Budgeting for the MBA, can I justify the cost?
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21 Mar 2012, 15:32
Hi there guys,
I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice?
I'm an international student and had been thinking about an MBA for the last couple of years. I'd narrowed my search down to two highly ranked schools, and much to my delight was accepted on to one program (top 15) and dinged at the other (top 5). After being accepted the financial implications are now beginning to hit home and I must admit, I'm beginning to have second thoughts..
While I'm still waiting on a couple of decisions on scholarships, I've not been awarded anything thus far and am facing the prospect of fully self-funding. I've done my budgeting calculations and the whole cost of the MBA including tuition, insurance, accommodation, living costs and budgeting for tuition fee rises is a rather staggering $250k. Sure, there may be opportunities to earn money during internships and other opportunities but I have been advised not to take this as a given..
I've worked for a governmental organisation for all of my working life so my earnings have not been spectacular, but for the first time in my life I've managed to clear my old student debts and have some good savings in the bank mainly thanks to a recent remortgage. Even using up all of my saved funds, I'm facing having to borrow an extra $100k.
Historically I've been quite open minded about taking on debt for the right reasons, but my no-consigner options are at 8% (based on the 4.5% + prime which I understand is at historically low levels, thus likely to rise) with a up front 3% "admin fee". 100k of that kind of loan really makes me cringe, especially as I'm interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial track after graduation and don't want to be weighed down or forced in to a job I don't really want to do, just for the money.
It's all rather sobering as I think the MBA is a great opportunity for me and I was really stoked to get in to the school of my choice, but I'm now wondering whether I can justify the cost and whether I should have given myself more options (perhaps cheaper courses, applied to more schools for more chances of scholarships etc).
Does anyone have any views/opinions/advice on my situation? I also read a lot about the potential to negotiate with your school but these are mainly aimed at people who have scholarship offers from other schools... in my case, having applied to only two schools, I don't have any better offers to bargain with, only the possibility of not being able to attend due to financial reasons. Has anyone had an luck getting positive results with schools in this kind of situation?
Any advice would be very gratefully appreciated!
Parador