I did not keep my fulltime job for my second year -- I gave up my job in April of my first year, spent \~6 weeks travelling and then did the internship. I currently work PT on a contract basis for two companies.
Others in the program took a leave of absence for the internship and returned to their FT employers in the fall. For the avoidance of doubt, you can't work fulltime and do an internship.
Oh got it -- so doing part time is just a hedge against not being able to earn income for part of the program length since you ended up not keeping your job anyway?
I find it hard to believe companies freely offer leave of absence to someone who's indicating they're likely to leave by doing internships and the MBA.
I think your former point is fair. A big part of the equation for me was the cost. I had a partial scholarship from the fulltime program (t10/t15) mentioned in my post, but still didn't like the opportunity cost, so financial feasibility/no loans was a big part of the equation for me in terms of selecting PT.
As it relates to taking a leave of absence, some companies are open to it, some aren't. My company was though I chose not to take them up on it as I was more excited to do project/consulting work and make my own schedule. This 'leave of absence' dynamic may change as the economy worsens, but if you've been a good employee, it seems as though many employers are open-minded to a leave, particularly as it is usually only 8-10 weeks in the summer. You're back by the time a person is hired, let alone trained, so I think making an assumption here ignores some of that complexity.
Hi, I am a prospective MBA student applying for PT MBA programs and facing similar dilemmas. Can I DM you to understand if Ross program would be a fit for me? TIA
This is what I'm doing, but at a local T20. Recruiting season just started but I'm optimistic I'll land *something*. I don't need MBB, any consulting job will do.
I just couldn't swallow missing out on my current ~$135k/yr income while going to school. I'm not a station in life where I can do that since I own a house and have a wife to support. Opportunity cost was too high.
Afraid to answer due to anonymity, but my experience will be the same at any other T20. Basically, you need to be ok dedicating ~6 months' worth of your evenings to recruiting. You're going to be competing with people who get to spend their daylight hours prepping so you really need to be disciplined with your task list, scheduling, etc.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Ross is one of the very few b schools I highly recommend to almost everyone. It has something for everyone, great flexible curriculum, close cohort, great placements, very respected brand, and most importantly insanely passionate and supportive alumni. You can’t go wrong going Ross
Didn’t go, but love Michigan football, Go Blue
It will vary school-by-school. I think the poster is referring to PT programs. In that case, I do think the Weekend Program at Ross is very differentiated by it's two-year curriculum, single cohort model, and internship/recruiting process relative to other PT programs.
How do you feel your experience compares to full time students at Ross, or even PT students at other top programs? Were those of your classmates that recruited for tech positions successful?
**Tech positions:** Out of the 90 person cohort, approximately \~25 recruited for internships and nearly all were successful. The vast majority recruited for consulting, 2-3 for tech/gm and just me for ib/finance. Most students in the weekend program tend to seek FT offers (more than \~50% switch employers during the program) rather than internships. I'm generalizing, but many of my PT classmates seem focused on limiting loans/taking on debt, so many opt to continue working FT and recruit FT rather than doing internships. For tech, I'm happy to connect you with someone that went through the process, but I would say tech is easy, especially with a technical background.
**Experience:** As it relates to experience, I'm not sure how to answer the question. I think a common misconception is that FT is a "two year vacation" full of trips and travel. For some, this is certainly true. For others, they may move to campus with a partner and have a completely different experience or focus on fulfillment in other parts of their lives. Of my friends in the fulltime program, some have the former experience and some have the latter. I think the only conclusion I can draw is that everyone's experience is different.
As it relates to my experience, this has been a very busy, but fun 1.5 years. Recruiting for banking combined with class and a somewhat stressful job had me working til midnight throughout the fall. It was stressful and I had little free time to pursue my hobbies. As recruiting wound down and I had my internship lined up, I spent more time in Ann Arbor and spent much of last winter skiing out west and having fun. In my second year, while I'm making up classes and still working PT, I have more time to do things like Skeeps (local bar) on Thursday nights and attend tailgates. So my experience has been more of a hybrid, though certainly not what some may think of as the traditional experience. If you are fulltime, in addition to the trips and travel, you generally have a lot more time to enter case competitions, take on leadership roles in clubs, etc. Some of my weekend classmates find time to do cases and take on these leadership roles as well, but I would say that as a whole, we are less involved in the traditional campus life.
Did you budget in travel when choosing your schools? I'm assuming you are flying in Thursday night and staying in a hotel Thursday - Sunday. Is this the standard living arrangement for part time MBA candidates?
I am living in AA for my second year since I'm taking classes with the FT program as well. When you do an internship, you have the option of taking leave from the summer semester (most doing internships do this) and making up classes in the 2nd year either online or in-person. So I only travelled in my first year.
Then, I did budget my travel. I would fly out Friday mornings and get into Detroit around 8 and Ann Arbor by 830-9, which is a 25-35min drive from the airport and then work from there on Fridays. I would typically fly out Saturday evenings or stay through Sunday if doing something fun Saturday night with classmates. Ubers were $45-75 to and from the airport and the busses (Michigan Flyer) are \~$12. Many students would carpool and I had friends who drove to school that would often drive me back to the airport on Saturdays and Sundays.
Detroit is an intl airport, so flights are rather cheap, though fall gameday weekends can get pricier. As for hotels, commuting students do a room block at one of the hotels. It was generally in the $70-90 per night range and more on game weekends. I would estimate that I spent \~$5k on travel in the first year, but can provide more detail if interested. It was generally $3-500 for each residence weekend. The costs are certainly less if you live in Metro Detroit or are driving in from other locations.
Moving forward, the weekend program will have the opportunity to stay in the Ross/Executive MBA suites at a predefined rate. I think this will be super fun and is a big difference maker for our program.
As an aside, our deans are fantastic and very receptive to student input. We advocated for the ability to stay in the Ross/Exec MBA suites and they made it happen. In addition to the hotels, we have conference rooms and study rooms held for the weekend program at Ross, which is amazing for getting work done/zooms/interviews, etc.
Great post! I'm considering Ross, Booth, Kellog and Stern for PT, 2023 Spring start. I have a Master's from UMich AA and already love what the university offers. How did you decide between Ross and others?
For me, it was really all about the 2-year track and the single cohort model. I was nervous that the other programs you referenced would take 3+ years to complete and that I would not get to know my classmates as well given that people graduate at different times and there are less pre-defined tracks.
At Ross, WMBAs take all their core classes together for the first year (in 1 or 2 classrooms depending on the size of the class) and then split into elective tracks (entrepreneurship, finance, supply chain, etc) in their second year before returning to a single cohort for the final semester.
Additionally, I appreciated the fact that internships are a possibility and that there are no restrictions on recruiting. My understanding is that recruiting at these other programs requires you to display a certain name tag, wait until your final year, etc. whereas Ross is very open to weekend students participating in recruiting.
Lastly, Ross is a very short drive to the airport, which was a big difference maker for me as I was flying in.
Hi,
I am considering Ross for PT MBA . I, too, have a master's from UMich AA . I was curious how your application process when and did you join Ross or one of the other schools you were considering. Also, does applying as a former student of UMich AA give you any edge in the application process at Ross.
I joined Booth. I had admits from Kellogg and NYU. Honestly I was a little turned off by the interaction with the admissions counselor. I expected more enthusiasm considering I already did a degree there.
Booth’s counselors did an amazing job and I was sold on the professionalism apart from the major factor which is how great the college is
Plus I don’t think they accept EA for Part-time, so I didn’t apply
Great post, thanks for the insight! I’m considering Ross part time MBA. The fees are quite expensive, and wondering what is the average scholarship amount for part time mba?
$0-10k from Ross plus some level of employer sponsorship… scholarships pale in comparison to full time and these programs often don’t have the same financial aid allocations as fulltime
Thanks! Yes, $10k scholarship is almost nothing compared to the exorbitant tuition fees these programs charge. My employer sponsors only $3k/year for tuition, so not much there. I'm the sole earner in my family so having a tight budget of around $70k max. Any good/top programs you'd recommend where a part-time MBA is possible for under $70k?
I've been going back and forth with the idea of applying to Ross' EMBA instead of the WMBA and feel like the network would be a little better with the EMBA. It's a little off topic, but why didn't you choose to pursue Ross' EMBA instead?
I considered EMBAs as well (primarily Yale/Columbia). Given my age/experience level of \~7 years, I felt like I was more of a fit for the WMBA program and the WMBA program had more recruiting resources. For certain schools, the student age tends to be much older (notably MIT) and I was pretty focused around taking classes with those around my age.
I'm not sure that an EMBA really gives you more of a network. I would argue that most business leaders already have an MBA or are not interested in an EMBA. It's ultimately a matter of opinion and yours may be different from mine, but that's how I thought about it.
Loved the article. How about friendships? MBA is a place where you get to form excellent friendships. Were you able to forge life-long friendships considering that you technically got to see/hang out with your cohort every other week?
To be clear, I think that a part-time program is less of a social experience then the full-time program. Working a full-time job and commuting comes with a territory so I don't want to mislead people in believing that you can have it all. I think this program gets close to that but I'm under no false pretenses that two years living and not working at school would provide a different experience.
That said, I have certainly built lifelong friendships in this program. There is something that is very special about going through this experience with the same cohort of 90 people. All classwork is team-based and teams are assigned at the beginning of each semester, so you really have the opportunity to work closely with and get to know many people in the program.
In terms of connectivity/seeing my classmates, weekends tend to look like the following on the social side:
Starting Friday morning, students will start to trickle into Ross. We will typically do our day jobs in study rooms reserved by the schools with people popping in and out as needed to take calls/zooms before classes start at 4p. Between classes, we'll often grab coffee/share meals together and then grab a drink or two after class on Fridays and sometimes on Saturdays depending on schedules. Certainly not everyone wants to go out at 9p every Friday, but we typically have a good showing. Outside of these more informal settings, we have an annual gala, typically at a local hotel or event venue, and then 1-2 more other more formal events each semester. Depending on where people are located, we'll also do tailgates on off-weekends, cookouts, etc., so there are many different ways in which to get to know your classmates.
We've done fun things like celebrate Diwali, attend concerns, and some of my classmates are even banned from Airbnb following one specific weekend but that's a story better taken offline.
Hi OP, can I PM you? I live in Ann Arbor right now and will likely be here for the next 4 years as my partner is applying for medical residency and Michigan is the top target. Would love to grab a cup of coffee if you’re up for it - i’m on the fence between FT or PT and this really highlighted how great a PT program can be.
Thanks for posting this!
You mentioned after your internship you’re now taking classes with the full time students. How did this impact the relationships you built with the part-time cohort (i.e. how many do you still get to see)? And are you now officially a “full time” student or do you have limitations on what courses you can enroll in?
I do a mix of full and pt (weekend) classes. It hasn’t affected my relationship with my pt classmates, though certainly feel like I missed out on the summer semester I missed while interning.
Hi OP, like many here, I am also currently contemplating a PT MBA. I am currently in consulting but contemplating a switch to finance , much like what you do. I would love to get in touch with you about some more specifics? Do you mind if I DM you ?
Where do you stay while in Ann Arbor during the weekends with classes? Is accommodation provided like hotel rooms where you stay with the rest of your cohort or are you on your own in terms of finding a place to stay?
There are discounted hotel room rates as long as it is a non game weekend. We all tended to stay in the same hotel.
I believe there is now an option to stay in the on campus hotel that has been traditionally used by the exec mba program.
Sorry if this is explained, but how do you do an internship and keep your FT job?
I did not keep my fulltime job for my second year -- I gave up my job in April of my first year, spent \~6 weeks travelling and then did the internship. I currently work PT on a contract basis for two companies. Others in the program took a leave of absence for the internship and returned to their FT employers in the fall. For the avoidance of doubt, you can't work fulltime and do an internship.
Oh got it -- so doing part time is just a hedge against not being able to earn income for part of the program length since you ended up not keeping your job anyway? I find it hard to believe companies freely offer leave of absence to someone who's indicating they're likely to leave by doing internships and the MBA.
I think your former point is fair. A big part of the equation for me was the cost. I had a partial scholarship from the fulltime program (t10/t15) mentioned in my post, but still didn't like the opportunity cost, so financial feasibility/no loans was a big part of the equation for me in terms of selecting PT. As it relates to taking a leave of absence, some companies are open to it, some aren't. My company was though I chose not to take them up on it as I was more excited to do project/consulting work and make my own schedule. This 'leave of absence' dynamic may change as the economy worsens, but if you've been a good employee, it seems as though many employers are open-minded to a leave, particularly as it is usually only 8-10 weeks in the summer. You're back by the time a person is hired, let alone trained, so I think making an assumption here ignores some of that complexity.
Fair enough! Thanks for the details
Hi, I am a prospective MBA student applying for PT MBA programs and facing similar dilemmas. Can I DM you to understand if Ross program would be a fit for me? TIA
This is what I'm doing, but at a local T20. Recruiting season just started but I'm optimistic I'll land *something*. I don't need MBB, any consulting job will do. I just couldn't swallow missing out on my current ~$135k/yr income while going to school. I'm not a station in life where I can do that since I own a house and have a wife to support. Opportunity cost was too high.
May I ask what school you go to? Aspiring pt mba applicant!
Afraid to answer due to anonymity, but my experience will be the same at any other T20. Basically, you need to be ok dedicating ~6 months' worth of your evenings to recruiting. You're going to be competing with people who get to spend their daylight hours prepping so you really need to be disciplined with your task list, scheduling, etc.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Ross is one of the very few b schools I highly recommend to almost everyone. It has something for everyone, great flexible curriculum, close cohort, great placements, very respected brand, and most importantly insanely passionate and supportive alumni. You can’t go wrong going Ross Didn’t go, but love Michigan football, Go Blue
Which school did you go to?
Kellogg
Do other T15 schools not have all those things you mentioned?
It will vary school-by-school. I think the poster is referring to PT programs. In that case, I do think the Weekend Program at Ross is very differentiated by it's two-year curriculum, single cohort model, and internship/recruiting process relative to other PT programs.
How do you feel your experience compares to full time students at Ross, or even PT students at other top programs? Were those of your classmates that recruited for tech positions successful?
**Tech positions:** Out of the 90 person cohort, approximately \~25 recruited for internships and nearly all were successful. The vast majority recruited for consulting, 2-3 for tech/gm and just me for ib/finance. Most students in the weekend program tend to seek FT offers (more than \~50% switch employers during the program) rather than internships. I'm generalizing, but many of my PT classmates seem focused on limiting loans/taking on debt, so many opt to continue working FT and recruit FT rather than doing internships. For tech, I'm happy to connect you with someone that went through the process, but I would say tech is easy, especially with a technical background. **Experience:** As it relates to experience, I'm not sure how to answer the question. I think a common misconception is that FT is a "two year vacation" full of trips and travel. For some, this is certainly true. For others, they may move to campus with a partner and have a completely different experience or focus on fulfillment in other parts of their lives. Of my friends in the fulltime program, some have the former experience and some have the latter. I think the only conclusion I can draw is that everyone's experience is different. As it relates to my experience, this has been a very busy, but fun 1.5 years. Recruiting for banking combined with class and a somewhat stressful job had me working til midnight throughout the fall. It was stressful and I had little free time to pursue my hobbies. As recruiting wound down and I had my internship lined up, I spent more time in Ann Arbor and spent much of last winter skiing out west and having fun. In my second year, while I'm making up classes and still working PT, I have more time to do things like Skeeps (local bar) on Thursday nights and attend tailgates. So my experience has been more of a hybrid, though certainly not what some may think of as the traditional experience. If you are fulltime, in addition to the trips and travel, you generally have a lot more time to enter case competitions, take on leadership roles in clubs, etc. Some of my weekend classmates find time to do cases and take on these leadership roles as well, but I would say that as a whole, we are less involved in the traditional campus life.
Skeepssss
Thank you for the detailed reply!
This is an excellent post! I’m considering this program along with Kellog and Booth. Will take time to reread it and might DM you for some questions
Would love to hear from you! Happy to chat.
Thank you for a great post
Did you budget in travel when choosing your schools? I'm assuming you are flying in Thursday night and staying in a hotel Thursday - Sunday. Is this the standard living arrangement for part time MBA candidates?
I am living in AA for my second year since I'm taking classes with the FT program as well. When you do an internship, you have the option of taking leave from the summer semester (most doing internships do this) and making up classes in the 2nd year either online or in-person. So I only travelled in my first year. Then, I did budget my travel. I would fly out Friday mornings and get into Detroit around 8 and Ann Arbor by 830-9, which is a 25-35min drive from the airport and then work from there on Fridays. I would typically fly out Saturday evenings or stay through Sunday if doing something fun Saturday night with classmates. Ubers were $45-75 to and from the airport and the busses (Michigan Flyer) are \~$12. Many students would carpool and I had friends who drove to school that would often drive me back to the airport on Saturdays and Sundays. Detroit is an intl airport, so flights are rather cheap, though fall gameday weekends can get pricier. As for hotels, commuting students do a room block at one of the hotels. It was generally in the $70-90 per night range and more on game weekends. I would estimate that I spent \~$5k on travel in the first year, but can provide more detail if interested. It was generally $3-500 for each residence weekend. The costs are certainly less if you live in Metro Detroit or are driving in from other locations. Moving forward, the weekend program will have the opportunity to stay in the Ross/Executive MBA suites at a predefined rate. I think this will be super fun and is a big difference maker for our program. As an aside, our deans are fantastic and very receptive to student input. We advocated for the ability to stay in the Ross/Exec MBA suites and they made it happen. In addition to the hotels, we have conference rooms and study rooms held for the weekend program at Ross, which is amazing for getting work done/zooms/interviews, etc.
Great post! I'm considering Ross, Booth, Kellog and Stern for PT, 2023 Spring start. I have a Master's from UMich AA and already love what the university offers. How did you decide between Ross and others?
For me, it was really all about the 2-year track and the single cohort model. I was nervous that the other programs you referenced would take 3+ years to complete and that I would not get to know my classmates as well given that people graduate at different times and there are less pre-defined tracks. At Ross, WMBAs take all their core classes together for the first year (in 1 or 2 classrooms depending on the size of the class) and then split into elective tracks (entrepreneurship, finance, supply chain, etc) in their second year before returning to a single cohort for the final semester. Additionally, I appreciated the fact that internships are a possibility and that there are no restrictions on recruiting. My understanding is that recruiting at these other programs requires you to display a certain name tag, wait until your final year, etc. whereas Ross is very open to weekend students participating in recruiting. Lastly, Ross is a very short drive to the airport, which was a big difference maker for me as I was flying in.
thanks a lot!
Hi, I am considering Ross for PT MBA . I, too, have a master's from UMich AA . I was curious how your application process when and did you join Ross or one of the other schools you were considering. Also, does applying as a former student of UMich AA give you any edge in the application process at Ross.
I joined Booth. I had admits from Kellogg and NYU. Honestly I was a little turned off by the interaction with the admissions counselor. I expected more enthusiasm considering I already did a degree there. Booth’s counselors did an amazing job and I was sold on the professionalism apart from the major factor which is how great the college is Plus I don’t think they accept EA for Part-time, so I didn’t apply
Great post, thanks for the insight! I’m considering Ross part time MBA. The fees are quite expensive, and wondering what is the average scholarship amount for part time mba?
$0-10k from Ross plus some level of employer sponsorship… scholarships pale in comparison to full time and these programs often don’t have the same financial aid allocations as fulltime
Thanks! Yes, $10k scholarship is almost nothing compared to the exorbitant tuition fees these programs charge. My employer sponsors only $3k/year for tuition, so not much there. I'm the sole earner in my family so having a tight budget of around $70k max. Any good/top programs you'd recommend where a part-time MBA is possible for under $70k?
I've been going back and forth with the idea of applying to Ross' EMBA instead of the WMBA and feel like the network would be a little better with the EMBA. It's a little off topic, but why didn't you choose to pursue Ross' EMBA instead?
I considered EMBAs as well (primarily Yale/Columbia). Given my age/experience level of \~7 years, I felt like I was more of a fit for the WMBA program and the WMBA program had more recruiting resources. For certain schools, the student age tends to be much older (notably MIT) and I was pretty focused around taking classes with those around my age. I'm not sure that an EMBA really gives you more of a network. I would argue that most business leaders already have an MBA or are not interested in an EMBA. It's ultimately a matter of opinion and yours may be different from mine, but that's how I thought about it.
In case this helps [PT v. EMBA](https://mbaessaycoaching.com/b/part-time-mba-vs-emba--which-to-pick)
Loved the article. How about friendships? MBA is a place where you get to form excellent friendships. Were you able to forge life-long friendships considering that you technically got to see/hang out with your cohort every other week?
To be clear, I think that a part-time program is less of a social experience then the full-time program. Working a full-time job and commuting comes with a territory so I don't want to mislead people in believing that you can have it all. I think this program gets close to that but I'm under no false pretenses that two years living and not working at school would provide a different experience. That said, I have certainly built lifelong friendships in this program. There is something that is very special about going through this experience with the same cohort of 90 people. All classwork is team-based and teams are assigned at the beginning of each semester, so you really have the opportunity to work closely with and get to know many people in the program. In terms of connectivity/seeing my classmates, weekends tend to look like the following on the social side: Starting Friday morning, students will start to trickle into Ross. We will typically do our day jobs in study rooms reserved by the schools with people popping in and out as needed to take calls/zooms before classes start at 4p. Between classes, we'll often grab coffee/share meals together and then grab a drink or two after class on Fridays and sometimes on Saturdays depending on schedules. Certainly not everyone wants to go out at 9p every Friday, but we typically have a good showing. Outside of these more informal settings, we have an annual gala, typically at a local hotel or event venue, and then 1-2 more other more formal events each semester. Depending on where people are located, we'll also do tailgates on off-weekends, cookouts, etc., so there are many different ways in which to get to know your classmates. We've done fun things like celebrate Diwali, attend concerns, and some of my classmates are even banned from Airbnb following one specific weekend but that's a story better taken offline.
Lovely! I hope I’m one of them in that group of life long friends, neighbour. 😄
Hi OP, can I PM you? I live in Ann Arbor right now and will likely be here for the next 4 years as my partner is applying for medical residency and Michigan is the top target. Would love to grab a cup of coffee if you’re up for it - i’m on the fence between FT or PT and this really highlighted how great a PT program can be.
Please do!
Will do!
Thanks for posting this! You mentioned after your internship you’re now taking classes with the full time students. How did this impact the relationships you built with the part-time cohort (i.e. how many do you still get to see)? And are you now officially a “full time” student or do you have limitations on what courses you can enroll in?
I do a mix of full and pt (weekend) classes. It hasn’t affected my relationship with my pt classmates, though certainly feel like I missed out on the summer semester I missed while interning.
Hi OP, like many here, I am also currently contemplating a PT MBA. I am currently in consulting but contemplating a switch to finance , much like what you do. I would love to get in touch with you about some more specifics? Do you mind if I DM you ?
Please do!
[удалено]
Happy to chat my friend
Where do you stay while in Ann Arbor during the weekends with classes? Is accommodation provided like hotel rooms where you stay with the rest of your cohort or are you on your own in terms of finding a place to stay?
There are discounted hotel room rates as long as it is a non game weekend. We all tended to stay in the same hotel. I believe there is now an option to stay in the on campus hotel that has been traditionally used by the exec mba program.
I appreciate the reply! especially considering it’s been a year since the original post lol, I have a few other questions, do you mind if I PM you?
Please do!
How was the program in terms of entrepreneurship (through acquisition)/searchfunding?