Baruch's Zicklin or Fordham's Gabelli for MS marketing?

One perspective - Living in NYC and hiring in NYC I have seen way more Baruch MBA/MS students in the workforce or interviewing. I'm not sure if that is a result of the career center or the students but Baruch business students are more highly visible than Fordham students in my experience

Thanks so much for the input!

A bigger question: Why are you doing an MS in Marketing? Are you looking to build skillsets for a specific kind of Marketing? Do you already hold a Marketing position? If you're transitioning from Finance, I question if you're going to see your desired goals. You'll likely need to start from a lower level position with less pay than current and build skillsets anew.

Unless you get to a strategic role (usually via MBA or many years of experience), you'll likely need to specialize in a particular area of Marketing.

That's not to discourage you from doing it. Education is helpful. Just putting some realistic goals if you're using the MS to pivot. With that said, you're 100% better off saving the cash and doing Baruch or whatever is the cheapest option if you're just aiming for the skillsets of the degree. The education is mostly the same if the school is AACSB accredited.

The only area I can think a Masters degree would help to land new opportunities would be Market Research. Otherwise, you're better off building experience at a specialization or getting an MBA from a prestigious school instead.

Thanks for the input! I have been working in digital marketing for a few years now. Realistically I want to transition into more of a marketing analyst role, and I'm finding it hard to break into this field without relevant education, hence I'm going for a MS Marketing Analysis program.

Cool! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I'd definitely stick with Baruch then. You're not going to get any additional benefit from NYU unless you want to access their network over time, and absolutely no gain for doing a Fordham degree.

If you're planning on doing something broader in 5 years or so then I'd suggest going the MBA route. If you plan on moving up from an Analyst (Marketing Manager or whatnot) then you'd have a leg up with an MBA (that is if you don't plan on switching industries) even if it's 4 or so years old. It's only 18 more credits, and you can just take the same courses for the Marketing Electives, effectively making it like a MS + some management courses.

Here's the caveat: If you're planning on switching completely to something like Brand or Product Management, then I'd do Baruch's MS now and consider a Full-Time MBA sometime down-the-line when you're ready. Cuz you'll lose the opportunity to do that if you just take Baruch's MBA (which doesn't really offer much in the way of recruitment and internship access...you're entirely on your own). Baruch's a good value program if you're just looking for an MBA to help move up from either your company or getting a job somewhere else (Marketing is hard to move up organically unless you're working for a large firm), but not if you need school help in recruiting. Just keep that in mind, as it would be a really hard sell for a 2nd MBA if you do decide to go that route.

greatmightypoo

Great insights, thank you very much! Yah I have applied for Baruch and am waiting to hear back. I'm still at a pretty early stage in my career so I don't think I'll get the most out of an MBA right now, but can definitely benefit from a specialized masters degree.

Sounds like you already have a few years of experience. By the time you complete your MBA, you'll have 2-3 more years.

It's funny. I've been touring MBA programs the last 2 weeks, and find a ton of useful info just on the courses I've taken that are immediately actionable in my job (optimizing pricing, for example). In a way, the curriculum of an MBA is better when working because you're immediately dealing with the issues presented.

It's more a matter of where you want to take your career...are you interested in switching down the line and still a bit undecided, or is the path you're on what you want for the next 20 years? If you know the trajectory you want to go towards and you don't need to pivot or change, I think an PT MBA would be a better choice than an MS. I've already seen positions in Digital Marketing that ask for MBA's (management positions, obviously).

Some bio: I have 5 years experience in Digital Marketing. Done a bit of analytics but I'm in the Retention realm now. Originally I was planning on doing a Part Time MBA so I'd be eligible for less specialized positions like being a DMM, eventually leading up to overall Marketing Manager. Truthfully, there are obstacles I need to work on that only a Full Time can help with (soft skills based), and I want to switch to Brand in the long-term.

If you know you're gonna stay in the Digital Marketing realm in NYC then I say go for the MBA locally at Baruch or Rutgers. They're both well recognized regionally. An MBA just has a lot more weight down-the-line, and 2-3 years is a while from now. By then, you'll have more than enough experience to justify it.

BUT....if you do want to pivot, or want to keep that door open, then do the MS (or simply wait until you're ready for a FT MBA from a grad school you're interested in). I'm skeptical of any MS having a lot of Long Term weight, so just keep that in mind.

Your GMAT score is already high enough to challenge for a top tier MBA with a bit more experience, and definitely a T15-25 one (I'm actually kinda envious). Definitely high enough for a PT now even with only 2 years of experience. Your grades last something like 4 or 5 years before you need to retake. So keep that in mind if you do plan on doing an MBA in 2-3 years...if you can move up in your career without an MS it might not be worth it. It takes 1-2 years to complete an MS, so you might not see the benefits of it anyway.

Not discouraging you. Just being pragmatic about it. Think about your 5 year plan realistically and see where you lie on that, and if the MS really works with that plan.