Let me start by saying the decision that Patrick made may have offended some Stanford fans. I understand how and why that may be. As a result, to the extent that some find this post irritating because of that, my apologies.
In another post, someone asked how he was doing, and given the experience has been a mixed bag, Ild thought Ild share for those that had an interest.
As I mentioned in another thread, transfer decisions are made on 3 planes, and Ill try and address each one:
1. Academics
2. Football
3. Emotions
Ill then discuss a 4th area which is parent specific, my thoughts on what the benefits and costs have been for Patrick in the macro as I watch develop as a young man.
Academics
For Patrick, and unlike most if not all other transfer choices, his decision was driven primarily by academics, but then supported by football and emotions. He made it based on his academic goals, but then it was supported by football and his emotions.
He has always been a goal driven and pragmatic kid, and he wanted his MBA now. I think there were really compelling arguments on the academic question on both sides, to stay and get a Stanford MS&E or get a 2nd tier MBA, but at the end of the day, Patrick chose to try and thread the needle and see if he could get his MBA now, once and for all, and avoid having to go back later, but still end up in the same place 10 years down the road. Only time will tell if he will able to pull that off.
But as he said, Dad if I have to go back and get a 1st tier branded MBA later to reach my goals because the GT MBA stigmatizes me, I can still do that too. Going to GT doesnt prohibit that, it only potentially mitigates that.
He took 4 classes this semester, and midterms ended a few weeks ago. And while sharing this may jinx him, in all honesty, he says the classes arent that hard, well three werent, a data analysis class which relied on excel and a third party tool for excel kicked his ass a bit as he was at a real deficit relative to the other students given he had no knowledge of excel and they all did, but there too, he did well at the end of the midterm.
Im proud to report that he got all As and A-s. Now it may be that MBA programs hand out As like candy, so that news has to be taken with a grain of salt, but still, was very happy to hear for him.
Says there are lots of engineering students returning to school to get their MBAs at GT given it is a technical school.
There is one other 5th year player in the program, an OL who was a 4.0 as a Mechanical Engineering student.
Apparently in the MBA world, a big thing is to find an internship between your first and second years. So Patrick is currently thinking that one through as it implicates a potential NFL tryout. If he goes for an internship, that would preclude taking a shot at the NFL as the draft is in May, UDFAs then get signed, and rookies go to OTAs and then camp from then until they either get cut or make the team, but clearly that goes through the summer internship season.
I was with him a few weeks ago, and he was honestly torn as to what he was going to do. It looks like he would have a shot at making the league, not an easy one but a legit one as he is currently ranked as the 5th rated FB in this draft class by almost all rankings and boards, so someone will sign him for sure as an UDFA, but the question for him is, does he really want to do that to his body for more years at the expense of getting on with is professsional life? Details to follow as he has to decide soon.
This internal conflict will make a bit more sense as I share his football experience and some injuries which he is having to play through this year to stay on the field. Bottom line that kid has been in, and played with a lot of pain this year. There was one point where he didnt even practice for 3 weeks, and was taking cortisone shots to play on Saturdays. He has been a mess on Sundays when those shots wore off.
I spoke with him last night, and he was seriously debating not playing today against FSU, the coaches have left it up to him.
Beyond that, academically he has enjoyed his class work. He says it has been fun to finally study after 17 years of theory, to study actual real life stuff which will have a direct impact on the next piece of his life. He likes being in the MBA program, and is excited about what the future holds.
If he does go internship, he has decided to try and get one in either Latin American Finance, or Consulting IF HE CAN.
Next post, football. And feel free to ask specific questions if you like. Ill try and answer if I can.
In another post, someone asked how he was doing, and given the experience has been a mixed bag, Ild thought Ild share for those that had an interest.
As I mentioned in another thread, transfer decisions are made on 3 planes, and Ill try and address each one:
1. Academics
2. Football
3. Emotions
Ill then discuss a 4th area which is parent specific, my thoughts on what the benefits and costs have been for Patrick in the macro as I watch develop as a young man.
Academics
For Patrick, and unlike most if not all other transfer choices, his decision was driven primarily by academics, but then supported by football and emotions. He made it based on his academic goals, but then it was supported by football and his emotions.
He has always been a goal driven and pragmatic kid, and he wanted his MBA now. I think there were really compelling arguments on the academic question on both sides, to stay and get a Stanford MS&E or get a 2nd tier MBA, but at the end of the day, Patrick chose to try and thread the needle and see if he could get his MBA now, once and for all, and avoid having to go back later, but still end up in the same place 10 years down the road. Only time will tell if he will able to pull that off.
But as he said, Dad if I have to go back and get a 1st tier branded MBA later to reach my goals because the GT MBA stigmatizes me, I can still do that too. Going to GT doesnt prohibit that, it only potentially mitigates that.
He took 4 classes this semester, and midterms ended a few weeks ago. And while sharing this may jinx him, in all honesty, he says the classes arent that hard, well three werent, a data analysis class which relied on excel and a third party tool for excel kicked his ass a bit as he was at a real deficit relative to the other students given he had no knowledge of excel and they all did, but there too, he did well at the end of the midterm.
Im proud to report that he got all As and A-s. Now it may be that MBA programs hand out As like candy, so that news has to be taken with a grain of salt, but still, was very happy to hear for him.
Says there are lots of engineering students returning to school to get their MBAs at GT given it is a technical school.
There is one other 5th year player in the program, an OL who was a 4.0 as a Mechanical Engineering student.
Apparently in the MBA world, a big thing is to find an internship between your first and second years. So Patrick is currently thinking that one through as it implicates a potential NFL tryout. If he goes for an internship, that would preclude taking a shot at the NFL as the draft is in May, UDFAs then get signed, and rookies go to OTAs and then camp from then until they either get cut or make the team, but clearly that goes through the summer internship season.
I was with him a few weeks ago, and he was honestly torn as to what he was going to do. It looks like he would have a shot at making the league, not an easy one but a legit one as he is currently ranked as the 5th rated FB in this draft class by almost all rankings and boards, so someone will sign him for sure as an UDFA, but the question for him is, does he really want to do that to his body for more years at the expense of getting on with is professsional life? Details to follow as he has to decide soon.
This internal conflict will make a bit more sense as I share his football experience and some injuries which he is having to play through this year to stay on the field. Bottom line that kid has been in, and played with a lot of pain this year. There was one point where he didnt even practice for 3 weeks, and was taking cortisone shots to play on Saturdays. He has been a mess on Sundays when those shots wore off.
I spoke with him last night, and he was seriously debating not playing today against FSU, the coaches have left it up to him.
Beyond that, academically he has enjoyed his class work. He says it has been fun to finally study after 17 years of theory, to study actual real life stuff which will have a direct impact on the next piece of his life. He likes being in the MBA program, and is excited about what the future holds.
If he does go internship, he has decided to try and get one in either Latin American Finance, or Consulting IF HE CAN.
Next post, football. And feel free to ask specific questions if you like. Ill try and answer if I can.
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