What do you give the idea of going to Grad School for a Masters degree?  An A or an F?

I was speaking with a friend at lunch today about it.  She’s decided she wants to go back for an MBA.  She feels it will give her many more opportunities in our workplace, as well as help her grow.  Additionally, she wants to do it now before she has a child, and she is recently married. 

It brought up all the old considerations again.  I have this complex that when I see someone else growing and expanding, or making choices to do that, I go back to looking at my choices and consider whether I should be looking at the same options.  Not because I’m unhappy, but because these are all things I constantly consider.

I just want to know what your feelings are about getting Masters Degrees, whether you think they are still viable or necessary, and if you’ve done it, how you feel about it.  Or if you’ve chosen not to, why?

I read these articles about whether or not I should go to Grad School.  Their number one suggestion is always: Why? or What do you want it for? Or I read items on why I SHOULDN’T go to Grad School. 

I briefly considered Law school too, but after talking to a few nearly graduated law students who are working part time as well, and researching the cost, it seemed like I would be choosing for my life to implode if I went  to Law School.  My marriage, my debt, my hobbies, my business - everything would probably not receive the attention it needed.

Would choosing Grad School be the same? Would I just be adding debt on top of the last school debt with no appreciable return?  Would it be really hard to juggle amidst work, business, and marriage?  I’m considering starting a family soon as well - should I do Grad school now BEFORE I have a family, or is it more easy during those first years of having children?  I’ve heard both!

I don’t plan on leaving my company, but I don’t plan on stagnating either.  I enjoy learning.  I enjoy achieving.  I’m OK with being where I am in life.  I constantly fight with a voice inside my brain that says, “You should be a lawyer or a doctor!  Get on that!”  But I realize that the voice is my judgmental overachiever voice that wants to be better than everyone else in every way.  I don’t need to be a doctor or a lawyer to be a high achiever and feel good about myself.

But…I don’t want to be in a position where one day my friend who works with me and I are applying for a more advanced position in the company and she is chosen because she has an MBA and I do not.

I try not to use my job as my definition.  My job is not my life, and this is by design.  I use my job as a way to support all the things I want to do outside of my job.  I’ve toyed mentally with leaving it all, going back to school, and becoming an environmental something (engineer? biologist? Sociologist?).  I’ve toyed with getting a Masters in Non profit management so that I could use my masters to help me doing things outside of work that I enjoy.  I’ve even considered just going back and getting a dance degree and a Masters in Fine Arts, because that is what I really ENJOY doing. 

But really, I don’t NEED a masters degree to dance, to make a difference in the environment, or to help on non-profits.  Getting degrees in those areas would be for mental stimulation and enjoyment as well as information and training in how to make the biggest impact.  Besides, if I want to study other topics, I can just take classes on them - I don’t have to get a grad school degree in them and take on additional debt. 

So I should probably focus on getting an MBA for my current job in the financial world.  I have a BS (never a more apt acronym) in Business Administration.  This leads me to surmise that a regular MBA would probably be best for the opportunities that lie ahead.  While a number of online articles offer the idea that MBAs are not really necessary anymore, I work in a conservative industry with conservative people.  The “paying your dues” method is still highly prevalent here.  Nothing fancy - just an MBA.

And that sounds as boring as hell.  Could I really jump back into the world of academia and push through an MBA?  Well, I’d do it, but I might go kicking and screaming the whole way.  I’m sure I’ll enjoy some of it, but it doesn’t move me like other topics. 

So what are your thoughts?  Is an MBA just something I need to buckle down and do if I want to grow?  Does it still afford enough status to warrant consideration over non-MBA’d individuals?