You pay to go to college. More often than not you’ll be pulling from savings, using credit cards, working extra hours, or taking out loans to pay back later just to afford that diploma. You don’t want your hard earned money going to waste and you certainly don’t want to be paying money back later on something that is useless to you. Before even applying to any business schools you have to seriously ask yourself four questions.
1. Will it be worth it?
There’s nothing more frustrating than spending a large amount of money investing in a future path that you don’t like or won’t pursue. Are you sure you want a job in a field that largely interacts with people, math, money, and economics? If deep down you really feel like you want to be a doctor or a mechanic, don’t pursue a business degree unless it’s in regards to building and running your own business. If that’s more along the lines of what you want to do, it’s recommended that you major in that field of interest and minor in business. Don’t pursue a major in business if you don’t really want to enter that type of workforce. Don’t pursue a major in business because someone else wants you too, and don’t pursue a major in business if you absolutely have no idea what you want to do. You can always enroll in college undecided and make up your mind later after you’ve experienced different types of classes and are more familiar with what each path has to offer.
2. What do you want to do with the degree?
This goes along with the above question. This may be a no-brainer, but if you dislike staying in hotels and absolutely love working with computer systems, you might want to stay away from a specialization in hotel management and work with information systems instead. The point of getting a degree is to eventually work in that field. Choose the major and concentration well. This will allow you to learn all of the information needed in the time frame allotted instead of cramming classes into a schedule because you switched your major or concentration two years into your time at college.
3. Do jobs in your field of interest even require a degree, or do they require more than a bachelors degree?
4. How badly do you want that degree?
Many business programs are academically competitive and/or may require many hours invested in homework, presentations, community work, internships, leadership responsibilities, etc. College is hard work if you want to do well, and you’re paying for this opportunity. Wouldn’t you want to do well to increase your chances of getting into a good place of employment? This question also refers back to the discussion in the first question. If your heart isn’t really into pursuing a degree in business, chances are, you aren’t going to work as hard or put in as much effort for the degree than you would in a program that you enjoy.
You have to answer all of these questions for yourself, and you’re going to have to answer them honestly to have the best experience in college that you can and to ultimately enjoy your future career path. If you have any doubts, it might be best to reconsider what career you want. After all, it is your money, and it is your life. You will want to feel your education was worth the time and effort.
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