Any thoughts, please let me know. I'm at a crossroads.

Early 40s, male, American. I have two degrees already, my bachelor is from a state school and I have a master in fine arts from a top 20 school. My career path has been rather all over the place but mostly in the education sector (worked for a school district for 10 years in both teaching and non teaching roles. I currently do PR and marketing strategy at a startup in the education space.)

I feel like I need a boost to get the most out of my career over the next 25 years. Thinking about transitioning into a more lucrative sector (consulting). I feel like my strong suit is helping organizations think about their communication goals creatively - that's a lot of what I did at the school district and all of what I do now.

From reading and some research I understand that the best way to make this kind of career jump is with a full time MBA. I'm not entirely opposed to that, but since I already have some education debt and not much savings, this will set me back quite a bit. The alternative is that I continue working and pursue an EMBA or a part time MBA at the same time. However I feel like there are a lot of disadvantages to this approach.

Has anybody gone through a similar decision and can help out? One thing is that I haven't taken the GMAT, but I know that the quantitative section will be difficult for me. I can't say for certain that I will get a good score.

GMAT expectations are a lot lower for candidates in their 40s. A part time MBA would typically give you a more extensive education than an EMBA and perhaps better careers support. Aim high for schools.

Are you (relatively) near to a ranked business school? If so, you might explore the idea of continuing to work in your current position and doing a part-time MBA. You'll still have the possibility of changing careers - but be forewarned: consulting firms tend to focus on younger graduates of full-time MBA program. You'll have to think about how you will position yourself to the firms. At least with a quality, hopefully high-ranked school you'd at least have a bit of a foot in the door.

Thanks for the replies! I'm not far from the University of Madison-Wisconsin. And that's something to think about, that consulting firms hire younger grads. I will consider this as I formulate my career plans.

That's a great school, they offer an Evening MBA program that's highly regarded and might work well for you.