Ask HN: What should I do with an opportunity for a free grad school education? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What should I do with an opportunity for a free grad school education?

4 pointsbrennanave8 comments

Due to my father's new job, I've just been given a tremendous opportunity: a free 2-year grad school education anywhere in the world (assuming I'm accepted).

I'd love your advice about how to make the most of this opportunity.

Some background: I did an undergraduate degree in psychology. I've since done 2 startups, selling one of them. I'm currently 5 months into a new startup that I've co-founded. I'm non-technical. I have strong leadership, management, people, and strategic skills.

I've never considered doing a graduate degree due to the cost, but now with this opportunity feel compelled to give it serious consideration.

Should I do an MBA and improve my strengths or do something that rounds out my skillset, perhaps by improving my technical ability?

Capitalizing on this opportunity would require starting graduate school in 2015. It's too early to say whether I'll leave my current startup for grad school. It is, however, important that I maximize my available options and at least apply.

Note: I'm a frequent contributor to this community, but have created a new account to keep my identity anonymous (I have yet to tell my co-founder of this).

It is not free because you will be investing your time. In fact, the time you will be investing into graduate school is probably worth a lot more than the monetary cost of that education. There is always an opportunity cost. You could spend the two years continue working on your startup, and possibly get a much larger payout than a graduate education will yield over your lifetime.

A question you should ask yourself is: What do you want to do with your life, and how will graduate school help you with that? It seems like your goal is to do a startup. If that's the case then you probably won't benefit much from a graduate education, be it a business or technical degree.

The main resource you get out of graduate school that is directly applicable to startups are connections. Potential co-founders, advisors and early employees. The "quality" of these connections is directly related to which school you will attend. In other words, attending a top-tier school may be well worth it due the connections you will make there, even if the actual educational content will turn out to be useless (which is most likely the case for startups).

The other way to look at it is that graduate school can give you a nice break from professional life. It certainly can be a fun time.

PS: I was in a similar position. I applied to graduate school without knowing whether or not I actually wanted to go. I ended up going because it was "free" (I was paid to do research) and dropped out after a year because I felt like I was not getting enough value in return for all the time I was spending.

Thanks for your comments.

>The other way to look at it is that graduate school can give you a nice break from professional life. It certainly can be a fun time.

I agree that there is still a cost to attending, but the above really resonated with me. I feel that I am wanting a bit of a break from professional life, an opportunity to freely explore new ideas without having defined milestones and roadmaps.

This opportunity has caused me to think more about what my long-term goals are. Right now, I'm not sure, but I look forward to exploring.

As I write this, perhaps I use the grad school opportunity as a vehicle for finding this out?

Thanks for your advice. It's much appreciated.

It sounds like you are already doing what you want to be doing (startups). Also, your skills are "soft skills" and you already have them and clearly can use them in a practical setting.

I'm not sure what you'd gain from grad school, except connections if you attend, e.g., Stanford business school. I doubt an MBA would improve your technical ability. Is it a dream of yours to go? Is your current startup making money? How invested are you in the current startup?

YMMV: I went to grad school for a technical degree and enjoyed it, but I wasn't doing anything majorly compelling beforehand. My one regret is that I didn't start a startup with all the time I had while at grad school. I'm correcting that error now, but it's a significant disruption of my life.

>Is it a dream of yours to go? Is your current startup making money? How invested are you in the current startup?

No, an MBA is not a dream of mine, although I suspect that I would really enjoy it. My current startup is not making money, but I am very committed to it.

Bah to the MBA (unless you get it from Stanford or MIT). I would focus in more on the Psych angle, perhaps going for HCI, Anthropology (with fieldwork in the 'first world', like Gabriella Coleman did: http://codingfreedom.com/), or something similar. Or you could branch out a bit to Behavioral Economics.

Almost NOTHING will increase your future chances of success at creating new companies more than better understanding users, their needs, and how they make decisions.

That would be two years very well spent.

thanks for the link and the suggestion!

> how to make the most of this opportunity.

An MBA is a smart play for your background. Choose a program known for it's strong alumni network and entrepreneurial faculty. Ultimately, the relationships and connections you'll forge will prove a huge asset for future endeavors.

Relative to your start-up, you may be able to still add value in a part-time capacity or reduced role. Assuming you trust your co-founders, be straight with them on your thoughts. They may already gut sense your commitment level has changed.

Thanks for your suggestion. I hadn't considered staying in a part-time capacity a possibility

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