Here is a list of things that you could do to not only help you spend your time, but also make sure you are ready to go when the BIG ENVELOPE arrives.
- Check that credit score. Make sure your credit score is in top shape - especially with the credit crisis. Resolve any outstanding issues and make sure your information is up to date. Every year, there are a few students who have to go through several rounds of approval to obtain a loan, and it's usually at an unattractive rate. Save the chaos, watch some Suze Orman and get your credit score looking like a perfect GMAT quant score! Check out www.annualcreditreport.com - AnnualCreditReport.com provides consumers with the secure means to request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act).
- Make wise spending choices. Now is the time to leave the Jimmy Choos in the store and the flat screen at Best Buy. Save! Save! Save! There are lots of expenses that come up for business school that don't always come to mind - new laptop, movers for that apartment/house that is closer to school, new interview suits, orientation fees, happy hour "fees"...not to mention books, that fancy financial calculator, etc. Also, keep in mind that sometimes student loans don't kick in until mid-September, early October so you might be on your own for a while before the borrowed dollars kick in.
- Spend plenty of time with your friends now. I know this sounds horrible, but business school, especially the first semester, will find you busy busy busy. Get out there and spend time with your buddies (but go for 2-for-1 happy hour deals). Prepare them for the changes ahead - they might not see you as often, but you still love them (I hope!).
- Nurture your network. At some point in your business school career, you will need to reach out to people you haven't spoken to in a while. Lots of networking "experts" will tell you that your network is only as effective as you make it. SOOO...reach out to people that you may have lost touch with or discussed your business school plans with. They may have an impact on your career progression. Send them an email (or better yet, pick up the phone) and let people know that you are taking the next step. Ask them for advice, catch up on their lives. And when you have to make that request for an informational interview, or a connection at their company, it won't seem like you are using them or coming out of the blue. Remember, your network is only greener where you water it.
- Nurture your network some more. I can't reinforce this enough. You'll be ahead of the curve come September when your classmates are struggling to find who they know and where they work.
- Plan a summer vacation. Now, this might contradict point #2, but planned wisely, you could do something fun at a frugal price point. Once business school starts, it's quite a roller coaster ride. You'll be glad that you took some time to relax beforehand. I suggest sometime in July or early August. Don't go too far into August or you might find yourself tight on time.
I hope this is enough to keep you busy for at least a few weeks, which should be enough time for those acceptance letters to arrive.
What if your program starts early in the summer such as in June or July? Some programs have required boot camps that students need to go through prior to the start of the semester. That means less time to save, unless your savings plan started at the same time as your plans to apply to school, but you are right, no one really scales down until the applications are complete. Also, any way to get your FICO score for free as part of your annual credit report? I think that is a more concrete way to know where you stand.
ReplyDeleteGood question on the summer programs. Bottom line - if your school asks you to attend a summer school program, you are better off doing it than not, even if it does impact your savings plan. The benefits of attending a summer program usually outweigh the cons in the long run. Hopefully, you'll have a month or two of expenses saved up in case anything should come up.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would also ask a few questions about what kind of funding you can expect to get from the school for the summer. How much do they estimate the cost to be including tuition and living expenses? Will this be included as part of your fall tuition bill? Or are you expected to pay up front in the summer? Will the loans or scholarships you receive for the fall impact your ability to get funding for the summer? When is the due date for your summer payment and is how soon after is your fall payment due?
Make sure you don’t have any surprises come the summer!
Is there a specific dollar amount that we should strive to save for grad school?
ReplyDeleteOn the high end, I would say 2-2.5 months of living expenses, and on the low end, at least 1 month. Remember to calculate this using the living expenses of the city you plan or hope to be in. NYC can be much more expensive than say North Carolina, and your savings budget will need to adjust accordingly.
ReplyDeleteOverall, your loans will keep you "covered" once they kick in. It's that time in between that is tricky, and of course, the last minute things that you can never plan for (for example, one of my students ripped his suit on the day of his interview. He was in a different city with little time...so he looked up the nearest Brooks Brothers and took his Visa card along with him. He made it to the interview looking dapper).
Most financial aid websites will give you a budget of how much they expect you to spend each month. However, this can fluctuate if you have dependent care or other obligations to consider. Call the financial aid office if you want to know how they assembled their budget - you might find that they don't include things like a car payment, etc. Again, it's contingent on where you are living, but some of your financial obligations will be the same no matter where you end up enrolling.
I also recommend tracking what you are spending now and what you might not need in b-school. Do you really need the super service on your cellphone? Is it necessary to get ALL the channels on your tv (which you likely won't be home to watch anyway). Making some tough decisions now will give you some freedome later.
And remember the cardinal rule of graduate school - when you don't have, mooch.