Business Masters Online

Hey Kelley Direct!!

I hope this blog finds you well. My name is Emery Jordan, and I am a first year student in the Master of Business Administration/Masters of Strategy Management program. I, actually, also work at Indiana University in the department of Residential Programs and Services as a Residence Manager.  In this role, I directly and/or indirectly supervisor close to 40 people, a budget of $4 million, and creating a positive healthy living environment for the residents of my area.

I actually already have Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration, along with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I decided to go back to get my MBA at Kelley for a few reasons. First, I had always dreamed of getting an MBA – but my career path dictated a different initial Master’s degree. Since I worked at one of the best MBA granting institution in the country – I figured it was a no brainer to try to get on from here.

Second, the online KD program is really convenient for my lifestyle. I am also married with two wonderful children – Jalen (2 years old) and Gabriella (11 months old). So, having the flexibility to do work at my own pace during a week was extremely important. Moreover, my job is very time demanding at different times of the year for long stretches – so the added flexibility was a necessity.

Finally, I really believe that getting an MBA would help me in any career that I was interested in. Working in higher education now, it gives me a great foundation for understanding how to apply business principles in this field. While the natural ties between the business world and higher education are hidden, we are work with millions of dollars, plan for the long term future of an organization, and/or deal with supervision of several people and groups of people, among other things – all business issues. Moreover, I really loved the options that it gave me for working outside of the field of higher education. I am really starting to understand myself and my interests much better through the lens of this experience.

Outside of MBA stuff, I am an avid reader and athlete. I especially love weightlifting and basketball – they do a good job of helping me work off some of the desserts that I love to eat. As for reading, I love business management texts – and I’m sure that I talk about them a lot in the blog, I’m always reading something.

Well, this is my first ever blog and it was fun. I look forward to sharing my experience with you all out there in internet land…

Catch you later, KD.

My grandfather recently posed a question to me in an email. He wrote:

I would like to hear about the program for your Master Business Adminstration degree. My experience in grad school was that many of the professors felt that their course was the only one we took so they seemed to load us up on things to do outside class. This is not a problem for you? What do you experience?

I don't know about other Online MBA Universities, but I would say that the faculty completely respects our time. As a distance learning program, 100 percent of the students in my cohort have full-time jobs (in addition to spouses, children, pets, hobbies, etc). The faculty seems to understand the competing demands in our lives. Through the technology we use, the professors routinely poll us as to the best time to conduct virtual office hours or conduct live lectures.

So do they ‘load up’ on us? Only to the point where we learn the material. Many of the classes have group assignments so we can ‘divide and conquer’ and rely on each other’s skill sets to enhance our learning. For example, I just got off of a video conference call with my Econ C530 group and one of my team members is a financial analyst. He led the discussion on net present value and answered many the group’s questions. I believe the three of us would have struggled had it not been for the fourth’s subject matter expertise.

The professors themselves are available anytime through email (with a response time between two and 24 hours). My econ professor offered to meet with me in person (as I am local to Indianapolis) should I have trouble with some of the concepts (and by concepts I mean calculus … what is a derivative of a function, you ask? Me, too).

So far, I have been completely satisfied with the workload in my first two classes.  I am feel that I will be able to earn my business degree online without sacrificing my family or work.

The Kelley Direct Online MBA program (unlike many other Distance MBA Programs) requires applicants to take the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test).  It is a critical portion of your application for a couple of reasons.

The first is that it is one of the few portions of your application that you can control.  You cannot change your undergraduate transcripts (unless you have deep pockets, know the registrar and have no morals - if this is you, please apply elsewhere; the Kelley School doesn't need you).  You can't change your work history or your accomplishments.  Your GMAT score is something you can control. 

The second is that it your score is important.  I lost count of how many times the faculty mentioned our cohort's GMAT average (it climbed 10 points from the previous year).  Your score is not everything, but it is something.  The GMAT is an objective measure about how you perform against your peers.  Don't get me wrong, I have yet to be asked in any of my MBA classes a standard GMAT work rate question.  But, it shows that you have the motivation to learn (re-learn?) skills and apply them in a time-constrained environment.  Further, it demonstrates to the admissions staff that you have the ability to operate autonomously (which is what an Online Masters in Business requires).

So what do you do?  Buy a book.  Get on Amazon.com and buy ONE study guide (I used the official GMAT book, but I think any would do).  Start going through the practice problems.  Identify ones you are struggling with (work problems, for example).  If your book doesn't do a good job of explaining how to solve them, search for additional resources online.  There are (literally) hundreds of free sites with additional practice problems, tricks on how to solve different types of problems, and strategies for the exam itself.  Once you are confident, take one of the two practice tests that the GMAC (the folks that run the GMAT) provides when you sign up for the test.  This will give you a good judge of how you are progressing.

Then, keep practicing.  I say that because I was reviewing practice questions the morning of the exam and one that I reviewed was almost identical to a problem on the actual test.

So, study up.  Remember that no one cares that you will can figure out the amount of water in a cylinder that is 4 feet high, has a diameter of 2 feet and is 60 percent full.  What they do care about is that you are motivated enough to a) prove that you are smart enough to learn it b) demonstrate that you can learn it on your own and c) prove that you have learned it in the form of a standardized test.  It is these characteristics that separate Kelley Direct students from those enrolled at other online distance MBA programs.

What does it mean to “live the dream”? It means to achieve your goals, to accomplish everything you have set out to accomplish. It means to have it all and do it all. Living the dream can be a challenge for most of us because we have conflicting goals. For example, my major life goals include raising a family, having a successful career, and earning a master of business administration degree.   Why are those goals conflicting? They are all competing for my time, the scarcest resource I have.  I have a beautiful wife and two young sons. I love to spend time with them, but I have missed many meals and important family activities because of my hectic work schedule. 

Earning an MBA has always been one of my biggest goals, but as I have progressed in my career and my family responsibilities have increased, I began to think that I had missed the window of opportunity. I finally decided that 2009 was the year to get into business school and make my dream a reality. The challenge was to find a business school that met all of my criteria. I wanted to attend a highly ranked university that would provide a top-notch education. I also wanted a program that would give me the flexibility to meet the obligations of my current job and not become a stranger to my family.

A friend of mine at work clued me in to the fact that there are several top universities across the country that offer distance MBA programs. This opened a whole new realm of possibilities for me.  I became obsessed with finding the best online MBA program. I learned that there are several online business colleges, but I was only interested in an AACSB accredited online MBA program. Ultimately one program stood head and shoulders above the rest—the Kelley Direct program from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.