School Choice

Northwestern, DePaul, University of Phoenix, Keller/DeVry... all possible choices, but which would win the Mike lottery? What were my initial thoughts and impressions of each school?

University of Phoenix was the initial school I contacted and the advisor I spooke with on the phone was very knowledgeable, prepared and pleasant. I really liked my initial impression. We spoke for about 30 minutes. campus. I spent about 30 minutes with this person. The cost of the degree would be approximately $25,000.

Next up was Keller / DeVry and I was not impressed. The adviser was young, was a student at Keller, but focused on a different discipline. He was pleasant enough, but too many of my questions were in areas he wasn't trained to answer and I felt that maybe my interests were not necessarily strengths of Keller. The cost of the degree would be $34,000.

Northwestern was the third school I considered and was the school that initially piqued my interest in going back to school. I attended an open house at the Chicago campus with about 50 others interested in pursuing their Master's, with the range of ages from 22 through 60, and the median was probably late 30s / early 40s. Initially we met as a group for 30 minutes, as a couple of representatives espoused the advantages of a Northwestern education. Then we broke into groups by concentration and about 15 of us met with the chair of the department, Dr. Faisal Akkawi. He was very well-spoken and answered questions for about 30 minutes. He stressed that a Northwestern education was only half of the reason we were there; networking was almost as important and many students were able to obtain a position because of a connection they may in class. I asked him to compare a DePaul education and a Northwestern education. He focused on the small class-size and prestige of the instructors, all of which were noted specialists in their fields, many of which were award winning. However, the cost would be between $47,000 and $50,000, depending on the number of courses I would need to take. Being that I hope to retire about 20 years from now, cost is a concern.

Lastly, DePaul. I attended an open house at the Lincoln Park campus earlier this week. All graduate programs were represented, and over 100 prospective students attended, with the average age being closer to mid-30s. I visited the financial aid booth, the Computer Science booth and the Business booth. I was intrigued by the joint Master's programs in Business / Computer Science, Law / Computer Science. I spent about 30 minutes talking to different people and felt the this may be my best option. Why? I had earlier sent emails to about 30 LinkedIn contacts, and spoke with other friends in person, asking their impressions of the schools I was examining. Universally, DePaul was number one with only 2 people expressing a negative perception. My supervisor at work earned his Master's from DePaul in Computer Science and raved about the experience. Our department's supervisor started attending DePaul right in September, earning his MBA and also has been pleased with the quality of education he has obtained. the cost of the program would be between $35,000 and $40,000 depending on whether I wanted to get my Master's in Computer Science or Information Systems.

And the winner is...
DePaul! In fact I applied about two weeks ago and received my congratulatory letter yesterday for the Computer Science program. If I decided to stay in starting Computer Science, it will take about 4 years because there are 7 preliminary courses I need to take before starting the actual program.

Next up... will it be a joint major, or single? Two years, or will I bite the bullet and go for the four year program?