I currently work as an engineer and so I can't use a current supervisor as a recommender as it would jeopardize my job potentially. I have two recs that are lined up:

-Engineer that supervised me 6 months on a project in my previous position 2.5 years ago.
-A person I work with in my volunteering efforts. He is the class teacher, I am an assistant.

The problem is that none of these guys were ever my manager. Also, the engineer only worked with me for 6 months (is that a sufficient time period?).

I tried to get the CEO from my old company, but he has taken an indefinite leave of absence and I can't rely on him. How badly does this hurt my apps? I know it will affect my Kellogg app because I need 2 professional recs for their career progress surveys. Maybe I can get another person I worked with previously to help me out with K.

From: Martian
To: sonibubu

Rather than looking for someone with an impressive sounding designation (CXO) - I'd recommend going with someone who knows you better and can stand behind you (a 3 feet distance has been known to work best) and support the rest of your application. If you have mentioned about growth and learning in those 6 months, then I'd want to know if your superior shares the view as well.

If the CXO who doesn't know you writes a standard template recommendation with flowery adjectives, it may actually damage your chances rather than working in your favour.

My primary concern is that the professional rec is coming from someone who only supervised me for 6 months, and that was over 2 years ago. I'm hoping the adcoms don't see this as a weak rec. I'm confident in the rec from my volunteering activities.

Explain your situation in the optional essay and tell them why you chose those recommenders, and could not go to your immediate supervisor. This is a fairly common phenomenon.

I have a quick question. The school I am attending has certified my loans (full amount for Stafford) and the Grad Plus will be covering the rest of the "estimated costs" that the school has provided. I attempted to get an additional loan of a small amount in an effort to cover moving expenses and the like to get set up, but the school says that's not possible. They said once I have the loans for the "full estimated amount of attendance" (as determined by them), that they will not certify any additional loans. My question is- what should one do in this situation? My assumption is that places like Chase, Citi, Wachovia, etc will all want to send the loan amount to the school for certification and I already know the school will reject it. Does one just live on the credit card debt for that? I'd rather not since one can't defer those loans while in school. Any suggestions or does anyone know an alternative?

I've heard from others about one school in particular, that you can go to fin aid. requesting additional funds to be added to your estimated budget. Of course, you need to demonstrate some sort of hardship or serious need and they will grant a one time extra amount on top of what was originally granted to you. You can receive private loans on this excess amount.

Again, this is for one school in particular, so I would check with your fin. aid office. I'm sure students run into this situation all the time.

Also, if you can't live on their budget without having some sort of outside contingency (illness, family, etc), you may want to analyze your spending habits.

You can get a private loan or you can put it on a credit card. It may sound terrible but if you find a credit card with 1 year interest free you could put it on that and then pay it off with your internship money.

I have no problem living within the budget once I actually get to school... the problem is that moving cross country is not cheap and I would prefer to not have to use my credit cards (which I just paid off)- because then I'll be using student loan budget money to pay off moving expenses on the credit cards. I just wanted to know if there were separate outside sources which would take these considerations into account and work with me on that, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

Yeah, I get what you are saying. I know that loans aren't disbursed until right up to the start of school and usually they are given to the school first and you get reimbursed. Most schools say to allow for 1-2 months living/moving expenses before you get the loans.

If at all possible, I would say to use your own funds/savings as as temporary loan and then reimburse yourself with the loan proceeds. The 3% on savings you will lose is a lot better than the high percent you will pay on your credit cards.

Either way, good luck with the move and with school.

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The University of Central Oklahoma started its MBA program teaching with the goal of teaching the business functions from a different angle. The result as expressed by Dawna Terell, director of UCO MBA program has been an integrated MBA program with no prerequisites and team teaching. "We decided we wanted to take a hard look at the curriculum and be innovative," she said. They have decided to change the curriculum and have designed a real innovative curriculum. The MBA program has seven courses. The period of completion is four semesters that is 2 years. It could also be completed earlier. Ms.Terell says that it's an extremely flexible program. They have combined the course of accounting and marketing and haven't kept it as a separate course and it would be really helpful for students to diverse knowledge and they could easily develop a competitive edge. Terell says that program combines the theory and practical application which can easily enable them to develop the leadership and management skills in business. The innovative approach introduced seems that it would help many students to develop their business and be successful entrepreneurs.