Cause learning Spanish wasn't hard enough ;)

So it's definitely an interesting time -- and not just cause it's 2020 ;)

If you’re following the adventure you’ll know that:

• Chris returned to University starting in July
• We sold our house in the middle of a pandemic

But really, that’s not nearly enough excitement to write home about ;)

So with Chris at school, we’re down to one reliable income and one flexible one.  And I have a funny feeling the economy is going to be doing some unfriendly things over the next couple years.   So instead of buying something cheaper and risk getting stuck w something we really don’t like for several years, my ever-amazing parents have very generously agreed to let us move in with them while C is in school.

This gives time to discover what the post-COVID world will look like; if I don’t have to commute anymore, it opens anywhere with viable internet as a possibility.  Logically, I know it’s the right thing to do.  Emotionally I really struggled with the idea.  But okay - it’s to lead to better things.  

And then I clued in…. If we’re living there, it’s prob the best shot I’ll ever have at being able to do my MBA.  Hmmmm. 

So back into researching mode.  The one I *really* wanted to do was the EMBA from McMaster / DeGroot.  I loved the curriculum, I liked the balance of in-class vs online, and the location is just around the corner.  BUT - it’s just shy of $100K.  Ummm no.   

I immediately eliminated any university that required a GMAT score and wouldn’t accept a MA as proof of competency at that level.  Especially for a degree that many people do years after graduation, the GMAT is a little ridiculous.  I was also really bitter that UofT wouldn’t accept a master’s from their own university instead of it.  Lol not that I could afford UofT anyways, but still.   AND, what I had liked about their program (namely that it’s either before or after work) is actually a detriment if I’m not in TO every day.  Hard no.

Shifted my focus to online.  The only one that seemed to be 100% online in Canada is Athabasca.  I’ve taken other courses from there, and talked to a bunch of MBA grads, who all spoke very positively about it.  BUT several things about their program didn’t appeal to me.  You have to do the whole thing with a single cohort — same courses in the same order.  The curriculum didn’t really appeal to me.  Lots of group work and “participation” marks.  There’s a mandatory residential component.  And - it’s still more than $50K (before the residential piece!).  Meh.

But wait — if a degree is truly online, it doesn’t have to be local.  Welcome world.   So more research.  There are a LOT of degrees online once you leave Canada.  So criteria required:

• Credentials recognized in Canada (not doing this if I don’t get those little letters!)
• Reasonable timeframe (I’ve seen a range from 1-5 years!)
• Interesting and at least vaguely relevant curriculum
• Decent local and international reputation
• Not in its first five years
• Price 

Well, let me tell you, that laundry list helped pare things down quickly.  The last three alone eliminated the entire US lol.

I did a lot of research and narrowed it down to Aston University (UK) and the Australian Institute of Business.  Both met all the list of requirements.   Similar timeframe (~2 years).  Aston had the plus of a very long and established reputation (with a physical school as well as online).  Their admissions person was amazing (whereas AIB’s was awful).  AIB has been around for 38 years so certainly not new as a business, but definitely new in terms of a school.  Doing some research it has an excellent reputation both in Australia and outside.  Okay.   Interestingly *both* schools were specifically targeting Canadian students and have brochures etc that target Canada specifically (it’s possible they have for lots of countries — but for AIB I got to see their “brochure library” and they had Australian, Canadian, and Global).  For AIB I was able to locate Canadian students who are also RBC’rs and connect with them (LinkedIn win!).   For Aston I could not, and they could not provide me with any current students to connect with due to privacy restrictions.  This was, at least partially, a deciding factor.  The other deciding factor is that I had slightly more interest in the AIB curriculum than the Aston one and AIB is the more affordable of the two (~$7k cheaper depending on exchange rates.  Not a huge difference given that they’re about $70k cheaper than Mac, but still more than a couple paycheques! ;)

So I messaged a few of the RBC people who are currently attending AIB and picked their brains about a wide range of topics (also - all were incredibly generous with their time and open in their responses).  The two biggest cautions were — it’s a greater time commitment than you expect, and classes will be at inconvenient hours.  Apparently they do keep Canadian students in mind, so they’re not usually in the middle of the night, but they’re not ideal timing either.   However, they are recorded.   Okay - I can deal with that.  I also reached out to a friend in Australia who kindly tagged some of her friends so I got a little more info that way as well which was super helpful.

So yeah - after all of that, I have applied and have been accepted to  AIB for my MBA.  Class starts the last week of Aug.

You know - the same week we move ;)