Going to grad school after working for many years.

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I am going back to school.

I decided last year that I don’t like being a lawyer and I want to transition into a different field.

So, I applied (and was accepted) to Rice University’s MBA program.

I’m a little nervous. Not only because Rice is a pretty good school and I assume it will be challenging, but also because it has been a long time since I was in school.

I graduated from college in 1997 and immediately went to law school. I graduated law school in December 1999 and have been working ever since.

So by the time I start, I will have been out of academia for nearly 8 years!

So much has changed. When I last attended school, IT was just making its way into the classroom. People were just starting to get hooked on e-mail and the internet was still developing as a teaching tool.

I’m fairly tech savvy, but I feel like a fossil comparing my experiences to education today.

But I’m really worried about getting back into the student mindset. I’ve been a working professional for a while. I’m not sure I can get back into that professor worshipping mindset that sometimes seemed necessary back in the day.

Plus, I worry I’ll have a hard time getting into the “studying” mindset. In addition to being out a while, I have also never been an unconventional student. I’ve always been the young guy in my classes because I pushed through college and law school in 6 1/2 years. Now, I am an older student and I have a wife and two kids (thank goodness this program allows me to work and take classes at the same time!)

I’m sure necessity will kick in and I will do fine, it has just been nagging me a bit.

Anyone else have any similar experiences, opinions or thoughts?

2

Hi. I am apparently the same age as you (I graduated college in 1997). This year, after about 8-9 years in he workforce I started law school.

Firstly, I love it. :slight_smile:
Secondly, I am doing well academically. :slight_smile:

It is my observation that older students generally do better, because they work more efficiently, handle stress better and are better able to “compartmentalize” emotionally – keep school at school and home at home. Plus, they are there because they made a conscious decision – they are not just fleeing the Big Scary World.

Maybe grad school is really really different, but I don’t see the need to worship professors. (Ok, maybe one or two who totally deserve it :slight_smile: ) I just don’t think it is a necessary mindset for sucess. More important is being able to understand their point of view and predict their behavior.

I still take notes by hand, because I am good at it, and typing aggravates my chronic tendinitis, and it is no problem at all. In fact I am pretty much considered a champion note-taker by my peers. About 98% of everyone else works on computer. BTW I hope you don’t get distracted by other people’s IM conversations, Flash games and other time wasters, because there is a lot of “not-work” going on in those laptops duuring class time.

By the way, congrats on Rice, I always wanted to go there but as a college student I was just not quite good enough sniff.

3

I am always a believer in work experience being more important than educational experience and the education part is just to get the formal accreditations you’ll need for your field.

That said, a masters program is a little different from undergrad. It’s not like everyone in your class will be 18-22 years old. The average age of an MBA student is like 28 IIRC.

Working and going to school sucjs though. I did that for my MBA. Fortunately I wasn’t married.

4

I graduated from college in 1995 and started a Ph.D. program in 2003.

The biggest adjustment for me was finding enough time to do all of the work. (OK, let’s be honest, most of the work.) However, overall the adjustment was pretty easy, because I actually enjoyed what I was doing for a change. As for studying, I’m probably more focused than I was in college. Your time in the labor force has probably taught you good time management and prioritizing skills.

Don’t worry about the technology changes. I’ve found that my work experience means that I have better MS Office skills than most of my peers. (Not many people in my program take laptops or whatever to classes, although that might be different in an MBA program.) And the internet is a wonderful thing for students - I don’t know how I got through college without Google, not to mention Wikipedia!

I’m sure you won’t be the only person with kids in your program. I’m a bit older than average, but there are certainly many other married folks and parents in grad school.

Good luck!

5

Look into the age and family status mix of your specific MBA program. You might find that you’re more typical than you think. In an MBA program I really don’t suspect you’ll have that many problems. In general they want people to have at least a few years’ experience, so they are used to people who have broken the undergrad mindset.

My one suggestion is don’t be closed minded or overly intimidated about the new technology. It’s one of the things you are there to learn, because it will be useful to you in business, even if a fair amount of the learning about technology is not formally in the classroom.

6

I spent 9 years working between undergrad and grad school but if anything was more studious and did even better when I returned. You learn how to budget your time and apply your efforts where they’ll maximize return. Plus, everything you’ll be covering for the most part is directly applicable to your future tasks so it’s not like the frustration of studying some obscure course you’ll never use again.

Rice is an excellent school. Law degree and a Rice MBA? You’ll do well upon gettin’ out.

Oh, and hopefully you’ll have a chance to join us for a Houdope sometime.

7

Similar to a lot of folks in this thread, I finished undergrad in’95, worked for a while, did a one year masters in '97, went to work until '01, and started a doctoral program that year. I’m finishing this year.

I don’t think you have much to worry about. MBA programs in particular are usually closely aligned with the ways of the work world. I also agree that older professional students do very well in grad school. The biggest gripe I hear from our masters students is that our reading load is insane. You’re a lawyer, so I think you’ll be fine.

Older students tend to go to office hours and tell the professor about concerns they have. It’s the younger folks who are more intimidated that get into trouble. Technology wise, you’ll probably notice that laptops are the new notebooks. All the students will have them, most likely.

You sound like a smart guy, and you made it through a pretty selective MBA admissions process. They certainly think you’ll do well… I would think the same. Studying, etc. is like riding a bike - you’ll remember it pretty quickly and will be up to speed pretty quickly, I imagine. Good luck!

8

I graduated in 1996, and went back to graduate school in 2002, after working constantly in the interim.

One thing that I noticed, was that I cared a whole lot more about school- since I was paying, I wanted to get my money’s worth. I was much more studious and serious about the academic parts than I’d ever even considered being during my undergrad days.

Another thing I was that I partied like a lunatic as well. For lots of us in our MBA class, this was pretty much our last chance to party like college students, and we tried to make the best of it.

As for being an ‘unconventional student’, I wouldn’t sweat it- MBA programs are a little slanted toward an older graduate crowd versus other more academic majors, since a lot of people go back for MBAs after working a while. In my cohort, it broke down into the under-25 or the over-25 crowds, with the over-25 being by far the largest, with most of us actually being over 30.

In general, I highly recommend the experience. After you’ve worked for a while, you really appreciate being a student much more than you probably did when you were fresh out of high school.

9

Thanks for all the great advice. I’m not terribly worried about the age thing, I guess. I doubt I will be the oldest and I am really only 2-3 years older than the average.

I just FEEL old! :smiley:

As for HouDopes. I didn’t know about them. I’ve lived in the Bayou City for about 20 years!

10

I graduated from college in 1993: I went back to school in '03 for prerequisite courses, and started grad school in '04. Dude, you’ll be fine. :slight_smile:

11

I am very seriously considering doing this myself in the next few years. I probably want one more year of work experience but I am strongly moving towards getting my mba, provided I get into a better MBA program than I did a lawschool (I know this is petty but otherwise I don’t feel it’s worth it for me).

Sorry, dude, two questions for you

a) Do you feel guilty for spending all that time and money on law school and now going to go get the MBA? This is what I am struggling with right now.

b) I don’t have loans from undergrad so I never had to deal with this during law school-but would my ls loans be put on hold while I’m in school for the mba?

c) Nosy…but how old are you? I am thinking of going at about the age of 30. I don’t have huge amounts of work experience-I finished undergrad in 3 years but then took 2 years off (to work) and now have been practicing for two years. But my law job is my first real “proper” good income job.

d) Do you feel MBA programs held it against you that you went to law school??

e) As for me, I do work as a lawyer but I work in banking and finance-did they talk to you a lot about what you did as an attorney during your interviews and why you want to leave?

Uh, okay, maybe that is way more than 2 questions but since you were in the same boat of lawyering and departing for MBA I got kind of excited.

12

I thought about going back to Law school since getting my MBA. Didn’t seem like much of a point unless I wanted to be a lawyer. Really all I want to do is collect large paychecks.

I do know a lot of lawyers who went and either got MBAs or went into business. Mostly they complain that they are always saddled with the “ex-lawyer” title. A lot go into management consulting.

13

I went back to grad school when I was 35. One of the things I was anxious about was whether I’d fit in, being at least 10 years older than most everyone else. I needn’t have worried. There’s nothing like sharing stressful experiences to make a group bond, no matter the age range.

My attitude about school had changed, too, and it showed. I looked at professors more like someone who was providing a service I wanted, and I tried to take advantage of it as much as possible. It’s kind of hard to explain. Hello Again touched on it. Maybe it was because grad school was something I chose and paid for, and I wanted to get my money’s worth.

The maturity I gained between my undergrad and grad school years was definitely in evidence. I actually showed up for classes and took notes this time around. :slight_smile:

14

msmith537, ideally I’d like to go into brand management.

Management consulting is okay.

Finance/Banking is out, I already work in this sector and I have a pretty sweet gig. So is accounting. And I don’t want to go anywhere near I-banking (I also don’t have the necessary quantitative skills)

So the ex-lawyer thing is true then :(, I kind of suspected it. I bet the honest answer of “I drifted into law school, did well academically but I find life as a lawyer to be terribly repetitive and boring and I want to control the direction of Nair” really wouldn’t really cut it.

I am okay with my paycheck. This would be a move based purely on the fact that I feel I fit in better in marketing but I can’t switch into brand management based on a JD.

15

middleman, I was talking to the neurosurgeon awhile back after my wife had spinal surgery, reportedly he’s one of the best in the world. He said he was considering going back to school, either to the Seminary or Law School. I can’t be sure but I’d put his age at around 60 to 62.

16

FYI anu-la1979. Before going back to law school I was on the branding team for a major US retailer. Grass is always greener!

17

Nah. I’m glad I did it. I like saying “I’m a lawyer.” Plus, I met my wife in law school and she’s pretty hot. :smiley:

I’m not sure. I was fortunate enough to not have any student loans. I’ll ask around. I know some of my future classmates have other grad degrees. I will say, I am glad I can work while getting the degree. Financially, it wouldn’t be worth it to quit, lose two years of income, and then be burdened with the debt of a private school tuition bill. (“You can’t spell Price without RICE!”)*

I just turned 32. Fortunately, I am in the Professional (Night) Program. I think that crowd skews older than the full-timers.

Quite the opposite. They seemed impressed. One of the most important things about an MBA program is the quality and diversity of experience your classmates bring. If having a lawyer in an MBA program is somewhat rare (Rice doesn’t offer a law degree, so there is no joint MBA/JD program), that adds a little flavor to the class experience. In many business situations, a legal perspective is beneficial. The Dean of Students actually seemed excited to have a lawyer in the class.
Rice has a good career placement center and told me they would have an easy time getting me in anywhere I want to work (it was a smoke-up-the-butt weekend, so grain of salt!:D). It is fortunate perhaps that I have always worked in a company instead of a firm, so that my experience is not purely legal.

In my admission interview, I didn’t wait for them to ask why I was leaving. I jumped right in. I don’t think many people would be surprised to find someone dissatisfied with the law. The fear I have is what future employers will think. Will I come of as flaky because I am a career changer? To this end, I am going to try to transition into a job where legal knowledge is a benefit. Something quasi-legal like International Management or Corporate Acquisitions.

*[sub]I’m not sure if this is a real saying. Surely I wouldn’t be the first person to say it. But, I might have just made it up. [/sub]

18

I have the same fear about my quant skills. My GMAT score was really good, but my verbal really carried me. I was only in the 60th Percentile in Quant. I was looking at a “You need these skills” page on Rice’s website, and I need to brush up on linear equations and calculus. I had not taken math since college. I had not taken geometry since the Simpsons was in season 1!

Don’t let them frame the discussion. Don’t make it a talk of “why don’t you want to be a lawyer?” Make the conversation about “Why I want to do the job at hand.”

My law school class had a surgeon in his mid-sixties. He was a retired chief of medicine at a hospital and was taking it as a retirement fun. He didn’t finish because he got sick, but I thought it was kind of cool. Anytime we had a medical issue in a case, he was the go to guy. This is the down side to having unique experiences. You may be regarded as the class expert.

19

middleman, thank you very much for taking the time to respond to a question when you started this thread to ask questions about your mba program (and congratulations, btw). PS, I totally love saying “I’m a law-yuh” more than I do the actual work, too.

I may look into a night program myself. I work for the Feds and I know some of my co-workers did part-time and got m.p.a. degrees while they were working. That way at least I could have some part-time income.

Hello Again, not to hijaack middleman’s thread but what did you not like about brand management? It seems like a very exciting field and I feel as though a legal background would be an asset.

ETA: just saw your latest comments. Thanks for the tips. I think I am very close to taking this plunge-at the least I will buy a gmat book and take the test and see where I can go from there.

20

Ok, let me break it down for you. I was a writer (technically “Content Editor – Books”) in an Editorial Group. Together with our sister Design Team, we formed a Branding Group within Marketing. We did all customer facing communications – catalogs, national advertising, direct email (topical newsletters), website content, pretty much everything. Periodically they would try to outsource the national advertising, but [My Company] must have been a terrible client because no agency lasted more than a year. When they outsouorced the work, my group would have no input whatsoever. Then the agency would quit, and the whole pile would fall in our lap. Really, that was just a symptom of the total brand rot.

For years and years we tried to convince management that our job was actually Incredibly important. They patted us on our collective heads. Then all of a sudden one day OMG Branding is Teh Important! How nice for us, right? Now We Have 1,000 Mission Critical projects!!!~!~! (Oh, and your projects, things you’ve been nuturing along for 4 years and really show the unique voice of the company? Yeah, cancel those to make room for our newspaper circular.)

Workloads shot up, with no increase in pay (I didn’t get a pay increase the last 4 years I worked there. Not even cost of living, while my workload tripled). People broke down at their desks routinely, lost their shit in meetings, and quit from the stress. The people who left were not replaced, their work was just distributed to remaining staff. Meanwhile, upper management STILL did not believe we knew a single thing about a single thing and second guessed every last creative thing we did. (Little example: we brainstormed on Christmas signage and decided we did not want to use humans in the campaign. Design director called up William Wegman and asked what he charged. We sold the hell out of his books so he said he’d do our shoot free of charge– just the cost of film. But Director of Marketing stonewalled us because “I’ve never heard of William Wegman…”) rolleyes

I knew it was time to go when I confronted my manager, explaining that with the addition of Teh New Totally Mission Critical Project that had come down from above, I did not feel I had the resources to do any kind of decent job.
“My advice to you,” he said, “is care a little less.” I sat down at my desk and wept.

Oh, yeah, and I got chronic tenditis in both my elbows because I would literally come in and type nonstop for 8 or 9 hours.

Honestly, Law school is easy breezy compared to the hell I went through at that company. Did I mention the pay was crap? With 5 years experience I was making $34,000. Unfortunately, the company was located in a college town and there were literally hundreds of idiots lined up to take my place for even less money when I left. The only silver lining is, the $45k/yr I could make as a Public Defender is sounding pretty good now. LOL!