Should I pursue an MS in Business Analytics or an MBA in the USA? How will each degree impact my career goals and specialization?
It depends on 3 things:
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Your previous experience - If your background is more managerial, consulting, love to solve case studies, and business problems and want to start business in the future, go for MBA. If you are slightly inclined towards a mix of technical and non-technical stuff, then go for MSBA as it requires you to have the knowledge of SQL, R, Python. and it will contain you to the roles like, data analyst, Business intelligence engineer or business analyst. It seems like it’s for someone who wants to dive deep into data-driven decision-making.
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Years of experience- In my opinion, one should do MBA if he/she have minimum 4 years of experience to get a job in USA, and good colleges require at least 5 years of prior experience. So if I’m a fresh graduate, maybe an MS is more accessible. But if I have some work experience, especially in business roles, an MBA could open doors to higher positions. But if I don’t have much experience, would an MBA still be possible? Maybe some programs accept less, but the value might not be as high without prior experience.
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Financially - MBA is a 2 year course, it will be more expensive for sure, close to ~80K to 100K where as MSBA is usually a 9months to 16 months of course, that will cost less.
If I want to be a data scientist or analytics manager, MS might be better. For roles like product manager, consultant, or executive, an MBA might be more suitable.