MS or MBA

Hi Shiv,

I am an MS in Marketing student at USC Marshall. I also have an MBA degree from a top 10 Indian B-school. I'd like to weigh in on the MS aspects of your question and share my experience.

I think the choice between whether you want an MS or MBA degree really boils down to a couple of factors such as what kind of roles you'd like to work in upon graduation, what stage of career are you at, how much clarity of thought do you have in terms of what you expect from your career etc.

An MBA degree gives you a great general overview of how businesses operate. The scope for specialising is limited. For example, I technically had a "marketing major" during my MBA. But I remember studying a lot of finance, operations, and trade subjects as well. Eventually I got into a product/brand management kind of a job, which is what I wanted all along, and I never really had the chance to apply my finance or operations learnings except maybe basic P&L management. Not to say that that knowledge was a waste (because no knowledge goes waste), but definitely application of concepts outside of marketing was very limited in my role. I think studying a vast number of subjects also helped me realise that marketing is what I wanted to be in.

An MS degree, on the other hand, helps you learn in depth about a field of study that you already know you're very passionate about. For example, in my case, I had developed an interest in marketing during MBA. I did an internship in marketing and then worked in marketing for a couple of years as well. I was keen on exploring some more nuances of marketing, especially the analytical aspects. That is the reason why I decided to do an MS. Another important fact to keep in mind is that marketing is an integral part of a business and not a stand-alone business function. So the case studies that I work on at class now don't focus solely on marketing problems but on the overall business operations. I think that helps you develop a good understanding of business overall and what role marketing plays in the entire scheme of things.

So you should ask yourself if you know what career path you want to be in after you graduate. You'll know whether you want to specialise in something or get a broader overview.

As far as job prospects, ROI etc go, no matter what degree you have, finding a job in the US depends upon your networking skills to a very very large extent. You should make sure that the program that you join offers you ample chances to interact with the industry through guest speakers, seminars, info sessions etc. You should also be a part of an alumni network that is super responsive and is willing to help you with your job hunt. At least these were some of the factors that I took into consideration before identifying MS/MBA programs in the US.

Hope this helps!