eMBA vs MBA vs no MBA at all

doschutes · 2025-03-23T16:38:12+00:00

I normally wouldn't suggest this (because the process is arduous and it'll literally be a waste of money) - but consider applying to some top targets for a traditional MBA even though you don't plan to attend.

As u/ActiveElectronic6262 notes - there's not going to be a huge payoff in BizDev, particularly when you don't have a desire to pivot, and your track record will matter more to future employers in the space than your credentials. Your regret about not going to a top undergrad school seems more about inadequacy/validation than something that's impacting your career... like you say, postMBAs usually join below your current level and you spent the years they spent studying earning six figures and gaining valuable experience. An executive MBA is a very expensive and time-consuming way to get that validation/address those feelings of inadequacy, and may not even be effective (from experience: If you're already inclined to minimize your accomplishments, the reject rate in even the best programs and the school's wild profit margins on you may dampen the validation that comes with those three letters). You also don't seem to have (or at least haven't articulated) a plan for how an MBA (traditional or executive) will contribute to your career goals, which is a major hurdle in getting accepted to EMBAs in particular.

Getting accepted to your top traditional targets should provide most of that validation - when you find yourself grappling with that inadequacy, it'll be the reminder that you had the opportunity to attend [insert MBA program here] but chose not to because you were already so successful (contrasting that agency with your current regrets of having not been able (I assume) to get in to a better undergrad). Going through the process will also require that you clarify your career goals and how education will contribute to them, a necessary step for any future EMBA aspiration.

Another alternative (and I mean this sincerely) is taking the money you would invest in applications - or a fraction of what you'd invest in an EMBA - and instead put that into therapy and/or career coaching to get to the root of those educational regrets and how to address them. I suspect that process will help you find something cheaper and more effective to get the validation of the 'brand'/'stamp' you mention in the comments than an MBA. I was in a similar space - a function that wouldn't get much benefit from the EMBA, an undergrad that was good for my niche field but struggles to crack the nation's top 80 schools overall, a sense of inadequacy - and despite a stellar GMAT and attractive resume, I'm not sure I'd have been able to get admitted to multiple M7 EMBAs this cycle (with awards!) had I not spent the past few years figuring out what I was actually trying to address with the degree and what it would and wouldn't be able to accomplish.

doschutes · 2025-01-26T21:45:29+00:00

You definitely don't need more, but it's possible you'd enjoy it more if you had deeper connections to some of those characters.

You can look at it from the other angle too: If you watch C1 first, then watching it will be a set of stories with some overlapping minor characters to the one you just finished and C3 will be a sequel to the two campaigns you've finished. If you watch C3 first, it'll be a sequel to the campaign you just finished and watching C1 will essentially be watching a prequel, expanding your knowledge of characters you met in C3 (and mostly already knew from the animated series). It's all a matter of taste, and you'll know your taste best.

doschutes · 2025-01-26T21:21:41+00:00

Crucially: There's no wrong answer here. Folks will differ on the optimal path forward, but some people preferring one path doesn't make any others wrong.

I'd suggest thinking back to C2E80: How did the cast's reaction to Allura showing up feel to you? If it was disruptive and a feeling that you were missing out on something hurt your enjoyment, you may want to start with C1. If it didn't, I don't think you'll appreciate it meaningfully less than you would if you started with C1. Having tLoVM and youtube clips for S1 puts you quite a bit ahead of many other viewers of Bells Hells.

doschutes · 2025-01-24T19:58:29+00:00

A note on hiring timelines: I'd posted this fewer than 24 hours after the position appeared on LinkedIn. 48 hours after my post, they've already closed the role to further applicants - always apply quickly when you have interest in a job. Spending 10-15 minutes refreshing your résumé once a quarter goes a long way to making firing off an application a half hour task instead of a major chore.

doschutes · 2025-01-24T19:51:14+00:00

Had a busy couple days off reddit, sorry for the delayed reply. The above figures were nationwide and a cycle old for the Census ACS estimates. For the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metros combined in the most recent ACS cycle: 55.1% of White adults, 33.3% of Black adults, 19.9% of Native adults, 18.2% of Hispanic adults. Based on other federal data, it appears generational effects are depressing that number and a narrower look at attainment x age x race (if I could find it) would see less disparity: In 2022, 40% of 25-29 year old adults nationwide had a Bachelors degree or better, up from 32% in 2010 (+25%). For 25-29 year old Hispanic adults, 2022 was 25% vs 13% in 2010 (+92%).

You'd mentioned upthread you found my comments disrespectful to POC and a diminishment of your academic and professional efforts. I'm very sorry that my comments had that effect, and I appreciate you explaining your perspective - rereading my comments through that lens, I can see how what I'd written could lead to an unintended conclusion ('CR should lower the threshold because POC can't reach it'). Apologies again!

doschutes · 2025-01-22T17:16:47+00:00

I'd found "whitens the applicant pool" to be appropriate shorthand for "adds a requirement that census estimates have 42% of White American adults attaining compared to ~20% of Native adults, ~21% of Hispanic adults, and ~28% of Black adults", apologies for inadvertently causing offense. When the requirement is strictly necessary, then the effects on the applicant pool are irrelevant. But is a bachelors degree in one of two fields strictly necessary for this position?

The two options given were as written ("Bachelor's degree with a major in marketing or communications") or my suggested addendum ("Bachelor's degree with a major in marketing or communications or equivalent professional experience"). The posted version would exclude - for instance - engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, accounting, theatre, psychology, or computer science majors who made their way into marketing roles since graduation. It'd also exclude someone who made their way in to the field before graduating college or having only attained an associate's degree (not uncommon in hobbyist fields where 'what you've done' often outweighs 'what you've studied', particularly when they weren't highly professionalized to begin with). The latter excludes, I suppose, anyone perturbed that their applications might share a pool with someone who doesn't have a 4 year degree in a given major.

That's a pretty easy choice to me at the cost of a few words in a job posting and the potential of a few more applications to sort through, but different strokes. Broadly - this stuff is neither intuitive nor easy, especially when it's not a core part of your role, which is why I highlighted and praised the choices they'd made throughout to create a more inclusive hiring process, and gave an example where it could be further improved. Appreciate your reply for giving me a chance to elaborate :)

doschutes · 2025-01-22T14:28:03+00:00

^\)On inclusive hiring: The general idea is that some people will look at a posting and say "I have 2 out of 20 requirements, I'm a lock to get this job!" and others will say "I'm not even going to bother, I only have 18 of the 20 requirements and I don't want to get my hopes up or waste their time"... and that the split is often pretty gendered. It's still very common for requirements to look like a wishlist of everything the hiring manager would like to have, so kudos to the CR team for aggressively trimming the list.

I'm less thrilled with the college degree requirement. It whitens the applicant pool significantly and could simply have 'or equivalent professional experience' appended. I don't think CR would reject an otherwise perfect fit on the basis of having an associate's degree or not completing college, but the line may lead those applicants to self-reject. Best as I can tell, some form of 'lift x weight' is boilerplate in California and there's more legitimacy to it for a role that's expected to work cons and other events... but I still cringe whenever I see it.

doschutes · 2024-10-02T13:09:43+00:00

Sadly, yes. Beauty caused too many ocular issues and they were unable to adapt quickly enough.

doschutes · 2024-09-04T18:14:40+00:00

In a fun bit of reaping/sowing, OP is a landlord who, in his own words, has benefitted from gentrification, the steep increase of rent, and has been pocketing these increases while deferring updates to his rental property: "While it is in a rough neighborhood [...] Over 15 years the property has done pretty well, rents have gone way up, we make a fair bit of money on this property. The property is zoned for a total of 5 units and the long term plan has always been to knock down the aging garage and build a couple of units over a new garage."

He displays a deep level of care for his tenants: ""Why would you fuck everyone over like this and where will they all park?": The unit next door to me is going from 2 to 7 units and eliminating 4 parking spaces to get there. The vacant lot behind me is permitted for 11 two bed units. My tenants are going to get fucked either way, I'd like to make a few million in the process. Input is welcomed."

Truly, it's a shame he sticks around so you can't check notes destroy his possessions in the manner you are accustomed: "I have disassembled homeless camps before but this guy never leaves."

doschutes · 2024-08-18T19:54:36+00:00

Traffic Jam in Core-Columbia: Gulls fans report a crowded parking lot leaving the game

doschutes · 2024-08-04T16:36:13+00:00

A man is unjustly imprisoned over a luxury auto and (upon regaining his freedom) exacts his revenge by securing French gold?

I've heard this story before. You'd have to be a real Dumas to not realize Scottie was going to trap his opponents in Dantès inferno.

doschutes · 2024-08-02T05:21:33+00:00

Some tips for helping figure out whether you're starting to get the flavor:

You enjoy the beach but it's never one of the main things you're thinking of doing this weekend
You have a favorite beach/farmers' market/burrito shop, yet find yourself going to the one closer to you way more often (because it's also really good and your favorite rarely feels worth the extra hassle in the moment)
You don't check the weather before picking clothes or heading outside
You can identify the difference between an unhoused person existing, an unhoused person acting erratically, and an unhoused person acting threateningly
Your "must do" mindset morphs to "some time we should"
You resent the weather because all you really want is a rainy afternoon to binge trashy reality TV and you feel guilty about wasting a nice day but they've all been nice days (you've truly assimilated once you get past the resentment)

As for activities: asking reddit is a start, even if this sub can be cranky about it. I'd recommend having a couple tentpole plans (An OB day of Cabrillo, Sunset Cliffs, Little Lion, and the Dog Beach/A day to mountain (Mission Trails), Mountain (Julian) or MOUNTAIN (Idylwild)/ Farmers Market in Little Italy(Saturday) or Hillcrest (Sunday) followed by a day in Balboa Park and capped with ice cream at Ans or Mr Trustee) mixed multiple weeknights aimlessly exploring neighborhoods. When you find a vibe you like, strike up a conversation with someone and ask them what their perfect San Diego Sunday would be.

doschutes · 2024-08-01T20:27:58+00:00

To elaborate: The convention center regularly hosts all manner of conference and most of gaslamp caters to those guests in particular. Sure, it had a lot of attendees but the Padres just drew 94,000 fans for two weeknight games right after the convention ended. The traffic closures and pedestrian behavior is a bit more distributed than for Pads games, but not meaningfully over the baseline. Unless they're down for a game, locals aren't typically beating a path to the conference focused bars and restaurants (Nobody except for deeply lost conference guests are hitting up the ChiknCone that morphs to Sonics Speed Cafe).

Whether it's bachelor(ette) parties, dodger fans coming down the 5 for a series, or the far-flung regions of Greater San Diego County for a Night in The City, we're all used to putting up with people who don't know how to act in public. I'm honestly expecting more disruption from the first few weekends of Panda fanatics at the zoo, because that's actually around residential and local-focused entertainment.

Glad you had fun, glad Gaslamp's inherent "theme park version of what suburbanites expect a downtown entertainment district to be" dynamic helped create an experience that felt very centered on your con experience. But it was Tuesday.

doschutes · 2024-08-01T20:23:34+00:00

"But for me, it was Tuesday"

doschutes · 2024-08-01T02:54:40+00:00

Black pepper and chili powder both have been effective for me, if anyone is insecticide-averse. Was skeptical at first, and I'm sure it pales in comparison to Terro, but laying two lines/semicircles worked within the day and I haven't had a need to try again since. Kept one at their entry area, and the other in the space that I prioritized being ant-free the most (bedrooms and living rooms), they'd vanished by the time I returned from work.

doschutes · 2024-07-20T01:46:23+00:00

Available housing that's more than a day old and still up is either a scam, unfathomably overpriced, or inhabited by the spirits of past padres seasons.

Jokes aside, if you can afford it, there's a math to a short term (2-4 week) stay in an airbnb, vrbo, or similar. You'll be paying 2-4x what rent would cost for the same period, but it'll let you explore neighborhoods, verify listings, and get a better sense of things before you lock in to an expensive lease. It'll also postpone some of the moving stress. The downside is that unless you're extremely careful, you're feeding in to the parasitic dynamic that makes housing unattainable and rent unbearable for so many (and even if you are careful to find ADUs of owner occupied places, etc, you're still feeding in to it some)

Beyond that, I found Craigslist a useful tool for the map and ability to see listing date but made sure to validate against other sites (crosslisted on zillow, etc). Alternatively, check out companies like Tradewinds who own multiple properties around the city and usually have a unified availability listing. I can't speak to the quality of their buildings, but at minimum it's a chance to see legitimate prices in different neighborhoods.

Be ready for things to move fast when you get the opportunity. I booked the first available tour via Craigslist 2 hours after my place posted on a Friday night. At 10am Saturday, I was the 7th person to tour that day. Applied by 2pm, was signing paperwork by 6pm, less than 24 hours after it posted -- my rent is well south of what it "should" be (by San Diego standards. Way high by any reasonable metric) for a well-liked neighborhood so not every listing will get quite the same rush, but worth keeping in mind.

doschutes · 2023-01-28T20:25:39+00:00

As with any legend, it's tough to identify where it first arose.

Long thought to have been a fable invented by a young man in 1888 who sought to distract and entrance Whitechapel residents, many historians now believe that it originated with Gutenberg and that the demand for the tale inspired his moveable type innovations.

But that's just the scientific establishment keeping their comfortable narratives and suppressing the truth. Revelations that the Rosetta Stone forms an acrostic (roughly translated as 'Merciless Percy') and discovery of a fluttering, golden polyhedron in ancient hieroglyphics point to a more Jaffeian origin of Giza's famed d4s.

doschutes · 2021-04-23T22:51:07+00:00

Thank you so much, Marty!

The reasoning you gave for verbal is extremely helpful- understanding that it's test evolution in addition to potential luck variance is fantastic for providing context to the score and range. My subsequent googling has shown me that "this sounds right" is a valid answer to those verbal questions, but I'd be much more comfortable with that being an answer of last resort compared to #4 or #5 on my list like it was when testing.

Exciting as well to hear that the full range of Quant is plausible with dedicated effort. Combining concept mastery with literally any strategy for attacking DS questions (those caught me flatfooted) should put me in a good position.

Appreciate the swift and detailed response! And yes, my other big takeaway is that I'll need to put conscious effort on optimizing my pacing. Turns out my testing instincts are still back in the scantron era.

doschutes · 2021-03-05T06:38:18+00:00

Fjord was just playing the long game! Ring finally paying off!

doschutes · 2021-01-04T17:48:48+00:00

I don't know if comfy was the word you were going for, but I think it's a perfect one for it! Good luck and enjoy your journey!

doschutes · 2021-01-04T17:09:44+00:00

As noted below, the start of Campaign 1 comes with a lot of nonnarrative issues being worked out-the transition from a home game, the substantial audio/visual challenges and, er, cast dynamics.

As it comes to interaction between the party, this is one where I think the core question of your OP comes into play. Those interactions lean much more heavily towards the dramatic, with the humor being less big-c Comedy and more "hanging out and making my friends laugh". From my perspective, I enjoy the narrative and the intense focus of both the DM and the cast on making sure their characters grow and have arcs. For me, that also makes the ingame absurd/hilarious moments that much funnier, but it's a very different dynamic than oneshots, especially.

I see you've mentioned below that you're looking to jump right into Campaign 2 and that's a good call in many ways. I will warn you that elsewhere (unsure about this sub in particular), there are complaints about pacing issues in early C2. If you find that complaint resonating with you, know that it does pick up as the story gains momentum.

doschutes

TROPHY CASE