Very confused - older candidate looking to go back to school
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05 Jan 2013, 14:39
Hi,
I am a older candidate and have an opportunity to make a change(potentially significant) in my career. My biggest reasons for going back to school are fairly typical
1) I want to have more avenues to pursue
2) To make a career shift
3) To also pursue some of the ideas that I have had in the past years as a lead and the opportunities that I have seen being missed by people at top
If I am confused as to whether I want to do a Phd or MBA - am I totally off? I know that I am comparing apples to oranges and so I feel like I am missing something big conceptually.
I think that a FT MBA will help me but am unsure and afraid of the time & money commitment that it is going to take. I am not very convinced by the part time MBA option since I think that it will make my already crazy life even more crazier - in the sense I would have to focus on work, school, family.
On the other hand, Phd will enable me to get out of schools without debt and I can pursue some of my ideas to see if they are worth it . However I don't have any research experience and my GPA is low.
I would appreciate some insights into my situation. I am working on my GMAT currently and looking to start something in 2014 - Jan or Sept.
Thank you for any help you can provide,
Background
I am an Indian female, 33 years old. I am married and have 2 little kids.
Education
a. I did my undergrad, Bachelor of Commerce (3 yrs) – 69%, Grad, Master of Commerce(2 yrs) – 65% both in India.
b. I also did a chartered accountancy (Equivalent to CPA) in India and am a member of the Institution of Chartered Accountants of India
c. I took my CPA exams here and cleared all of them but did not follow thru with an internship since I had started working by then.
Work experience
a. Currently, I work as a Team lead at a higher Ed institution in the sponsored programs department. I have 8 positions (2 indirects) reporting to me currently & abt 7 positions in the past 4 years. My work is analytical, xl based with minimal accounting thrown in.
b. I have been working with a ERP software for the past 7 years and was part of the ERP rollout team in the same institution
c. I have also picked up minimal technical skills – basic sql querying, spec writing, testing/configuring etc
d. Right after my CA, I worked in a fortune 500 company in India for about 4-41/2 years
e. I also have internship experience(while doing my CA) for 3 years
Extra curricular activities
a. Nothing national/international – but I have fairly varied extra curriculars – such as gardening, cooking, volunteering at hospitals & volunteering via a service organization in India.