what is an accelerated MBA program like for most students?
Don’t even joke with Catherine Walker about part-timers having it easier. Every Saturday she heads to Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management not by car or train — but by plane. A 30-year-old service manager at General Electric in Minneapolis, she spends her weekdays managing a staff of 18, then hops a 7 a.m. flight to Chicago every Saturday. She describes her classmates as an equally dedicated, “very professional group of people” with long résumés and a propensity for substantive, experience-driven discussion that recent college grads might not have. Back at Pepperdine, Arlene Samore, a 27-year-old retail manager enrolled in the Morning MBA, applauds her school’s rigor too, saying that between her 50 hours at work, eight hours of class and 15-plus hours of homework each week, she’s kissed her social life — and regular sleep schedule — goodbye. “My life is pretty much work and school. That’s it.” But dig a little deeper and these future number crunchers will tell you fast-tracking
