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conmisdosmanos
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the future with debt? 22 Feb 2010, 10:16
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I'm interested in microfinance as it relates to the US food industry (I am not honestly sure what job function to identify as my goal...), and eventually would like to own my own business. Not necessarily immediately lucrative (or ever lucrative...) career paths! Although I suppose I could manage a couple years in a debt-repaying position before setting out on my own.

Ross has loan forgiveness programs for non-profit/public positions, but not necessarily social enterprise. It's a possibility but not something I'm prepared to count on.

The way I'm looking at it is this: the "lesser" school might make life easier upon graduation, but Ross will continuously open doors for me for the rest of my life. It's a trade-off, but I think it will be worth it. *Cue hyperventilating, sweating, and heart pumping wildly at the thought of the size of my loans...
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the future with debt? 22 Feb 2010, 11:16
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conmisdosmanos
I'm interested in microfinance as it relates to the US food industry (I am not honestly sure what job function to identify as my goal...), and eventually would like to own my own business. Not necessarily immediately lucrative (or ever lucrative...) career paths! Although I suppose I could manage a couple years in a debt-repaying position before setting out on my own.

Ross has loan forgiveness programs for non-profit/public positions, but not necessarily social enterprise. It's a possibility but not something I'm prepared to count on.

The way I'm looking at it is this: the "lesser" school might make life easier upon graduation, but Ross will continuously open doors for me for the rest of my life. It's a trade-off, but I think it will be worth it. *Cue hyperventilating, sweating, and heart pumping wildly at the thought of the size of my loans...
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I'm not familiar with Ross' particular loan forgiveness program and don't think this was mentioned previously in this thread... but since 2007, public service after graduation from any institution has been rewarded with Congressionally-authorized loan forgiveness programs. Federal loans are covered and "public service" is defined to include a charitable organization. You have to stay public for 10 years.

More info here:
https://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml

& here:
https://www.finaid.org/loans/ibrfaq.phtml
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the future with debt? 22 Feb 2010, 21:18
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conmisdosmanos


The way I'm looking at it is this: the "lesser" school might make life easier upon graduation, but Ross will continuously open doors for me for the rest of my life. It's a trade-off, but I think it will be worth it. *Cue hyperventilating, sweating, and heart pumping wildly at the thought of the size of my loans...
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conmisdosmanos - I'm in the same boat with an elite and a lower ranked school. Terrifying but I hope we're right and it's worth it in the end.
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the future with debt? 23 Feb 2010, 08:26
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dcdevil & SBbound - I sent you guys a PM. It looks like all my recent PMs are just sitting in my outbox (anybody know why?). Let me know if you receive it?
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the future with debt? 24 Feb 2010, 18:10
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conmisdosmanos
dcdevil & SBbound - I sent you guys a PM. It looks like all my recent PMs are just sitting in my outbox (anybody know why?). Let me know if you receive it?
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It stays in your outbox until the recipient reads it. After they read it, your PM box will show it as "sent."
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the future with debt? 24 Feb 2010, 20:51
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bostonsparky
If anything I'm more excited about getting one. Not to sound like a Motley Fool advertisement but historically when the market contracts like it is now, a lot of new opportunities for business growth are going to pop up*, and in a couple years, there'll be a very good chance for recent MBA grads to get in on the ground floor. Perhaps the concentrations of an MBA will be a little more swayed (less in finance, more in say entrepreneurship and MC) but I think the value is definitely still there. Two years is a long time.


*An example I love that Malcolm Gladwell gave in his latest book was of how in the 75 richest people of all time (wealth pro-rated to today's dollars), something like TWELVE of them were americans born in the 1830s. Why is this? Because they hit their creative peak at a period (post civil war) where the market was just coming out of a gigantic state of flux and uncertainty. Sound familiar?
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This is a great example - Malcolm has a special talent for great analogies.

We had the CEO and founder of Oaktree Capital speak in the Restructuring class today - smart, insightful and sharp guy with a great sense of humor. His investing advice was simple: "Be bold when others are fearful, and be fearful and others are bold" and I think it is generally applicable to big decisions like investing into your own future, too. If it is not scary, it is an easy decision, and so everyone is capable of making a similar one.

MBA is an expensive toolkit, but it is well worth it, and I would always wholeheartedly recommend Wharton MBA to anyone anywhere.

Graduating with an MBA into a down economy is thought to reduce the impact of the education on your career, but you will be in a much better position vs. not having an MBA.
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the future with debt? 24 Feb 2010, 23:35
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conmisdosmanos
dcdevil & SBbound - I sent you guys a PM. It looks like all my recent PMs are just sitting in my outbox (anybody know why?). Let me know if you receive it?

It stays in your outbox until the recipient reads it. After they read it, your PM box will show it as "sent."
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Thank you!
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the future with debt? 24 Feb 2010, 23:39
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xerox

"Be bold when others are fearful, and be fearful and others are bold" and I think it is generally applicable to big decisions like investing into your own future, too. If it is not scary, it is an easy decision, and so everyone is capable of making a similar one.

MBA is an expensive toolkit, but it is well worth it, and I would always wholeheartedly recommend Wharton MBA to anyone anywhere.

Graduating with an MBA into a down economy is thought to reduce the impact of the education on your career, but you will be in a much better position vs. not having an MBA.
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I think you're absolutely right, and in my gut I know I've already made my decision and it's the right one (the expensive one). It's nice to know, however, that I'm not the only one who has the jitters...

Thanks for all the encouragement, everybody, on this thread and across this forum!
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the future with debt? 25 Feb 2010, 09:10
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xerox

We had the CEO and founder of Oaktree Capital speak in the Restructuring class today - smart, insightful and sharp guy with a great sense of humor. His investing advice was simple: "Be bold when others are fearful, and be fearful and others are bold"
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"and steal all your best lines from more successful business men." :)
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the future with debt? 03 May 2010, 21:34
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Well add me to the club of jittery thinkers.

I got my loan approved this afternoon and the money won't cover it, so I'll be scraping by and applying for every scholarship in existence I qualify for.

This step has kinda turned the excited factor towards nerves. It's like when you're in line to go on a roller coaster, and when they're giving the safety instruction you keep thinking how much you wanna get off the thing.

I'm so scared about the debt, the life transition, and whether this is the right decision for me - am I sure I wasn't meant for med or law school?
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aveekguha
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the future with debt? 04 May 2010, 06:55
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A very interesting topic..and no right answer.

Two other things to consider:
1. if you did not get an MBA, would your current career path be secure? It may be a mistake to think that your current job/path will stay at status quo (think all the folks in the dot com industry in 2000s or financial services in 2008s). On the other hand, if you work at a small-to-med size business and have a strong trajectory, maybe the MBA is not needed right now and/or can be done in a part time basis.

2. if you know what industry you would like to land in, compare MBA & non-MBA routes there -- there will be individuals that have succeeded via both channels. If a non-MBA alternative appears plausible, it is worth considering.

One variable here -- the MBA does give you flexibility not just coming out of grad school but beyond into your 2nd or 3rd job. While experience matters more at that juncture, the MBA is still sometimes a 'minimum' bar that employers look to.

Good luck!
Aveek Guha, President, www.mbadaycamp.com
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the future with debt? 25 Feb 2020, 23:05
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