Earning an MBA

Posted by John H. Heinrichs


Nov 22

My Journey to an MBA:

The journey to earning my MBA started over 7 years ago. I had been working full time for years and wanted an advanced degree to supplement my skills. I took the GMAT and received a high score. I then applied to Wayne State University School of Business Administration. I was accepted! I was happy and began my journey of taking MBA classes while working full time. I took classes online and in person. First, I had to take the Foundation Classes (like BA 6000: Financial Reporting: Accounting Module and BA 6010: Basics of Business Economics).

I got through my first few classes then ... I had my first child (my lovely handsome son)!  My weekly schedule went from:

No_Kids

To:

 1_kid

I was still able to continue my classes at Wayne State University School of Business Administration thanks to online and weekend classes! I finished my Foundation classes and was on to Core and Elective classes, when another event happened. I had a 2nd baby (my wonderful lovely daughter)!

My schedule then went to:

2_kids

My kids are now 3 and 4 years old. I have not missed a beat with my kids, and I'm graduating next semester (and I was just told I am in the top 10% of my class!). I've been able to enroll in interesting classes that are relevant to my job. I have enough classes to have a concentration in Information Systems Management with my MBA. In fact, I am writing this blog post now for my class ISM 7505: Inbound Information Technology. (A funny thing about this class, there are random YouTube videos like this: http://ism7505.business.wayne.edu/Week14/default.aspx. Yes, that is a video of Turn Around - Bonnie Tyler as part of the course materials). (Another cool thing about this class is my textbook was available to read on my Amazon Kindle).

Course Workload:

Now, don't get me wrong, getting an MBA online is not easy. There is a lot to do! Most classes require reading a full text book, there are papers to write, quizzes to take, mid-terms, finals, group projects, and did I mention papers to write? The classes cover topics that may be tough for some like Corporate Financial Management and Managerial Accounting. In business school there is almost always group work to complete including group presentations. In most online courses there is a discussion board that requires weekly participation which requires reading an article that may be quite lengthy. Grading is often not based just on your participation but also the quality of your comments. Often the discussion requirement is in addition to other work on the syllabus. You cannot slack or you will fall behind. Wayne State is an AACSB accredited business school and they keep that good reputation by keeping the classes challenging for students. 

Flexibility In Course Offerings:

As a full-time working person (and mom) one thing that is really great about Wayne State's Business School is the flexibility. For instance, many times, some online classes at WSU in the MBA program will have suggested due dates, or a window to turn in coursework, rather than hard deadlines. Or, if an exam is needed you have usually a week-long window to take the exams, usually spanning over a weekend. That's nice because if one of my kids get sick or something comes up at work I can plan my studying and exam taking around it. The groups I have been in were very understanding about getting together and being flexible. In a recent elective class I took (ISM 7510 Database Management) we used WebEx and conference calls to work on our group project of building a database. We often got together virtually as a group on Sunday afternoons or Monday nights because that is what worked best for our schedules.

For those who can take in-person classes there any many business school classes to choose from at the Oakland campus and in Detroit. Electives are offered in the Finance, Accounting, Information Systems Management, Marketing, and Management areas. There are many evening classes to choose from if you are able to go in-person. Prior to having my kids I took a couple classes at the Oakland campus after work. I highly recommend in-person graduate classes at Wayne State if you are able to make it! Both experiences (online and in-person) have been great for me.

Plan Your MBA:

So how am I doing it? I'm doing it slowly. I have been taking 1-2 classes per year for the past 7 years. That may be hard if you’re itching to get done quickly but it’s been great. In fact new classes have come out that I really enjoyed and can apply to my career like ISM 7570 Data Mining.

So, how can you do it? I recommend checking out the class schedule at Wayne State to see if the classes can fit into your schedule.

Enroll in BA Courses

Enjoy the MBA Journey:

Decide if you can go slowly like me and take 1-2 classes at a time while you enjoy other things in life as well (like kids!) I’m sure if you would like to go faster you can do that as well.

Good luck to you, and I hope you choose Wayne State University Business School to get your MBA! The flexibility worked for me and I hope it will work for you too.

Other Helpful Links:

  1. WSU School of Business Administration Main Page: http://business.wayne.edu/
  2. Easy Guide to Getting MBA: http://inbound.business.wayne.edu/blog/easy-guide-to-getting-all-the-classes-you-need-to-graduate-with-an-mba
  3. Funny Video for mom readers: People with no kids don't know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFQfylQ2Jgg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuFQfylQ2Jgg&app=desktop
  4. For more information about AACSB accreditation, visit http://business.wayne.edu/about/aacsb.php
  5. Obtain a free Kindle Reader for your PC or Mac at …
  6. Share This on Twitter!

(All accolades and credit for this tremendous blog post belong to Stacy Forsyth. For more information about Stacy, see her LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stacy-forsyth/70/b7a/60/.  Also, please leave Stacy some comments, she would be happy to read them and respond!)

Topics: ISM 7505, MBA

Subscribe to our Blog!

Authors

See All Authors

Interested In Being A Blog Contributor?

If you are interested in being a contributor to the BizBlog, please fill out the form and I will get back to you real soon!!

×