Question about working part-time during the MBA1 year

Hey there, folk. So, I’m writing this entry from within the walls of my warm apartment, where I’ll probably sit all day long. Chicago is such a nice city, but it’s so cold outside that most people seem to stay inside during the winter months. My girl TD refers to this as “The Great Hibernation” and says that it happens every year like clockwork. I’ve been told that the warm months are so nice that it more than makes up for these cold times, but it’s going to be like five more months until those warm months come. I hope I can survive until then.

Before I get to today’s entry, I just HAVE to tell y’all a story from a few days ago. On Thursday night, I ventured out in to the cold to have drinks with my man FT and, as I left the bar, I was feeling hella nice, so I stopped by McDonald’s to grab a quick bite. As I waited in line, I noticed that there was a heavy-set dude who had just placed his order and I could smell the alcohol on him from 10-15 ft away. I guess he was acting as intoxicated as he appeared because I got the impression that he was saying some offensive things to the people behind the counter. I also noticed that there was an attractive young lady in line in front of me, but she didn’t catch my total attention because of the drunkard in front of us. This particular McD’s had pretty slow service, so we all had to stand at the side of the counter to wait for our food. So, I was just minding my own business when the drunk chunkster rolled up on me, gestured toward the young lady, and said “Hey, are you pimping that out? If so, how much do you want for her?”…I’m not exaggerating…those are the exact words that he used and I was literally speechless. Part of me was thinking “wow, this dude is straight COMEDY!” and another part of me was thinking “Oh, I gotta be a pimp because I’m black, huh?”. [Yeah, I know that last thought might sound funny, but you’d be surprised at some of the things I get asked where I know it’s because I’m a black dude. But, I guess I was looking kinda-sorta, halfway-decently smooth, so it might not have been a huge leap for a drunk guy to make that sort of assumption 🙂 ] Anyways, I responded that I didn’t know the girl and he said “Damn, I wish you were the one pimping her out”. I don’t think the young lady heard our discussion, which is great because I don’t know what I would have said if she had. When I posted a Facebook status update about this story, many of my friends made comments like “That’s how we do it here in Chicago” and “Oh, that’s not uncommon”. Hilarious…simply hilarious!

OK, now that you’ve all had a good laugh at my story, let’s get to the entry for today. The email below is from a prospective Stanford GSB applicant who wants to know whether she could keep her job while in the MBA program. Given the cost of business school, I can totally understand her desire to do this, but the rigors of B-school would make this very difficult. Like several of my recent response, this one might be getting to her too late to be effective because of my backlog of emails. I hope I get it to her in time to be useful.

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NL wrote:

“Hi Marquis,

You have a great blog. Thank you. I am thinking about applying to the Stanford MBA program and wanted to get a sense of what the class schedules are like for the first year class. I know it is encouraged that students in the program not work, but I really would like to keep my job (albet part-time) to help pay for school. Did you know any students who worked? What times were classes held? Would it be possible at all to work while in the program?

Thanks in advance for your advice/info.

Best Wishes,

NL”
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My response:

NL,

Thanks for reaching out to me for advice about your issue. Given the cost of business school, your question is a natural one and, quite frankly, the right kind of question to ask when trying to decide on the type of program that you want to pursue. Just so you know, what I’m going to tell you below regarding having a job during school is only my opinion, so you should reach out to other MBA students and alums to get their perspective, as well.

So, you’re basically asking me a single question in your email…”Is the class schedule for MBA1’s at Stanford GSB set up to allow for having a job along with school?”…it’s a great question that I can give you an answer from an “old head’s perspective”, but the real answer might have changed with the introduction of the new curriculum. When I was an MBA1, courses were held on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with Wednesday being the GSB’s day-off during the week. The MBA core classes were usually spread out with different sessions scheduled between 8am and 5pm (give of take a few minutes). Those first-year core courses were very hard for those of us who came in with no true business background, so a dude like me spend hours upon hours studying and cranking on problem sets to keep my head above water. In summary, the first year core curriculum of an MBA program is no joke and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

With the above in mind, let’s get to the issue of working during the first-year of business school. I had a couple of classmates who had part-time jobs to make extra money during second year, but I can’t think of anyone who worked during first-year. It’s just so difficult to balance all of the aspects of being a student in the first half of B-school that the thought of working is the last thing on most people’s minds. A few classmates worked on their own entrepreneurial ventures during first year, but I would hardly put that in the same category as a job. Aside from the difficulty of balancing student life, the daily class schedules and necessary group meetings and study times to stay on top make it almost impossible to fit in time to have a job. Of course, one could devote their late night and weekend hours to a job, but I wouldn’t recommend it. In a full-time MBA program, you’ll want to set up aside some time to decompress and just do nothing, especially in the first-year where you’ll be grinded on the most. I know you’ve got financial concerns, but my advice to you would be to get as many loans as you need to survive as an MBA1. If I were you, I’d focus on the academic and social aspects of being a student, instead of trying to work part-time. If you find that your loans don’t cover your financial needs, there’s nothing wrong with putting what you need on a credit card and letting it ride (I wrote an entry that discusses that at length a few months back).

Take care and good luck with your application to the GSB. If you can get in, I KNOW you’ll have a great two years there.

-Marquis