You just won the lottery -- would you finish your degree?

I'd probably finish a low residency, part-time PhD program and then spend the rest of my life reading and traveling. I wonder how many of the people who would quit school are pursuing MBA's/business degrees? Could their whole reason for school be the money motive and once that has been removed there's no more point?

 

I'd give $2 mill to a university and get an honorary Doctorate! I would take the time to read whatever would interest me and educate myself on whatever would make me happy that day.

The vast majority of people who pursue degrees do so hoping that the piece of paper received at the end will give them an opportunity for employment or to enhance their chances of more pay/promotion...

In short, no, I would not... I would not have to adhere to anyone's schedule but my own when it comes to reading. I would be able to educate myself on whatever topic I chose with no restrictions on time. I enjoy sitting with a good book or browsing the net for information on topics that interest me...

 

Jennifer,

With $100 million, you could definitely enroll in Harvard College and then follow that one up with Harvard Medical School! You have the grades and the smarts (and the money in this fantasy) so why not?!

 

I'm not currenty working on a degree, but if I hit the $100 million lottery, I would apply to UPenn's PhD in Psychology program.

I would also set up a needs-based scholarship program for degreeinfo forum members.

 

If I get $100 million, I'll complete my degree - but in my own University, which I'll start with that money.

 

Mmm...Starbucks! I'd do it!

 

I'd finish my current program and then start another one, with a long-term goal of a PhD.

 

I would go to Penn State and enjoy every second of it (I have a secret irrational longing to go to that school that overrides my cheapness in regards to tuition and it makes no sense, but I SO want to do it anyway!) and then I would donate lots to the school and beef up their Nutrition/Applied Sciences department and help facilitate research on a morbid obesity gene.

 

10 min limit on edits! argh!

I really, really like their programs in Community and Economic Development and Public Administration and I would be one of those idiots with PSU stickers/t-shirts/decals everywhere... You know how some people just lust after Cornell or Brown or UCLA or whatever? That's Penn State for me.

I just can't justify the $22-$27k price tag when I'm broke *sigh* maybe one day...I was hoping maybe if I get a sudden windfall and I finish my MBA with a high enough GPA (like 3.8+) I could have a decent shot at getting in there... it would make me ridiculously happy but the ROI wouldn't be too great.

 

I am going to start a thread on bumper stickers....

 

I would also endow a professorship or two at my alma mater.

 

I would travel around from college town to college town, enroll in women/gender studies programs, & meet all kinds of rad lesbians. Seriously, this isn't the first time I've thought about this exact scenario!

 

I once took a "gender and equality" class at a San Francisco university. There was a super bossy Marxist lesbian girl there who bullied everyone who didn't agree with her. I hated that class.

 

On the flip side, I took a class like that in college, & the professor was an odd duck. Her daughter was a lesbian & she was so overly supportive that several of us wondered if it was just a show & she wasn't that supportive of her daughter after all. She basically taught the course from her own OPINIONS & not from any decent text. I was soooo disappointed in that class. Of course, it was a wonder that a small, Lutheran-based college in the middle of Kansas in the late '90s had that type of class, at all!

Sorry that awful chick spoiled the experience for you. Sounds awful!

 

Thank you for your sympathies. It was a horrifying experience.

 

Me too! And none in anything USEFUL! I would get a PhD in linguistics and in my dissertation I would describe the history of long-lost dialects of various South Pacific Islands (to which I would naturally have to travel to do my research)!

Not that I've ever given this much thought or anything

 

My wife keeps saying she'd put me in school for life if we won the lottery. I don't know. . . the lottery is not all it's cracked up to be, as you shell out lots in taxes, and you'd probably still need medical insurance. :: sigh ::

But given the notion of an unending stream of money. . . I'd probably go do some journalism/writing related degrees for the heck of it, then kick back and be a lazy, struggling writer.

 

If you had 100 Million dollars, you could probably just negotiate cash-paying costs with hospitals and doctors. Either that, or you could just pay for COBRA-eligible insurance until your eligibility expires, and you could purchase an individual policy with no pre-existing condition exclusions. At that rate, I'd probably just buy a HDHP for the insurance discount rates.

 

Sadly I may become an Alumni and never sit for an actual B&M class.

Buuuut when I graduate I'm taking a week off of work and spending time touring the campus and area around University Park!

 

I would finish UND's M.S. in Space Studies as a hobby.