Well, this, of course, depends on your skills, career aspirations, and long-term goal, but we would like to give you a perspective so that you can decide your path and choose between MBA or MS program.
1) MBA or MS – Program Overview
MS is a specialized course in any discipline, which will eventually help you to become an expert in that domain. Let’s say you want to see yourself an expert in the finance domain, in the long run, then MS finance would be a good choice. The popular domains in MS are engineering, computer science, information systems, etc. The course will be solely focused on this domain and you will have a thorough understanding of that domain, its future, role in the business, and diverse industries. Many students take a Ph.D. path after finishing the MS program and pursue a career in either research or teaching.
An MBA, on the other hand, is a management course, focused on business overall. MBA helps to understand the business as a whole and its internal linkages as well, such as how all the pillars are inter-connected (operations-finance-IT-marketing-strategy). Though an MBA also offers a specialization, that’s only the overview and not in-depth knowledge. So, for an MBA finance graduate, without any financial background, it would be slightly difficult to compete in the market. MBA is a general degree, more focused on building leadership skills rather than expertise.
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2) MBA or MS – Age, Duration and Work Experience
MS – In general, you will have a young crowd in MS courses, because there is no work experience required for this course. Most of the students are either freshers or with little experience. The average age would be around 22-24 years, with few exceptions. The duration of the program is 2 years and a research thesis is also required as a part of the program. The program is very academic in nature and a lot of rigor is required to score well during the program.
MBA – On the other hand, an MBA is for experienced people, where the minimum experience required is 2 years. But, the average work experience for most of the good schools around the globe, is 4-5 years. This differs from region to region. You will have a slightly experienced cohort in APAC, as compared to the EU and US. The average age in the US typically is 25-28 years, but in APAC and EU, it would be 27-30 years. The program duration is 21 months in the US, but in APAC and EU, it is in the range of 1-1.5 years only. The program is more focused on leadership aspects, case studies, problem-solving, decision making, field trips, team building, etc. and less focused on academics.
3) MBA or MS – Financing and Return on Investment
MBA is definitely 30-40% expensive than MS, so this is also a major deciding factor for many people across the globe. Though financing also differs from region to region. US is slightly expensive for MBA, as compared to APAC and EU regions. In terms of salaries offered, MS graduates generally get in the range of $70k – $90k, with few outliers, whereas an MBA graduate would be getting in the range of $90 – $100k+. These are general figures overall, but if you want to analyze this in detail, then you need to see the industry and region-wise data.
4) MBA or MS – How to choose?
This step is not really difficult if your career goal is clear and you have the right plan in place. But even if you are unsure still you can easily make a broader distinction based on this thought whether you see yourself as an expert or a generalist. If you love what you did in your bachelor’s and want to study more in-depth in that domain, then it’s easy to pick MS program. But if you don’t want to pursue your bachelor’s specialization further, then at least you can say no to MS program. This doesn’t mean you should do an MBA program. There could be other options to explore such as entrepreneurship, working in a company for some time, etc. and then taking a call for your career.
5) MBA or MS – Rationale
The ideas are completely different, behind both the programs. So, you will have to introspect yourself and match your skills and personality to the right program. Both programs have great career prospects if you choose them wisely. There were few cases, where many people go for an MBA, even after doing MS. I think this is also a fair call, where you might have realized later and felt the need for an MBA program.
In general, nothing is right or wrong, good or bad, you just need to match your aspirations to the right program. So before making any decision, introspect yourself, rather than researching for MS and MBA schools, around the globe.
Feel free to connect in case you need any guidance on MBA, MIM, or MS programs across the globe. Book your free consultation today!
