Thoughts on Grad School?

Question

BP Nation,

I'm hoping to get some of your thoughts on the value and impact of grad school in the grand scheme of things pertaining to REI. I am currently working on an MBA with a concentration in accounting. Much of why I decided to go for it I owe to one Robert Kiyosaki--Rich Dad, Poor Dad really changed something in my as I'm sure it did many of you!

BP contains a wealth of knowledge and experience related to investing in real estate, buiding wealth, and all that that entails. Have any of you found added value, confidence, or insight from attending grad school that you feel you might not otherwise have gained by not pursuing an advanced degree.

I think it's also worth mentioning that thanks to my VA benefits, the monetary cost is little to nothing for me to attend school--the only cost to me is the amount of time invested after all of my other professional and familiar obligations. Oh, and the sleep deprivation... there's definitely some of that going on :)

Account Closed · Answer

That's a tough question to answer because we all get different things from going to school at the undergrad/ grad level.

I have an MBA and I've worked as a consultant at many fortune 100 companies as well as worked in private industry at many fortune 500+ companies.  My career is a specialization in indirect taxes and indirect tax systems.  My MBA is a general business concentration.  I am NOT a CPA but I've worked/continue to work with many CPAs and Attorneys on a daily basis.

The schooling provided a general foundation but after that, it's basically up to you as to how you apply that information.  Certainly the concept of "capital employed" is a big deal currently in my world.  Future/Present value of money calcs are very applicable.  In my field, I argue with tax auditors that perform "statistical sampling"...this is always fun because aside from the MN Dept of Rev that has an employed statistician, most auditors don't know statistics and what I learned from an MBA has helped (as much as I hated both classes).  I will never forget about asking a California auditor how he came up with his "statistical sample" and he said it was an "independently selected statistical sample".  When I asked what confidence interval he used and how chose it, he said he chose some transactions statistically, then others because he felt like it :)  Nothing statistical about that!

Is it worth it?  That's entirely up to you and what you want to get out of it.  Honestly, I will tell you that if it gives you confidence in your business dealings going forward, it's worth it.  If I had to do it over again, I've said it multiple times I would have skipped college and gone to trade school to become an electrician or a property appraiser - but that's just me...and at 44, I may still go back to school and become a property appraiser (there's a huge demand for those guys LOL).  With relation to the MBA specifically, again, it's about what you get out of it.