MS/MSC/MIM or MBA??

Hi Shiv,

I'd ask you to make a list of the roles you desire in the next 3-5 years and evaluate the skills these roles will require. MAke a decision based on that. For instance, do you want to get into marketing analytics as a key career choice? Or would you be happy studying analytics as an elective or perhaps a specialization in an MBA/ MS program?

An MS can help if you want to specialize only in a particular area, such as marketing. The same purpose can also be achieved through an MBA, but you will also study other business functions in more depth, not just all marketing. The broad skills gained from an MBA may be more beneficial from a recruiter's perspective, so consider that!

To bring clarity, I am posting links to the MS/ MBA programs offered at Columbia. Make a comparison:

https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs/m ... quirements
https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs/m ... a-schedule

To gain more clarity would be to look at your target programs career reports. You will get an idea about the type of companies that recruit and for what kind of roles.

There could be another consideration - MS programs are generally a year long as compared to MBAs which are spread over two years and therefore will give you more opportunities to find a job.

Thanks for your reply.

I want to specialize in marketing and work in the strategy part of the whole marketing process (strategic marketing). For that, I need a course that is rich in marketing as well as combines analytics with the marketing concepts/theories.
As I do not have much work experience and it would be really hard to get into a good business school at the moment, I was looking for MIM and Msc options. Thus found NUS Msc+CEMS MIM program (https://mim.nus.edu/cems-mim/43-double-masters-cems-mim) that can provide me opportunities to work in the partner corporations.
1) What is your opinion about this course?
2) MIM programs differ with different universities such as some universities offer Msc under MIM and some offer both as dual degrees like NUS. Do you think this program would be a right option at this point in my career?

Looking forward to your reply.

I think that would be a good program for you, especially if you are interested in staying in the region geographically. That said, I recommend applying to multiple programs. I do agree that if you want to go now, a specialized masters makes more sense than an MBA for you. Good luck and reach out to discuss further offline.

Best,
Scott