Should I get an MBA in Marketing, an MS in Finance or an MS in Applied Statistics?

Question

I can't figure out if I want to do marketing research for a living or investment research and analysis or be a statistician - anyone have any advice?

Answer 1

Hi there, what an important decision you're considering...it's great that you're reaching out for some guidance. My guidance will be that while reaching out is great, my humble recommendation is to gather factual info about the jobs that these Master degrees correspond to, then choose the one you are most excited about.

Why do I say this? If you are considering these three, you likely have a facility at working with numbers, but beyond that I see these degrees as mostly different, with some overlap. And, you may choose to work in a different field entirely after graduation. Part of your future education will teach you how to think, and that can be applied to most any business job.

The interesting part of Marketing is that you can choose to be very creative or very analytical, or somewhere in between.

With Finance, I think people who excel here like to know at a very fundamental level how business (and other things) work. They also know that money is the key fundamental to any business and they like to be a key stakeholder in that equation.

For Stats, the people I've met with these degrees look at data as a means to unravel the business challenge. Sometimes the data are very telling, and some times it requires a bit of art on top of the statistical science.

So, again, gather more facts by talking to people in Business who are using these degrees, and then go with your gut.

Go for it...and have fun because you really can't go wrong.

Answer 2

I have an MBA and it is a well rounded degree with employment opportunities. However, if you have specific areas where you want to be employed, I would focus on the degree which will match the job type better. I would go for the MS in stats.

Answer 3

Which ever you decide, make sure you like it. It will be hard to switch (except maybe between finance and stats).

Just start out your MBA, take classes in each, and then decide. You might be able to specialize/major in more than one of them