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MARCH 15, 2001 B-SCHOOL NEWS A Day in the Life of the Part-Time MBA No one said juggling jobs, school, and family was going to be easy. Here's how six part-timers are trying to achieve the balance Here's a snapshot of her day: 7:45 a.m.: Board a bus near her apartment in Chicago's Wrigleyville neighborhood to head to work in the Loop 8:30 a.m.: Arrive at work, check work and school e-mail, and settle in for her workday 12:00 p.m.: Head to the gym for a workout, bring lunch back to her desk 5:15 p.m.: Head for school with a classmate who works nearby, stopping on the way for a quick bite to eat 6:15 to 9:00 p.m.: Class 9:00 p.m.: Head to Club 10:30 in the student lounge, where evening MBAs can gather for a drink and still make it home by 10:30 p.m. 10:30 p.m.: Arrive home, catch up on studying, eventually head to bed Mathson says the program is tough on her schedule. She finds little time to meet up with friends or visit her family in Racine, Wis., just a couple of hours away. On weekends, she often studies or meets with members of her class groups. "School has become all-encompassing. It becomes everything, but I love it. I can come into work after class and use what I've learned right away," she says. In fact, when she graduates this June, she wonders what she'll do with her spare time. --------------------- Steve Erdahl, 43, is finishing his third year at Southern Methodist University's Cox School in Dallas. His day job: director of international tax counsel for Verizon in Irving, Tex. He already has a law degree from New York University. In addition to the 50-plus hours he spends at work each week, Erdhal spends 25 hours more either in class, studying, or meeting with classmates to work on group projects. 5:30 a.m.: Wake up, feed and care for his four horses and three dogs 6:30 a.m.: Leave for work, a 45-minute drive 7:15 a.m.: Begins working, after checking a few school-related e-mails 12:00 p.m.: Work out in the company's gym, then grab a quick lunch in the cafeteria 5 p.m.: Leave for class, stopping at a Chinese restaurant or sandwich shop on the way for dinner 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Class 9:30 p.m.: Now awake 16 hours, he makes the 30-minute drive back home 10:00 p.m.: Home at last, he greets his wife, does some schoolwork, and heads to bed Erdahl says he's lucky: His wife is very supportive of what he has to put into the part-time MBA program. On weekends, he tries to reserve time to spend with his wife and enjoy his seven-acre mini-ranch and horses. "I plan ahead, and I try to plan ahead well. I just can't leave projects for the last minute," says Erdahl. "It has been a major commitment, and certainly I have had to cut back on a lot of things I like to do." When he graduates, he says he'll put the fun -- and more 3-day weekend trips -- back into his life. --------------------- Mary Kittrelle, 34, is a student at UCLA's Anderson School of Business and an investor-relations associate at office-products supplier Avery Dennison in Pasadena, Calif., where she works 40 to 50 hours each week. She began her MBA program in 1998 and will graduate this June. Kittrelle didn't want to earn an MBA in order to make a career switch, but rather to advance in her current field -- a key reason she chose a part-time program. For that reason, she doesn't mind the fact that part-timers have fewer networking opportunities than full-timers. Part-timers "might have to work a little harder, but those opportunities are there if we want them," she says. Kittrelle takes about two classes each quarter, finishing 20 classes in total. In the core first year, classes are held one weekday afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. and on Saturday morning -- or all day Saturday for those who can't spare work time during the week. Electives classes are offered in the afternoon, evening, or on Saturdays. A core day looks something like this: 6:00 a.m.: Wake up, get ready for work 7:30 a.m.: Leave for the hour drive to her office 8:30 a.m.: Start on the day's work 12:00 p.m.: Grab some lunch, make the 30 minute drive to class, catch up on school e-mails and take time to "switch gears." ("You have to switch gears mentally, which is a challenge some of the time, especially if you've had a busy day at work," Kittrelle says) 1:30 to 4:50 p.m.: Class 5:00 to 8 p.m.: Groupwork after class, "because this is California and people live all over Los Angeles," making it hard to get together other times 8:00 p.m.: Make the 30 minute drive home, study and prepare for the next day's work "It's hard, because everybody has something different going on in their life. I admire people with families who have to shift gears again," says the single Kittrelle. "You can get overtired in this program, so you have to lay out your schedule smartly and pace yourself." While she says being a full-time worker and part-time MBA student is hectic and requires a great deal of personal sacrifice -- including less time for friends, hobbies, and even sleep -- Kittrelle adds there's even more personal satisfaction to be had from getting through the program. When she graduates in June, she has a whole list of to-dos -- all for herself: golf lessons, sessions with a personal trainer, joining a wine club, and redecorating her home. --------------------- Deepika Shah, 31, is a performance consultant at Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco and is about nine months away from finishing her MBA at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Shah is finishing her MBA in about two and a half years instead of the three years the program usually takes to complete. Her classes now are on Tuesday and Wednesdays for seven hours each week. Tack on the four hours she spends commuting to class, 10 to 15 hours of studying, and her 40- to 50-hour workweek, and it makes for little personal time to visit family and friends, or even spend quality time with her husband. 6:30 a.m.: Wake up, walk the dog with her husband, and get ready for a long day 7:30 a.m.: Leave for work, bringing her breakfast -- a bagel and hot tea -- with her to eat on the one-hour drive to her workplace 8:30 a.m.: Arrive at work and run from meeting to meeting, finishing the day's tasks as she can Sometime between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m.: Eat lunch at her desk and then, right back to work 4:50 p.m.: Leave for class to beat the 5 p.m. traffic rush 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.: Class, with a 45-minute break in the middle for a group meeting and dinner at a coffee shop, usually with the project group 9:45 p.m.: Leave campus for the hour-long drive home 10:45 p.m.: Arrive home, spend a few minutes with her husband, check e-mail, and organize the schedule for the next day 11:30 p.m.: Finally, bedtime "It's kind of a blur from Tuesday when I wake up to Thursday when I come home from work and the gym around 8 p.m.," says Shah. She has had to give up some of her favorite things -- like weekend camping trips, day-long hikes, and quality time with her husband, family, and friends -- as a part-time MBA student. While it was a tough adjustment, a supportive husband and a helpful program office at Haas -- which provides shuttle buses for students along with all course materials on the first day of class, so students don't have to shop around -- has made the last two years easier, Shah says. "Despite all the hardships you go through, you know it's worth it in the end. There's no question that it's tough. Time management alone is enough to tire you out, but it's really mind over matter." -------------------- Asmat Noori, 27, is a computer-systems manager at University of Michigan Health Systems, the father of a three-year-old daughter, and half-way through his MBA program at the University of Michigan Business School in Ann Arbor. Noori takes two classes per semester, works 40 hours a week, and studies for about an additional 10 hours. His wife works full-time and is finishing her PhD dissertation. Having children makes balancing work, school, and life even tougher, says Noori. 6:00 a.m.: Wake up, get daughter Shannon ready for preschool 6:45 a.m.: Leave for work 7:00 a.m.: Start work, assisting with systems issues at the hospital 4:00 p.m.: Leave work, pick up Shannon at preschool, and rush home 5:00 p.m.: Arrive home, start dinner, feed Shannon, wait for his wife to arrive 6:15 p.m.: His wife arrives as he's heading out the door for the 30 minute drive to class 7:00 to 10 p.m.: Class 10:30 p.m.: Arrive home, spend time with his wife and daughter, study after Shannon goes to sleep Sometime between 12:00 and 1:00 a.m.: Finally, to bed Noori and his wife hardly find time to spend alone together, but bear with the hardship, knowing it's temporary, he says. As for Shannon, she is Noori's priority. "The hardest part for me is getting all of my work done and spending as much time as I can with my daughter. It's not fair to her if I don't spend time with her, and I don't want her to suffer because I'm in school. So most of my studying has to happen when she has gone to bed." That can mean some late nights and less sleep and alone-time than Noori might like. He plans group meetings well ahead of time and has all but given up television and any outside social life. His advice to prospective part-timers: "You need to learn to organize your life and know that everything will take longer than you expect it to. It's stressful, and it's challenging, but at the same time, it's a lot of fun." -------------------- Paul Pfohl, 46, is a second vice-president at American Trust & Savings Bank in Dubuque, Iowa, and has four children under the age of 12. He's a one-and-a-half-hour drive from his part-time MBA classes at the University of Iowa's Tippie School of Management. He began the program last fall, which leaves him with about three years to go. Sunday, he says, is always family day. During the week, his normal 10-hour workday is cut short by school. 5:45 a.m.: Wake up, eat breakfast, lay out school clothes for the children, get ready for work 6:45 a.m.: Leave for work 6:50 a.m.: Arrive at work, check school e-mail and class Web sites for any news, catch up on bank work 12:00 p.m.: Client lunches or a quick sandwich in the employee break room 4:30 p.m.: Leave for class, eating a snack on the road 6:30 to 9:15 p.m.: Class 10:30 p.m.: Arrive home, spend some time with his wife, a third-grade teacher, study, and head to bed To all prospective part-time MBAs, Pfohl offers this advice: "Talk to all the critical people in your life first -- your spouse, your employer, yourself -- and make sure all are willing to go through it. Have an honest talk with yourself about what will be required." While it can be harder for a student with a family, Pfohl says he makes sure to spend quality time with his wife and children. "Our entire family has had to get wiser about what activities we participate in," he says. "Everything has had to give a little." Still, he says, the temporary strain will give him a leg up in his industry and provide him the skills he needs to continue to move up the ladder. Already, he is able to apply classwork to his bank job. And, Pfohl remembers, the sacrifice is only temporary. Compiled by Jennifer Merritt in New York  | | Learn about your online education options |
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