No mods for two years...going back to school

Toronto_Vento

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Richmond Hill, ON
TDI
01 Baltic Green Bora
Yeah, well, in case you have been wondering why I am mostly an on-line member at the moment, and haven't showed up much to GTGs: this is the final thing I've been working towards. I've finally got word on my application, and as of September, I'm going back to being a full time student. So, yeah...I'll be a bum, and my wife will have to make all the money for a while. ;)

I've been accepted to the MBA program at the U of T. Took a bit of work, and a bit of sweat, but I'm in now. Bad news is that I don't think we'll need two cars in the house, soooooo....unfortunately my wife's civic will just have to go. :D HA HA HA...myself, I'll be trading in one diesel for another. Am keeping the TDI, but my wife will be driving it...I'll be hopping on the GO train.

It'll be a strange change for me, as I've been working for the same company for almost 7 years now. You just get used to a place after being there for so long. It's time to switch gears and step up into the business world (as ruthless as it is).

I'll still be on here, and will still keep working on my car, but unfortunately that means no mod money for the next while. I'm on the fence whether I'll end up keeping the TDI after graduation, or moving on to a newer model. I guess it all depends on where I end up working, and how I get there.
 

Silver02TDI

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Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Location
Toronto, Ottawa
TDI
2012 Golf Wagon TDI Highline
Congrats! Prepare yourself for the pains of groupwork assignment overload ;)

Oh yeah, and I'm sure people have already told you... Grad school is twice the amount of work as undergrad... In undergrad you could afford to fall behind a little; in grad school you need to stay on top of things!
 

Toronto_Vento

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Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Richmond Hill, ON
TDI
01 Baltic Green Bora
Yeah, I know that grad school is going to be intense. I'm going to try and balance a contract side job (couple of hours a month) to just ease the money woes. Besides, there really isn't a whole lot of time to fall behind in the MBA program. Exams every 6-8 weeks. :(
 

REDNECKDZL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Location
Omemee
TDI
2001 Jetta, 2015 Jetta, 1984 Wabbit TD, 1986 RX7 waiting on AHU swap
Congrats John,

You are braver then I.

I went to RCC so i could be in and out of school in the least amount of time and get out in the work force. Then again I'm not much for school, I like working and doing Tech support is a sweet gig.
 

Silver02TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Location
Toronto, Ottawa
TDI
2012 Golf Wagon TDI Highline
Working is doable... When I was doing my master's I was TAing as well. I held two TA contracts for a combined 10 hours a week (but it was much more than 10 hours a week of work!) in addition to tutoring. It was doable, but hard... And I wish I hadn't worked and just spent time getting to know my classmates better! Still have several good friends from back then :)
 
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craig01b

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Joined
Mar 17, 2004
Location
Guelph, Ontario.
TDI
None
Sooner the better..

Good choice John, its never an easy one. I changed gears 20 years ago, and changed jobs (sort of). A couple of years of studying, and a bunch of exams. Went backwards in pay for a year of two..(with two young children)....No regrets, being a little hungry for a while gives us an appreciation for things when they get easier. My wife helped by working jobs she wouldn't of normally done....at the time she was home with them, and I was doing as much overtime and studying to keep things together...financially that is...I think she was working harder than I was. After 24 years of marriage, we are still working together, and I hope it continues. Still, not and easy choice.

On the up side for me, I have 16 more months, and retirement looms. Changing gears again, not stopping, just looking forward. Best of luck...

Craig
 

Windex

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
Bravo! Bravissimo.

Good choice. Rotman is an excellent MBA school - I tend to like Queens better, but then again I'm biased, as that's where I took my MBA.:D

Get ready for the most intense (guessing) 15 months of your life.

When I describe my time in Grad school, I call it the best and worst two years of my life.

Queen's was very good about weeding out any interpersonal team conflicts very early on. Make sure you get along with everyone on your team - festering disputes really screw things up later in the program.

Most of all, have fun - you will never get to do it again.

Let me know where to send the Tim's gift certificate - you're gonna need a LOT of coffee.
 

TDIDarryl

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2003
Location
From Barrie, now Winnipeg, MB
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
Congrats!

Be sure to pop in every once in a while to let us know how things are going. An MBA is something I'd like to pursue as well, but not for a few years. (Hopefully the company can foot the bill!)
 

Toronto_Vento

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Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Richmond Hill, ON
TDI
01 Baltic Green Bora
Yeah, Queens is a good school...but moving to Kingston was not in the cards. Doing a Queens MBA in Toronto means an E-mba...not something I'm interested in. (executive MBA) Lot more money, and meant for people who are already fairly established.

Don't worry, I'll pop by every once in a while. Not leaving the club.

I'm looking for a bit of a clean slate with this MBA. While I can't complain about my life as an engineer, I've found that my interests have changed, and I need something different.

Thanks for all the words of support, guys! Glad to hear that some on here have done the MBA and survived. ;) My program is a full two year school program, with a summer work term next year. I guess that means about 16 months of school and 4 months of work until I'm done. The time will go by quickly. I still can't believe I've been with my company for 6.5 years already.
 

Windex

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Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
Toronto_Vento said:
Yeah, Queens is a good school...but moving to Kingston was not in the cards. Doing a Queens MBA in Toronto means an E-mba...not something I'm interested in. (executive MBA) Lot more money, and meant for people who are already fairly established.

Don't worry, I'll pop by every once in a while. Not leaving the club.

I'm looking for a bit of a clean slate with this MBA. While I can't complain about my life as an engineer, I've found that my interests have changed, and I need something different.

Thanks for all the words of support, guys! Glad to hear that some on here have done the MBA and survived. ;) My program is a full two year school program, with a summer work term next year. I guess that means about 16 months of school and 4 months of work until I'm done. The time will go by quickly. I still can't believe I've been with my company for 6.5 years already.
It will go by quickly. Don't give it a worry. My brother is civil, got sick of estimating, and went back to schulich full time to do exactly what you're doing. It was a great way to move up the ladder.

Best of luck
 

Toronto_Vento

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Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Richmond Hill, ON
TDI
01 Baltic Green Bora
UofT is slightly higher rated than a Schulich...plus from what I understand, UofT is a little more dug into the financial sector downtown. As it stands, I have two main options for me to pursue: project management, or investment banking. Yes, both very different, so I have to make a decision soon. My cousin works for an investment firm downtown, and said he'd try and help me out to get a summer-term position there. I think that is the best choice right now, to get a taste and see if I like that kind of work. If not, then project management is a great option with a lot of potential as well.

It's one of those things: as an engineer, a lot of my contacts couldn't help me with finding work...but with an MBA, the options are much more plentiful.
 

Brian B

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Joined
Aug 17, 2000
Location
Acton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon - Silver
Congrats John, so when do you start selling off your stuff:D

Keep us posted on school and good luck with it. You're always welcome back you know;)
 

Toronto_Vento

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Richmond Hill, ON
TDI
01 Baltic Green Bora
Stuff is starting to sell, but the mods will stay on the car. I hope she holds together with no repairs while I'm in school. Only thing I'm somewhat concerned about is the clutch, but I put it back in RC2 mode, and unless I try to really haul in 5th, everything is fine.

Never said I'm going to leave...just might not be online as often.
 

Mississauga-Dude

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2006
TDI
1990 Jetta turbo diesel, manual, A/C, C/C
LOL If you wanna trade cars with a little more for difference to pay for books, let me know.
 
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