After doing more research, I found a lot more great information about this school. First and one of the most important is tuition costs. Full-time MBA students earning 9-15 credits per semester receive a flat rate vs. part-time MBA students who pay based on their number of credits being taken. Since I will be an out-of-state student, it will cost $11,907 per semester or a total of $23,814 per year, which is not bad at all when comparing that figure to some of the other top schools in the country ranging about $40,000 - $50,000 per year. It is still definitely worth it in the long run regardless of how much I have to pay. This degree will help me to increase my salary for my future career. I'm starting to see dollar signs already. lol However, there are plenty of opportunities for financial aid through the school. There are merit-based awards, graduate assistantships, federal student loans, private educational loans, and scholarships outside the university. If accepted, there are a variety of clubs and student organizations which i can get involved in to meet and interact with students and network with other important people to get as much experience as possible to help me benefit in my future career.

One that I have already found myself interested in is the Graduate Marketing Association, whose mission is "to strengthen the reputation of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland by bringing greater awareness to the business community of the school's offerings as they relate to marketing excellence." They educate students on issues in the marketing industry and the career development process in a manner that is ethically responsible and mindful of the uniqueness of each individual. They also strive to increase students' overall success in securing marketing positions by sponsoring such activities as the guest speaker program featuring leading marketing professionals, supplying career search assistance, planning social events with marketing faculty and alumni, and providing networking opportunities.
Besides this one, there are other excellent ones I could see myself being a part of including the Mayer Fund, MBA Association, and Smith Associati

on of Women MBAs.

These are great organizations because they are very similar to SIFE, or Students in Free Enterprise, an organization in which I am actively involved in as a undergrad student here at Pitt Bradford. This past year I was our Secretary and hope to increase my leadership role in the coming year. SIFE is an organization which is designed to teach students and community members of all different age groups about various aspects of business, including: Market Economics, Success Skills, Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, and Business Ethics.
This year we competed at the Regional Competition in Cleveland, OH and received an award for 2nd runner up. We also received an award for winning the Individual Topic Competition for Business Ethics and a nice $1,000 prize!! Above is a picture of our SIFE team photo with our presentation group at the competition below. We look just like those grad students, so I guess I am off to a good start!

Not only was this school in a great geographic area for me, but it is also one of the top 40 best business graduate schools in the country. So it seems like I have found a happy medium. The Full-Time MBA program offered through this school is two-year program, with classes ranging from Culture, Ethics, and Communication to Financial and Managerial Accounting, Leadership and Managing Human Capital, and Creativity for Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs. There are several different courses within the curriculum but it is very well-rounded covering a large area of topics. They also offer MBA electives such as Accounting and Information Assurance, Business Telecommunications, E-commerce, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, Global Business and Knowledge Management, Management Consulting, etc. along with several others to choose from depending on your particular interests. There are also opportunities for real-world experience, including the MBA Consulting Program, Mayer Fund, and Dingman Scholars Program.

Robert H. Smith School of Business

From the list of the top graduate business schools from U.S. News and World Report, I came across the Robert H. Smith School of Business - University of Maryland in College Park, MD. It seemed like the perfect choice. Being 5 hours away, it was close enough to home that I could drive there for the weekend if I wanted to visit yet it was far enough away to get a good experience of living on my own and becoming a responsible adult, starting my career as a successful business woman. Also, from College Park, MD to Baltimore, MD is roughly 40 miles away or about an hour of driving time which isn't bad at all. Since I have grown up with not much to do, my friends and I would constantly cruise around in our cars as soon as we got our licenses, going on tons of rides to occupy our time. Either way, a one hour drive or a five hour drive is an easy trip for me. As far as the area was concerned, I am close to Baltimore, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., all big areas with lots of attractions, such as the White House, Capitol Building, Arlington National Cemetery, Ford's Theatre, Fort Washington National Park, Lincoln Memorial, The Pentagon, U.S. Supreme Court, the Woodrow Wilson House, etc. If I ever wanted to go sight seeing, this would be the perfect opportunity to do so! All these great things, and I haven't even begun to talk about all the school has to offer. Will do that in my next blog.




Here is my first destination.. To the US Supreme Court to give Mr. Lawyer Martini a chance to visit there before he moves up in the world and all his cases go there and then us Martinis will all be billionaires and can have our own restaurant and eat as much good food as we want!!! Haha

Graduate Schools - The Full Time MBA Program

I started to do some research on graduate business schools that I might be interested in applying to. I found a good list online at U.S. News and World Report of America's Best Graduate Schools in 2009. For any of you who also might need to do some research on the best graduate schools regardless of your major, this site may be very useful to you. It provides information on not only Business schools, but also Law, Medical, Engineering, Education, The Sciences, Library & Information Studies, Social Sciences & Humanities, Health, Public Affairs, and Fine Arts schools as well.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad

Next came another hard part. As I went through the list of the top schools, I had a decision to make. Am I more concerned with quality of my education or my location? While the obvious answer would be the quality of my education, I felt that I could not be truly happy living in a location that I was not comfortable with, regardless of how good of a school I was attending. Since I am from St. Marys, PA, a small town in the country, I have always enjoyed the simple things in life; playing outside as a child, going camping, fishing, boating, swimming, etc. Once I graduated from high school, I moved to Bradford, PA, another small boring town in Pennsylvania. While the Pitt Bradford campus is a wonderful place to be, there are just not enough attractions and events that take place in the town. It is too boring. I did not mind it for most of my life, but now visiting a few places, seeing exciting fun places on tv, I can't help but become curious and want to discover life in a different place. I need to move to a bigger area, with many attractions, entertainment, and fun things to do! I also want to be far enough away from home to do my own thing, but yet close enough to make a trip home if necessary. Then I began to think, what if I move 5 hours away and something bad happens and I have no one? It might be in my best interest to move to an area where I at least know someone in case of an emergency. Since all of my family lives near this area, my list of options ran out quick. However, my older brother is going to Law School at the University of Baltimore in Maryland. This seemed like a great place for me, but I was unable to find any Graduate Business schools that I found appropriate for me. After doing much more research, I came up with a school that seemed like a great choice!

Boy does time fly!!

While it seems like only yesterday that I was walking across the stage to receive my high school diploma, here I am now in the summer before my senior year at Pitt-Bradford. It is now already time to start my application process for Graduate School. Since our economy is in a recession and the unemployment rates are increasing, it is becoming even harder for people to find jobs to make a comfortable or even adequate living. A wise professor of mine told me that no matter when, it is very important for me to continue on my education to earn my MBA degree. Although in April of 2009 I will have earned two bachelor's degrees, one a baccalaureate of science (Business Management) and the other a baccalaureate of arts (Economics). However, these degrees are not much anymore. Since there are fewer and fewer jobs available these days, the businesses that do offer jobs are looking for more qualified individuals to take on these positions. This is definitely a good point! I mean what is two more years of school when you already went to school for 12 years and then another four? So I was thinking back to high school when I first took my SATs and started applying for schools. That all started in November of junior year. Now here I am, the summer before my last year as an undergraduate and I have yet to start getting things underway. All applications are due by December of 2008!! I better get busy...