Monica Myers, WG’16, paid for her Wharton MBA with a fellowship and federal student loans.

Monica Myers, WG’16, is the recipient of the Frank L. Coulson, Jr. Endowed Fellowship and used federal loans to cover the rest of the recommended student budget. She found her expenses were higher once she factored in additional costs for club fees, ad hoc travel, and small group dinners. She explains that “small group dinners are great forums to get to know your classmates. I try to take advantage and go on many of them, but the costs add up.”

Start Saving Now

Monica’s advice is unequivocal: “Save as much as you can now so that you can offset those unanticipated costs. Doing this will save you a ton of stress and allow you to better enjoy and participate in the student experience.”

She continues, “Definitely look into outside scholarships. There are many scholarships out there for backgrounds of all kinds and every little bit helps. Many scholarship deadlines come around before the round 2 application deadlines, so start your research early.”

Monica believes that although business school is expensive, it can be done within reason with proper planning. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and two years go by quickly. I encourage people to budget and plan on taking full advantage of the opportunities here.”

Posted: April 18, 2016

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