An MBA Dropout’s Valedictory Address…

Ok, I know that this blog will be my suicidal note to my once beloved MBA studies in De La Salle University’s Graduate School of Business (GSB). And as suicidal notes go, I’m sorry to all my past professors, friends, and classmates in the DLSU GSB, but I am now going to discuss the bad side of the MBA program of La Salle and I know most are not going to like it, some will get mad at me, but everyone will say that my points are valid, though some will never admit it publicly. This is the end to my MBA in DLSU. The dropout’s valedictory address:

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Basically, my point is that the school is now so delusional about its “prestigious” MBA program that it doesn’t realize how rotten it has become. Unfortunately, people like me who want to have an MBA degree only find out about the rottenness after we have enrolled and spent precious time and money (to the tune of more than 20K pesos per term).

The issues that I’ll discuss below really need to be known by the public, especially since hundreds of people are blinded by the lures of an MBA degree and the seemingly very professional and business like image that La Salle’s Graduate School of Business falsely portrays.

Of the hundreds that enroll as new students to the GSB, by my estimates a third lose interest only after a term. In my case, during my first term there were five of us “newbies” that became close friends due to our seating arrangement and same class schedules. Of the five, only two continued their MBA studies after the first term, and now there is only one remaining student. The rest have dropped out after being disappointed with the program, and there are a lot of reasons to be disappointed with the program, my personal ones are:

1. They’ll suck the money right out of your pockets – and they will do this by charging fees in almost everything that you do… you have to pay a thousand pesos for taking a make-up exam because of an excused reason (i.e. you were out of town because of work or you were sick, thus making the school’s definition of an “excused” absence questionable…), getting a new ID is worth about 500 bucks (seriously, I can get one printed in Recto for 100), for reprinting of the enrollment form, for adjustments in your enrollment (in case you’ll change subjects), for paying in installment terms, for dropping subjects, internet fee, parking fees, for manuals/lecture notes that rarely are given by the professor… Sometimes I wonder if I’d be charged extra by the school if I breathe in more than their designated number of oxygen molecules. Having good business practices to maximize profit is one thing, but greed is something else…

2. Hey, isn’t this a graduate school? Aren’t majority of the students employed full-time? Then please stop treating us like this is an undergrad degree and our parents will kill us if we didn’t pass your subject…

Some teachers are too inconsiderate, they think too highly of their subject that sometimes the work of their students are greatly affected by the hefty load they give. I’ve heard about people resigning from work, taking a long leave of absence, going AWOL, being scolded by their bosses, etc. because a professor in a three unit subject in the MBA is too demanding. Some professors give difficult homework every meeting; they give multiple chapters in advance that the student must read because there’s a quiz during the next meeting. It would’ve all been simple, if the professor knew how to teach, but some don’t and their students are just clueless about the assignments. I’ve seen students panic because of the inconsiderate workload that a professor gives. Their work and professional careers get sacrificed because of these all too important professors. And yet, how do the students get the money to pay for the tuition fees-which in turn become the professor’s salary? the students need to work to earn money! Only a minority of the GSB’s student population get their tuition money from their parents. Some are even company sponsored so it’s really ironic that the student’s work suffers while the company pays for the tuition.

3.  The admin is either A. incompetent or B. apathetic to their students or C. they just want our money or D. all they really care about is money or E. all of the above  – I’ve had several run-ins with the admin and this is the main reason why I’ve dropped out. I just can’t stand the incompetence of the GSB and DLSU-Manila.

My first run-in with the admin happened before my first term. After scoring very high on the multiple choice entrance test and having an average result on the essay part (I had personal issues when I took the essay exam and I wasn’t in the mood to write) one of the admin approached me as I confirmed my intent to study in DLSU and told me that I had high grades in the entrance exam and so I would be given a scholarship. Then, a day after the guy called me again and told me that I didn’t get the scholarship because I only had an average score on the essay… That really sucked especially since I already told my friends and my family that I was accepted as a scholar to the GSB. Imagine the shame… Frustrated, I went home, talked to my mother and said: “Ma hindi pala ko scholar sa lasalle kasi kabobohan daw yung sagot ko sa essay.”

My second great run-in with the admin was when the GSB was reintegrated to DLSU Manila and DLSPS was abolished. My papers with the GSB were apparently lost during the transfer from the DLSPS office… and there was this letter that they made me acknowledge asking me to resubmit the missing documents. I never even had the chance to read the letter when they made me sign it, and from what the admin staff said when she asked for my signature, I just needed to sign it as proof of receipt of the letter.

Of the documents that were lost, the most difficult document to obtain was an NSO copy of my birth certificate… and that’s because I gave them the last copy of my NSO birth certificate during my first term’s enrollment! Now, from what I understand, I was only being asked to refurnish the documents THEY lost. I didn’t lose the docs, THEY did. Unfortunately, because of work concerns and studies, I forgot about the letter.

When enrollment time came, my enrollment papers were held by the registrar for non-submittal of the documents that THEY lost. I went to the registrar to claim my enrollment papers but they wanted me to produce my NSO birth certificate before they allow me to enroll. The bad thing is that it was the last day of enrollment! They wanted me to produce my birth certificate in an instant or I wouldn’t be able to enroll… I then told them that they should not do that to me, that it was unfair to me because they were the ones that lost the original and now they are harassing me. She said that by signing the letter that they gave asking for the lost documents, I conformed to the school’s condition that they will hold my enrollment if I wasn’t able to produce new copies. I protested and said that I only signed the letter to note that I received it, as this was my understanding with one of their staff.

The registrar then said that, regardless of the signature, it was school policy and that if I didn’t give the birth certificate I won’t be able to enroll. The registrar then, beaming, told me that I should even feel grateful to them because they went out of their way to ask UP Diliman for another set of my transcript, which THEY also lost. I should in fact be happy because I only needed to produce my birth certificate, and it was now a little over 1pm on the last day of enrollment. Thanks DLSU! You managed to get a new copy of my transcript but you still wouldn’t let me enroll because you lost my birth certificate.

I was only able to enroll because I struck a deal with the registrar to order a new copy of my birth certificate from the NSO that same day, so I rushed to an internet café, went to the NSO website, ordered a copy and then went to BDO to pay. I then went back to the registrar and gave her my receipt, with the promise of giving the birth certificate immediately after I received it. Unfortunately, even after I enrolled, the stupidity of that moment irritated me and every time I went to class I was reminded of what happened. I lost interest in attending class-at a school where I pay expensive tuition but receive incompetent service from the admin, of going to school where the admin really doesn’t care about your enrollment, just your enrollment money. So I stopped attending class and dropped out. I wasn’t proud of my school and for me if I wasn’t proud of my school I sure as hell wouldn’t want to graduate from it and be marked as one of its alumni. I never gave them a new copy of my birth certificate, and because I think they only care about money, I sure as hell never paid the remaining balance in my tuition for my last term.

Somehow I think the reason why the GSB was re-integrated into DLSU-Manila is because they aren’t professional enough to be called the De La Salle-Professional Schools Inc, or maybe the Inc actually means Inc-ompetent?