

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

Due to my father&#x27;s new job, I&#x27;ve just been given a tremendous opportunity: a free 2-year grad school education anywhere in the world (assuming I&#x27;m accepted).<p>I&#x27;d love your advice about how to make the most of this opportunity.<p>Some background: I did an undergraduate degree in psychology. I&#x27;ve since done 2 startups, selling one of them. I&#x27;m currently 5 months into a new startup that I&#x27;ve co-founded. I&#x27;m non-technical. I have strong leadership, management, people, and strategic skills.<p>I&#x27;ve never considered doing a graduate degree due to the cost, but now with this opportunity feel compelled to give it serious consideration.<p>Should I do an MBA and improve my strengths or do something that rounds out my skillset, perhaps by improving my technical ability?<p>Capitalizing on this opportunity would require starting graduate school in 2015. It&#x27;s too early to say whether I&#x27;ll leave my current startup for grad school. It is, however, important that I maximize my available options and at least apply.<p>Note: I&#x27;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).
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dennybritz
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.

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brennanave
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.

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codexjourneys
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.

~~~
brennanave
>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.

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webmaven
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/](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.

~~~
brennanave
thanks for the link and the suggestion!

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JSeymourATL
> 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.

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

