Time Interference

My wife, in her infinite wisdom and stubborn practicality, has challenged me to figure out how much time I will need to purse an online MBA. How much will my studies impact the time I spend with family? How long will it take me to finish? Both good questions. The second one is easy to answer. If I follow through with the program at Marist, I will need to take 17 classes. If I take 5 classes a year and start this fall, I will finish in December of 2013.

The second question is harder to answer. I sent the school an email asking how many people are in the program (about 500) and how much time is needed per class. I got the response that the prep time varies considerably from class to class but I can get in touch with the School of Management to talk to a staff member about the time demands per class. I had no time to make that call today. I'll find some time tomorrow. Regardless of what they say, the real question is how much time do I have to work on my classes without taking time away from the family. This is how I see it. I currently leave the building for lunch. If I start this program, I'll use one of the smaller conference rooms to eat while I study. That will be about 45 minutes. I may be able to read a little bit while my kids watch a video before bed. We'll call that 15 minutes. My wife goes to bed around 10 while I stay up until 12:30 or so. Let's call that two hours. That's 3 hours a day. If I use all of that time everyday that's 15 hours a week, 7.5 hours per class. A couple more hours on the weekend, we'll call it 9 hours per week per class. I have half-day Fridays until late-October. That's about half of the class for the fall. I would also have half-day Fridays in the spring. That's a couple more hours a week, assuming I'm not taking care of other things. Is that enough?

If that is barely enough time, I will have to give up every other leisure activity that I currently have to get this degree. I can walk on the treadmill and read. I may be able to squeeze in a quick workout before I start studying in the evenings. I wouldn't have much time to read for pleasure while classes are in session. Is the degree worth it? That's what I need to figure out.

The only way to see if I can make this work is to try it. I figure I can apply for this semester. They have waived the application fee and I don't have to take the GMAT. The cost to attend will be tuition, of which I will get 90% back when I finish the semester. I will be taking business classes that I will be able to apply to my job, at least in theory. I figure I give it a shot. If it doesn't work out, I'll just stop after the fall semester. I would have a couple of classes for a few hundred dollars and no regrets. We'll see how the wife feels about that plan.