A 985 Part-Time MBA for 5,500 Yuan: A Developer's Field Report
985 在职研究生到底怎么样？是不是水硕？是不是.....？
Three months ago I wrote an article about getting into a 985 university's part-time graduate program. To my surprise, it drew quite a bit of discussion. In the comments people asked:
- How did I study? Did I sign up for a training class?
- Is the recognition of part-time graduate degrees lower? What can this degree bring me?
- Is a part-time graduate degree a "water master's" (水硕)?
- Why did I choose an MBA?
Today I'll answer these questions in one post.
1. I signed up for the Yantu online training course
The cost was about 5,500 yuan.
My reason for choosing a class was simple: my foundation was too weak. After graduating from a junior college, I hadn't studied systematically for 8 or 9 years. Math and logic were long forgotten; my English still had a little grounding. If I had relied purely on self-study, I was certain I couldn't pick things up in such a short time, and it would be hard to keep going.
I was overall satisfied with Yantu's online courses. The teaching styles for math, logic, and English suited me. They focused on the key points well, and their prediction accuracy for the exam was decent. But signing up for a class only lets you avoid detours. Whether you pass or not still depends on whether you can persist.
The biggest test during part-time exam prep is time and energy. On workdays you work, in the evenings you look after the kids, and then after they sleep you listen to lectures and do practice problems. On weekends, while others rest, you're still catching up.
For me, the exam questions weren't as hard as I imagined. What was truly hard was sustained effort. If you can keep at it, most people can pass.
2. Recognition is indeed lower than full-time, but it was the best choice for me
Part-time graduate degrees indeed have lower recognition than full-time ones. Nowadays many companies value your first degree when hiring, and some positions even explicitly require "full-time regular enrollment." There's no way around that.
But for me, a junior college graduate, getting into a 985 graduate program is itself a very solid upgrade. My highest degree goes from junior college to master's. At least on my resume I have one more line. In interviews, I can also mention my "strengths" (stress resistance, execution) because I kept learning and didn't give up.
The overall environment is bad now, and I've had a hard time too. Not just me; I believe everyone is struggling. But if I didn't have this degree and I didn't work hard, my future choices would only get fewer. That's inevitable. Rather than sit in anxiety, I'd rather add another chip to my hand. It doesn't guarantee immediate use or future use, but I still believe it will be useful someday.
Let me tell you a small story. When I first graduated, I signed up for an English training class (EF Adult English). Many colleagues said learning English was useless. My English foundation was so bad that I couldn't tell "am, is, are" apart. But I scored 80 on the English section of the postgraduate entrance exam. So that learning was somewhat useful. Some things you're not sure are useful at the time, but who knows, they might come in handy later.
3. Whether it's "water" depends on how you study
"Is a part-time graduate degree a water master's?" This question has as many answers as people. To be clear: I can only say that only by experiencing it yourself will you know. It varies from person to person.
The key to judging whether it's "water" is not the "part-time" label, but the education quality of the school and whether you're willing to learn. 985 schools are certainly better than ordinary double-non (non-985/211) universities.
We've all gone through junior college or undergraduate studies. We know what university classrooms are like: some people listen carefully, take notes, and live in the library; others play on their phones, cram before exams, and skip class. The same is true at the graduate level. Whether you learn depends entirely on yourself.
My own mindset is not to treat graduate study as "spending money to buy a degree." If you don't attend class, don't think, and just coast, then yes, it's water. But my idea is that since I've invested time and money, I might as well make it worth it. So I try to attend class on weekends, and I sit in the second row. I interact more with teachers and classmates, and that helps in some way. Some cases and viewpoints in class make me rethink problems and solutions from work. Next time I face a similar problem, I'll have a better plan.
4. Why MBA? Even I wasn't clear about it at first
Finally, why did I choose an MBA?
It has something to do with my career plan (I wasn't entirely sure when I decided, either). I already do management-related work in my company, and I know clearly where I want to go in the future: a management position or a business architecture role, not a purely technical route.
I have a clear understanding of myself. I'm not the kind of person who can go to the absolute bottom of technology. I have advantages in management and business architecture, since I've been leading business operations for a while. So after learning about it, I signed up for the MBA.
Once classes started, I found that operations, organizational behavior, marketing, and accounting courses matched my interests and overlapped somewhat with my daily work. So from where I stand now, I made the right choice. Here's a look at the courses my school arranged:
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Finally
The current employment environment is indeed not good, and everyone is anxious.
But change your mindset a little: while everyone is anxious, if you make yourself stronger, the probability of seizing opportunities in the future increases. Isn't that a bit less anxiety? It's a little chicken soup. The future may not bring opportunities, and even if it does, they may not be yours. But not draining yourself internally is still a good thing.
Let me share a few photos of the campus. Every weekend when I go to class, I see different scenery. It's a bit of healing in the "beast of burden" life.
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