Exciting News

No, the baby isn’t here yet. I know that’s what you are all waiting for but this isn’t quite of that magnitude.

However, I still think it’s pretty cool. Today I got word that I have been accepted into the MBA program at Bethel University. I’ve been thinking about getting a master’s degree for several years and I had particular interest in a couple MBA programs in the Twin Cities. The biggest hurdle has simply been the cost, particularly since the original program that had my interest (at the Carlson School of Management at the U of M) would have cost somewhere around $55,000 or more. Yikes!!

A close friend of ours from Wooddale Church, Lisa Walker, has been in the Bethel program for the last 18 months and has great things to say about it. The MBA offering at Bethel is only about 3 years old but already has a good reputation. Plus, it’s less than half the cost of the U of M program, which made a big difference to me. Finally, since Oracle bought Stellent, I have learned that Oracle’s education reimbursement plan is much better than Stellent’s ever was, so I’m hoping that it won’t actually cost too much. I’m still working out just how that will look, but suffice it to say that I can happily justify the cost at this point.

As I was applying, I thought I would be teed up to start this fall in a weekend program. Lisa actually attends class once every six weeks for a full weekend and then has online and group assignments each week after that. They also offer several “1 night per week” options, but I didn’t think that would be for me since my work travel is sporadic and somewhat unpredictable. In addition, driving across the entire metro area during rush hour once per week is not my idea of fun, particularly since the Bethel campus is about an hour’s drive from our house. Anyway, I was told that they wouldn’t be doing the weekend option in the fall but they had a weekend group starting in Rochester in March. While that may seem like a long way to go, it’s really no farther from my house than the main Bethel campus, plus I’ll only have to go once every six weeks instead of every single week. And there’s no chance it’ll interfere with work travel.

So that’s the plan: I start doing preliminary stuff next week already but the first credit course starts March 23 in Rochester. I should be done in 24 months, by which time our new baby will be 2 (duh) and Quinn will be 5(!). At least I’ll be done with school before Quinn starts. Crazy to think about it, but life keeps trucking on. Gretchen and I are both excited and I’m hopeful that I’ll learn great things, meet some good people, and have some doors opened for me through this experience.