungle · Post by **jungle** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:04 pm

filthy, would you mind mailing me about this? i actually have a specific question for you... jungle.np(AT)gmail.com.

thanks.