Five Years to B-School: The Third Year

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Some of you will have husbands or wives or be in a serious, committed relationship by Year Three. If so, you should discuss your plans to attend B-school with your significant other. Full-time programs often require people to pick up, move, and spend lots of time in study groups or teams. This lifestyle, although temporary, will affect the people with whom you share your life. They should have a say in your decisions about where to go and how to proceed.

Your plans and your partner's future should work well together. If you have kids, then you must also consider their feelings and lives and what it would be like for them if you moved to go to school. "Business schools are not here to break up couples," says Bryant. You might also want to research the various programs B-schools have for families and present that information to your loved ones.

As mentioned in the previous articles in this series, you should be saving money to finance your education. Year Three is a great time to make sure you're paying off outstanding debt and to look into how you will supplement your finances so you can afford tuition and housing. As you inch toward Year Four and the application process looms, you should be living more and more like a student. That means spending less, eating at home, and refraining from splurges such as fancy clothes and cars. Your budget should get tighter and your debts smaller as you get closer to B-school. Living on a budget, even if you anticipate making big bucks post-MBA, is a wise idea that will help you weather any economic storm and two years without an income.

BY THE END OF YEAR THREE…

You should have:

• Either been promoted where you've been working or moved to another company to reach the next level in your profession.

• Found someone to mentor while still maintaining relationships with your own mentors and continuing to make contact with superiors who can better inform you about the MBA and various business schools.

• Narrowed down the list of things you'd like to be doing after you complete your MBA.

• Made contact with business schools that interest you.

• Discussed your future with your loved ones and listened to their thoughts about your plans.

• Tightened your finances even more than before in anticipation of paying tuition and going without an income for two years.

Di Meglio is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Fort Lee, N.J.