he part time MBA has never been a better option..consider:

1. You keep your job
The next two quarters are going to be tight in all sectors. Financial services will probably not recover for 2 years. It is a great time to 'hunker down' and wait out the downturn, which brings me to...

2. You get to wait out the downturn
The MBA job market will be intensely competitive over the next couple of years. It will be much easier to seek career change when the world is hiring again. The days of 4-5 offers coming out of school are atleast 2-3 years away.

3. In case of a turnaround, you get the 'option' to go full-time
Most all schools now give you the option to switch to the full time. Should things start looking up and you want to enter a new career sooner, just convert to the full-time program and tap into that stream.

Bottom line, given these tough times, part time gives you a wonderful hedge that allows you to ride out the recession while giving you the option to partake in the upside of a recovery. This is probably as compelling a reason to go part-time that I have seen in the last 10 years.

Aveek Guha, President, MBA Day Camp
www.mbadaycamp.com