OT - Transferring to Ross School of Business
Oddly you just don't see posts like this on red cedar message board. Wonder why?
People would actually have to want to transfer in to MSU for that to happen
There was also this just a few weeks ago:
"Ended Up Naked And Hungover In Bath Township. How Cool Is That?"
...and let's not forget
"Bewbs From A Modernist Perspective"
Fair game for fuel? What if the neighbor is a relation, is this okay when I'm invited inside.
Being in the industry - I'll say that your main focus should be on building your book of business first and the going to grad school second.
I will never knock someone for wanting to further their education, just think that you need to get your base clients established, so that you are more secure in your likely commisioned role. Once secure, adding a grad degree from Ann Arbor would help establish a great network that could lead to a larger prospect pool for you.
Good luck on the move and keep your head up!
And on the transferring in part. Get great grades for the remainder of your bachelor's and take the GMAT as many times as it takes to get a very high score. Be thoughtful in your applications and interview and trust the process. My wife received her MBA and I was shocked to find how diverse her classmates backgrounds were. Grades matter, but life experience plays a bigger role in the process than i imagined.
I believe that he does not have his undergrad, and so he is not pursuing a graduate degree. And that the undergraduate degree is a requirement for his dream position.
Not to nitpick, but this understanding may change your advice to OP.
when accepting sophomores from LS&A so I'm not sure about transferring in from U of M - Flint. It's probably nearly unheard of, but not sure if that's due to them specifically not accepting outside transfers or just the extreme rarity in which a qualified candidate would attempt to transfer in. Probably a question for admissions there. Would recommend you visit them or attend an info session.
fee compression in financial services is ongoing. It's very difficult to build a book of business organically in the absence of joining an established team at a wirehouse, bank, or indie firm. I manage a 6 person firm with AUM in excess of $1b and my best advice to you is to look into job openings at Vanguard or Fidelity or attempt to join a team as noted above.
Ross's undergrad program very structured year by year and doesn't really accept transfer students, sorry to say. You used to be able to get in after one year at UM, but now you generally have to get in out of high school or it's not happening. They moved "regular admission" to students applying out of high school. It's not really aligned with your goals anyways (don't know anyone from my Ross class that went the FA route, on-campus recruiting is geared towards banking/consulting/corporate marketing); I'd just focus on finshing your bachlor's and moving into your desired profession.
I'd imagine the vast (VAST) majority of those 20% spots go to students currently at UM transferring into Ross after freshman year like most used to do. Ross's acceptance rate for outside university transfer students into the BBA program was around 1% (1-2 students per year that weren't UM students max got in - this was told to me by admissions when I was applying after my freshman year) when I was there, which I doubt has improved. I believe they technically maintain the external transfer option for very special circumstances/high connections.
In any case, again the career goals of the OP aren't really aligned with what Ross trains you to do, and I doubt anyone in their 30s would thrive in the BBA environment. Just totally different stages of careers. Plus, with only 35 credits left to do, there's no chance he wants to spend three more years in school, which you have to do in the Ross program to complete the core courses and required number of Ross electives.
Not remaining. That's my read on the OP.
May be better infirmatiom
Less anecdotal
As an engineer, I offer no guidance to your situation. Just wanted to say congrats on getting out of Columbus.
Also good luck in school. Nothing says F-u to the ex-wife like improving yourself.
then get a biz degree from just about anywhere (my advisor is a NMU grad and easily pulls down $1M/year). Become a stock junkie. Find a stock broker who is going to retire in five years or so and work as his underling. Buy him/her out. Profit.
There are a ton of brokers who will hit retirement age before long.
Are you set on UM-Flint? UM-Dearborn offers a Finance degree in their B school--along with a minor in Financial Planning. If the Ross thing doesn't work out you'd still have a very solid degree in your pocket.
Don't last. But tough people do. Like the U-M Dearborn idea. But either way, finish that undergrad degree, it will open doors.
If you can finish your degree quickly, I would recommend pursuing the Ross MBA instead of BBA. It's pretty hard to transfer into Ross' undergrad program and you would stand a much better shot at the MBA program, funnily enough. The weekend MBA would allow you to keep working and build your book of business while pursuing your degree and its admissions criteria are actually really generous.
Best decision I've made in my life (my wife thinks it was marrying her, I let her think it is).
The program will let you focus on specific subjets and taylor it to your plans and needs. This felxibility will enable you to explore so many other options out there. I wasn't thinking about a career switch before I got in, but as soon as I graduated that was the first thing I did.
I had good grades and and engineering background, but I did not do so well on the GMAT (670), but I guess they go easier on International Students. Most Americans had GMAT scores of 700+.
Time flies by, I would do it all over again if I could.
Best of luck to you!
At your age, the impact your undergrad degree will have on your hiring prospects is diminshing. It sounds like you're pursuing the degree simply to check a box on the CFP application. When it comes to finding a job, your work experience, interviews, interpersonal skills, etc. should be able to trump the college name on your resume.
To that end, have you considered finishing via an online degree? There are many "brand name" schools that offer online degree programs. The stigma of an online degree is lessening each day. I expect this will get me downvoted and am only using this as an example, but our babysitter (who is only a few years younger than you) is currently in an online program at Penn State. She has a full time job and is getting this done ~3 classes at a time. She certainly could do more if she wasn't working full time. I also know the cost of attendance is meaningfully cheaper. And at the end of the program, she won't have an asterix on her degree saying it was pursued online, she'll have a BA from Penn State just like the students who attended in person.
Good luck!
Great advice. Online from a name-brand campus is the way to go (assuming he's working full time).
It's been 17 years (a tear) since my UM BBA but I believe Ross only offers Business Admin degrees, not finance degrees. Even if you were able to transfer in, you probably don't want or need all of stats, marketing or MS Access classes (did/does that actually exist anymore?) they require let alone all of the group work at 32 and likely commuting. If what you want is a degree from UM AA, then I'd suggest whatever major allows you to focus on courses relevant to you but avoid the seemingly unavoidable language or calculus requirement. Maybe General Studies? A friend of mine actually took calc at Washtenaw to get that out of the way for his Econ degree, so maybe that informs in some way.
You should matriculate nicely from UM-Flint to UM-A2. However, the UM-A2 Ross MBA has a larger credit hour requirement than UM-Flint. it is also substantially more expensive!
A Ross MBA costs over $100,000 and, while world class, I don't feel the extra cost will deliver extra income for you in your field. An MBA for UM-Flint would be very well received anywhere. Hell, there are people in your field doing QUITE well with MBAs from Wayne State, Oakland University and Walsh College.
UM-Flint is a great place to earn both your undergraduate degree AND your MBA. You'll have an advantage with knowing your way around the campus and the relationships you will make with the staff.
A Ross MBA would be for someone who is interested in a, say, New York job with a goal of a fund manager job or something akin. Brand name counts there but in your field not so much.
Flint isn't that far from AA. Have you considered commuting?
I don't have any advice to offer, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear about your divorce. It sounds like you're well on your way to bouncing back, though. It's good that you've decided to pivot away from a career that doesn't suit you early on; a lot of people don't realize that they hate their jobs until they're well into their forties (*cough* lawyers *cough*), but by then they have a family and a mortgage and their options are limited. Best of luck in your next career move.
Unless you're sure you need the "brand" of the UM Ross degree to get an interview and get your foot in the door in your field, I'd ignore that difficult-to-enter avenue and go to UM-D as mentioned above, or a school like Oakland, Wayne State, Central, whatever works for you and has the program you're looking for. School prestige only matters a lot in certain fields or with certain companies in those fields. And even there, if you're a hot-shot 38 y/o I-Banker that makes many millions for your firm, no one cares if you went to Harvard or City College.
Besides, as a 33 y/o, you're probably not going to be totally simpatico with some 18 or 19 y/o eager beaver B-schoolers. I went back for an MBA when I was 31, and I had a very low tolerance for any of the less practical busywork BS I encountered (fortunately not much). I knew what I wanted to get out of B-school, and I was OK with putting a lot of emphasis on things I wanted to learn or do, and much less on things I wasn't interested in. Grades weren't an issue since classes were on a Pass/High Pass type scale and class rank by policy wasn't to be disclosed to interviewers (to enhance teamwork). Very different that the typical undergrad mentality, particularly in a high-achiever B-school like Ross, of maxing out the GPA.
As you get older (30's+) what you can do matters more. The school you graduate from matters more for a 21 y/o undergrad because they have almost nothing else with which to distinguish themselves. If you're a really personable hustler you'll do very well regardless of where you went to school. And if you're a knucklehead, a UM Ross degree or equivalent won't insulate you from a harshly efficient marketplace for long.
Watching tastytrade.com
A different view and trading financial network that will teach you more than any finance degree per trading options and making money on your portforlio.
Is U-M Flint the closest campus to you or you just drawn to U-M? You paying cash for your bachelors? Not sure what your grades were like during 35 credits but I'd shop around for scholarships e.g. Oakland, EMU, Wayne State. Kettering in Flint is also really generous with scholarships and offers business aims as well.
You may also consider a cheap community college for one more year (up to 60 credits). Rack up a bunch of As and then you'll be eligible for more generous transfer scholarships for the final 60 credits of your bachelors.