A big dilemma

hey, guys! I would appreciate it if you can give me some suggestions.

I am currently studying in the States as a journalism graduate. I applied for two MBA schools last year and got accepted by both, but both schools are far beyond top 100.

For the reason that there is no alumni network at all, I gave up one. but for the other, I am still debating since I can get 20,000 dollars scholarship and the school is at gorgeous Hawaii.

some people told me that I can go for the Hawaii one since there are many job opportunities at Hawaii and among them, some are related with Asia. But I talked with a friend who just graduated from one of the top 10 MBA schools, and he insisted that I should make a long-ranged plan and find a job in the States first and reapply after two years. He made an important point: MBA is kinda of career education, and you cannot reapply for better ones if you are in one already. but in a school out of top 20, it's not easy to find good job opportunities.

Here is why I am still debating:

1. I have to pay for my tuition if I go to Hawaii, and everything there is expensive. I am not sure if it worths the money.

2. I am a girl and age matters to me.

3. Journalism is not something you can easily ensure a job. If I am not going to Hawaii, it means I have to begin my job-hunting right now and you all know it takes time. Since I have already graduated, I have to spend half a year searchin and waiting. Isn't it a waste of time?

so... should I go to Hawaii or wait?

I am looking forward to hearing your advise. Many many thanks!!

Well, three questions make me wonder, and perhaps other people also need your reasons before giving any suggestion.

1. Why you applied for these two schools, and only these two?

As far as I see, you've got all you wanted, the offers and scholarship. It's some work after all.

2. What was your career goal at that time?

3. What changed now?

I think the most important thing is what you want to get from MBA and what you want to be after MBA. Both the suggestions from the people who encourage you to go to Hawaii and from the guy from Top 10 are reasonable, because their views of "opportunity" are different.

Thanks for your reply, starbird!

To be frank, I decided to pursue the MBA in January. I took the GMAT then and found that I didn't have many chances getting into top schools since many have already began the 3rd round selection. the deadlines of the two schools I applied for were around Feb.or Apr. 

there is one thing I need to state clear, the initial factor that motivated me to apply is that I wanted to change my career route. 

When I applied, I thought I could only go for scholarships since the two schools both had scholarships to offer.and... I thought I could reapply for transfer even if I am accepted by one of the schools. Yes, I got some scholarship, but it can only cover a small amount of cost.For the school in Hawaii, I can hardly get loans since it is not like top MBAs. I don't want to ask money from my parents either. I am planning to do some part-time jobs if I am going there. tried to find some Chinese alumini but failed.

After I have some knowledge about MBA, I begin to wonder if I really need a good program to better serve my career. after all, better MBA program ensures wider networks and more opportunities.

sorry if anything doesn't make sense. Thanks again!

So, I see your dilemma,,,

Personally, I wouldn't take either alternative if I were you.

For one, it sounds to me that Hawaii has never had any appeal to you from the very beginning. So consult its average graduated students' job and salary, if that does not meet your expectation, then there is no reason to consider it.

For the other, since you just want something to help you shift your career, maybe Top 10 MBA is a little too hard to get to serve this purpose. First, if you can work in other fields now, then it'll be another issue; if you choose to work for something you dislike several years and again another several years for applying and reading MBA finally just for a career shift, I don't know, but it seems to be a really long shot. Second, you know Top 10 encourages applicants with achieving working experience. So suppose you have little accomplishment after a few years' work, you'll be faced with a more tough dilemma; or you really achieve something as a journalist or editor, I wonder you still want to apply for MBA at that time.

So, it occurs to me that since you can afford to hunt a job for half a year, how about to apply for other projects to read at the same time. I suppose that you have just taken a GMAT, and there is little interference between applying for a job and applying for a academic degree. A master degree may not be so tempting, but it will make your career route more smoothly, and it is more suitable for you to apply now, so it seems worth the time, just make sure to choose the field you are really interested in this time. And it will be fine if you still want to aplly for MBA later. Or if you finally find some terrific job, then just take it.

Just some personal opinion. Better wait for more suggestions from others here later. And good luck~~~

Appreciate it, starbird! Thanks for the luck as well.