Master in Marketing - Abroad (Australia/US/UK)

michellechen — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 20:12:24 +0800

Hi there, am hoping to gain some insights from fellow LYN forumers regarding the above (my post is long, kindly bear with me).

Background:

I have a degree in design and advertising, have about 2.5 years of working experience in Client Servicing/Account Management in advertising field. I want to progress further in my career and in the long run, may want to branch out to marketing/brand management instead restricting myself to only advertising. And since my degree is design-based, I am considering to obtain a marketing-related qualification, which will also be beneficial for my current job.

Available options are to have a second degree or a postgrad degree. My preference is the latter, as it can move me up the ladder in terms of education level. I'm planning to do it next year - most likely mid of 2011.

MBA

Initial plan was to go for MBA, but the discouraging factors are:
i. GMAT - it seems tough and in order to prep myself for the test, it will be time-consuming. And I know that if GMAT is tough for me, then MBA is out of the question, as it may not be for me.
ii. MBA suitability - from my understanding, MBA is usually conducted in the manner where group sharing, personal contribution and networking is important. Since my working experience is not business-related and definitely not in management level, I may not be a suitable candidate for MBA.
iii. MBA modules - Despite the prestige of getting an MBA vs other master courses, I have gone through the list of modules in some MBA courses and honestly, most do not interest me much. I am not very into math, calculations, statistics, etc - basically anything to do with numbers. Having said that, I am not delusional to think that business-related courses (including Marketing) will not have Math-related modules, I just hope to minimize these modules and take only the necessary.

Thus, with MBA out of the question, I am looking into either doing MA in Marketing and MS in Marketing. Have been trying to google for the differences of both courses but can't seem to find any solid info. Anyone has any ideas?

Study Abroad

My first preference was US but after going through many universities' websites, it seems that most of them are offering only MBA, with the concentration in Marketing. A few rare ones that do offer MA/MS in Marketing, require GMAT or GRE as well. Does it mean that good universities must require GMAT/GRE and those which do not, are not even worth considering?

I researched on Australia and have narrowed down to a few uni, top preference was RMIT (based on suitable course modules, university location and reputation). But with the current Aussie exchange rate, the fees seem so high that it may be similar to US or UK. Group of Eight universities are even more expensive and only few are located in Melbourne and Sydney (I prefer cities because I plan on working part time (20 hours per week) to self-support to earn some living expenses there - I know that it is not guaranteed to have jobs, but I think cities have better chances of job vacancies, correct me if I'm wrong).

I have yet to research much on UK yet, but top preference will be London, which will be high in living expenses. Reason for my choice is the same as above - job vacancies.

Any insights on the above university/country selections? Any deciding factors to consider that I may have miss out?

Funding

I'm planning to use my personal saving, withdraw from my EPF Account II, do some garage sale to raise fund for the fees, and earn the remaining living expenses by working part time there. Not considering scholarship/loan as my results are not outstanding enough, nor do I want to burden myself with loan interest and get myself in debts upon graduating. Any other ideas on funding that I may have missed out?

Consultations & Study Fair

I have gone to IDP and planning to check out MACEE and MABECS. Also plan to attend the postgrad fair in Mid Valley this 8-10 Oct to get more info. Any other sources that may be helpful?

I have also gone through most threads here related to study Aus/US/UK and find them pretty helpful, thanks to all Thread Starters and contributors!

Appreciate any opinions and input as I just want to maximize and make use of all available channels to gain more info as any insight may be useful for me at this stage, where I have yet to make any solid action/commitment, but will have to do so soon, as early preparation is better than last minute rushing.

Thanks in advance, everyone! *hugs*

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Master in Marketing - Abroad (Australia/US/UK)