Grad School - GRE question

[barbara2bba]

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Congrats on your dilemma. It's a good one to be pondering
I have no advice on the GRE. I only have a tiny bit of experience to share on the employer part. My husband's company is paying $18,000 of the $24,000 for his degree. (the rest is covered through a pell grant) They didn't choose the college, but they had veto power over his choices. That said, at any point in time, if my husband is fired- we owe back the money. If he quits- we owe back the money. He can't exceed 6 credits in a semester, and he must pass every class with a C or higher. He will have to work a full 24 months in his current position AFTER earning his degree before he can cut the strings and own his degree free and clear. In our case, he likes his job, we like where we live, and are happy to have the AMAZING benefit of their contribution. (without it, this would have been fully financed by loans). Now, should any of those situations happen, we could easily (but grudgingly) come up with the money. That wouldn't have been the case 10 years ago. So, I feel like we have a safety net, and so we are accepting the risk as appropriate for the reward.

My two cents would be to consider the worst case scenarios, and protect yourself. What if your boss gets promoted? What if your company relocates you? Will your credits transfer? What if you get fired? What if your husband gets relocated? What if your promise of long term earnings never happens? Is anything in writing? What if you don't pass one of your classes? What if you get pregnant and leave your studies for a year? What if you don't like the program and want to transfer? What if your company cuts the budget that is funding this local college? What is stopping your company from changing the rules on a whim? What if what if what if?

It really all comes down to how much control you are willing to give them, and where your comfort zone is with letting someone else decide this part of your future for you. I am probably a bit more conservative in this area, but I couldn't help myself from throwing in a bit of paranoid skepticism.

I have been a recruiter for the last 23 years. I have always wanted (really really wanted) to get into a hospital HR position, but without a bachelors, it was not possible. Thanks to IC and Excelsior, I now meet the requirements! The other position keeps me strictly in recruiting, whereas this position trains me in HR.

The development piece in employee relations will not be contingent on the HR director because the other HR recruiter has been doing this. The hospital is a local system, so no possibilty of transfer or relocation.

I am the one that has determined the promise of future earnings, (not their promise) as the experience puts me into a path of moving into an HR manager and then director level position. (still highly recruited even in the current economic state of the country). I already have management experience, so it it a realistic consideration. The difference is if I remain in recruitment, I can't transfer those skills to anything else. The only promise that the new employer made was that as they add more responsibility, my salary will increase. (adding the employee relations and physician recruitment piece)

The new boss is not requiring a grad program, and the hospital system offers tuition reimbursement with no requirements on time to complete. I can take the amount of classes per year that they will reimburse for until I am done. I realize that he has been strong in his opinion, but in the worst case scenario, I could just transfer the credits to the program I can afford if something happens. In this area, it will actually be of great benefit to complete this grad program over the other one. I only chose the other one because I couldn't afford any other. One of my prior HR Directors agreed with this one that I will be able to do much more with this grad program. Without prompting, he also stated that I am well on my way to a strong financial future.

I have never been fired and hope to never be fired! Even if the economy turns worse, I have a very good chance of continuing employment since this position is integral to the operations of the organization. (nurse recruitment as a big part of my work and the only one doing professional, allied and nurse recruitment.)

Totally appreciate your skeptism. Thanks for looking out for me, Jen.