在申请MBA的道路上，兄弟姐妹们给了我莫大的帮助。我希望把自己MBA经历的点点滴滴都记录下来，希望能给社区增添一点有意思的内容，给同胞们一些帮助。都在我的blog上，我会经常更新，欢迎大家的讨论和分享。

 Not so easy to start a MBA （更多的文章在我的blog上）

It’s not an easy job to get into an MBA school – whether it is a private or public one. I’m not just talking about the annoying GMAT exam and frustrating admission essays…I’d like to share other facets about an MBA program with my own experience of confronting continuous challenges. There must be a lot of peers that share the same values and dreams. Hopefully I can provide fellow young friends with some relevant information.

For me, it’s such an anticipating experience to live and study in US and I’m really looking forward to get the most out of it for at least two years. I will be studying at San Francisco State University – a public school in California, which is considered among the second tier of MBA schools in the US. The MBA program is the best and most competitive program within the California State University System that has 23 campuses in CA.

Unfortunately, the BIGGEST headache to an MBA candidate is Money, even if one is going to a public school.

After receiving my offer letter in February, I’ve experienced a tuition raise twice – caused by the pathetically bankrupted California government that has made a huge cut to education to survive the devastating economic downturn. Thus, my tuition soared 10% in May and another 10% in July. Now, the academic tuition counts more than 50,000USD for the whole program if you are lucky enough to finish the program within two years, and that doesn’t include living expenses (food, housing, transportation, etc) and text book costs. The basic tuition fee for each semester is 4038USD now and 582USD per credit (55 credits for a whole program).
For those who have majored in business in college, some of the credits can be waived.

I was kidding with some friends that I’m thinking of dropping out of school to follow geniuses like Bill Gates and Jeff Hawkins. But if I ever do that, the reason would be the money.

So you might ask, why not get a scholarship?

Yes you can try if you are a US resident. Non-US citizens don’t enjoy such a benefit from a public school.
Even at a private school, scholarships for MBA students are rarely heard of. A lot of students choose to obtain a private loan to pay for the education and they will pay the loan back in about 5 years after graduation. But it’s such a financial burden that usually pressures graduates to go for well-paid jobs instead of the ones that they are really interested in.

Witnessing continuously rampant challenges for an MBA candidate, I’d suggest that that any prospective MBA candidates give serious thoughts to whether you are ready for it, both psychologically and financially.
A popular MBA ranking source is http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/.

Keep our fingers crossed for a quicker economic recovery and no more tuition raises!