Masters in Management in USA is increasingly catching the fancy of all those who want to kick start their career with little or no experience after their graduation. Considering the rankings published by Financial Times for the year 2017, top Masters in Management in USA are as follows:
- Kellogg’s Masters in Management Program
- Duke’s Fuqua Master of Management Studies
- University of Michigan-Ross School of Business’s Master of Management
Admission Requirements:
These top Masters in management in USA are targetted towards those who have bachelor degrees in non-business majors or those with minimal experience in the business field.
Since college graduates without experience find it difficult to find suitable jobs, such programs equip you with business and management skills within a small period so you can stand out from the rest.
For instance, the Kellogg’s unique MS in Management program can be completed in under a year and once you become part of the workforce, you can pair it with the full-time one-year MBA program to earn an MBA degree as well.
However, those with a business major or those having more than a year’s work experience are ineligible for this program however, they encourage science and liberal arts majors to apply.
The Duke’s Fuqua Program is also a 10-month program, called the MMS DKU, provides a foundation in core business disciplines and an exposure to both the US and Chinese economies by conducting a part of the course in Kunshan, China.
With the Chinese economy booming, there is a huge requirement for those with a strong business knowledge and a familiarity with the culture, which this program promises to provide.
If you consider the University of Michigan for a Master’s in Management in USA, the requirements to gain admission into the Ross’s Master of Management program is almost similar in that it is a 10-month program with the Global Practicum Course, which includes fieldwork typically done outside the USA.
The core of the program is to equip you with the knowledge so you can solve real-life problems as easily as tackling these issues in your classroom. For instance, one of the offered elective subjects is called the Capstone MAP (Multi-disciplinary Action Projects).
It maps a team of students with an organization seeking to address a real challenge or an opportunity. This offers a unique opportunity to apply theory to real-life.
What you can expect:
One of the main differences between an MBA program and a Masters in Management in USA program is that those looking for an MBA degree come with a few years of experience and are looking for a program that can help them target upper-level positions in an organization. Further, these courses last at least 2 years.
However, MiM programs give you a broad exposure to management topics in under a year.
Curriculum:
Some of the courses offered in the Kellogg’s program are Accounting for Decision Making, Business Analytics, Management Communications, Operations management and the Global Initiatives in Management (where students travel to a country outside of the US).
Some of the elective courses are Financial Accounting and Analytical Decision Modeling amongst many others. If you look at the Duke Fuqua Program, you will find that using games, lectures, case studies, corporate visits and guest speakers, students are taught to challenge themselves and come up with solutions creatively much like real-life scenarios.
Just like the Kellogg’s program, here also the curriculum is a mix of core subjects and electives broadly covering subjects such as Accounting, Finance, Critical Thinking and Analytics, Communication and Strategy. While you will spend about 5 months on the Durham campus in Raleigh, USA, the rest of the terms are finished in Kunshan, China.
The Ross’s MiM program requires you to take 14 courses through the 10-month period.
What distinguishes this program from the other two is the period before the actual start where students undergo a “boot camp” and several “pre-work” activities which aim to prepare the students for the rigorous academics that is to come.
These activities include career-interest activities, quantitative skills assessments, business communications and so on.
Class Profile:
Let us consider the Kellogg’s MSMS program where a class typically has about 69 students, the average age is 22 and 35% of the class consist of international students.
A closer look reveals that 55% of the class comes with a Liberal Arts background and the second highest which is 33% comes with an economics background.
According to Brooke Jones, class of 2016, the diverse backgrounds that students come from making the class more interesting while offering several different perspectives on a single viewpoint.
If you consider the Duke’s MMS program***, a typical class strength is about 50. While 69% of the class consists of international students, 51% of the class come from a business/Accounting background and the next highest belongs to the Economics group which constitutes 22% of the class.
The average age of students in the Master’s program at the Ross Business School is 22. The maximum students, i.e. 22% and 18% of the 82 odd students in a class come from a Social Sciences and Engineering/Math background.
Fees and Aid:
The Duke’s MMS program will cost you about $75,000 of which $52,000 is the basic tuition fee and the rest is an approximate cost of living expenses.
All admitted applicants are eligible for Scholarships based on overall academic achievement, leadership qualities, and extra-curricular activities.
The Kellogg’s program is similarly priced with the tuition fees in the range of $55,000 and the expenses about $28,000 which amounts to a total of $ 80,000. The Kellogg’s program also provides both need and merit-based scholarships which can be applied for during admissions.
The Ross Program costs approximately about $80,000 and this includes the tuition and living expenses. Scholarships can range from $5000 to full tuition at times.
All students applying for this course are automatically eligible for such aid and it is based on academic ability, professional and personal achievements that such scholarships are awarded.
Work Prospects:
The Kellogg’s Career Management Center provides personalized developmental services which include career coaching. Some of the companies that have employed students graduating out of this program are Google, Deloitte, and Accenture amongst several others.
For instance, Sam Whaley who graduated in 2017, currently works as a consultant for Oliver Wyman and credits his success at finding a job at one of the best consulting companies to his career coach and the on-campus recruiting.
He says he is blown away by the attention, resources, and preparation that is given to students here.
Furthermore, take for instance Tina Lin, 2016, who considers the experience and learning at the Duke MMS extremely valuable. As part of their Management Communications class, they had to complete Consultation Projects where they were paired as teams along with a client who presented a real-world business challenge.
Solving it required her to be creative with the limited information and resources provided. The experiences have helped her to find a footing in an organization as soon as she graduated. She is now working as an Accounting Executive at a firm in Canada.
92% of 2016 MiM graduates received a full-time job within 3 months of graduation. Some of the top companies that have hired MiM graduates from the Ross Business School in 2016 are Amazon, Ernst and Young, Accenture and Ford Motor Co amongst others.
The major industry to have picked up graduates is Financial Services and Public Accounting where an average salary of $70,000 is reported.
Visa Requirements:
While you have may have all the necessary documents to study in the USA, once you graduate, things can change quite quickly. If you intend to stay back and work in the country, it is necessary to know the visa requirements well before your student visa expires.
F1 Visa: This is a non-immigrant visa that should be applied for, if you plan to study in the US and it does not matter what level of education you intend to pursue. Some key factors about this visa which you need to bear in mind:
- It is a time-consuming process and hence it is sensible to plan well ahead of time.
- Ensure that the school you are applying for is approved (as per Student and Exchange Visitor program) well before you begin the process of application.
As far as working while on this visa is concerned, since this visa is not intended as a work visa, you can work for 20 hours while attending school and full-time while in recess.
However, you can additionally apply for the OPT (Optional Practical Training) which allows for you to work full-time after completion of your studies for up to 12 months in an employment related to your field of study.
While you can remain in the US for up to 60 days after the expiry of your F1 visa, you will need to change the status of your visa i.e. apply for a different visa or enroll in a different program if you intend to stay on in the US.
H1B Visa: This visa is granted to those graduates who have found employers willing to hire them full-time. This is a temporary work permit that is given to you for a maximum of 6 years.
Once you are hired by an organization and apply for a visa through them, leaving the job or being fired qualifies for a cancellation of this visa. This visa is therefore clearly linked to employment with a certain organization and not the industry or a marketplace.
The H2B visa is like the above program with the only difference that the employer needs to show that the employment of such a person is temporary in nature, is seasonal or that there is a deficit of such expertise or personnel in the US.
EB5 Visa: If you have the capital to invest in a business within the US, then you along with your spouse and children below the age of 21 can apply for a green card within the EB-5 Investor Immigrant program.
What is also a requirement for this visa is to show the intention to create at least 10 permanent full-time jobs for skilled and qualified US workers.
Living in the USA:
There are several cities in the US where you can pursue your education, but the top cities such as Boston, Chicago, Michigan, LA and New York house some of the premier Business Schools.
While living in these cities may be a lot more expensive than other smaller and lesser-known cities, it is not impossible to manage your meager funds in such places.
- Since you can work while pursuing your education, one way is to cover your expenses by working part-time. There are several options available and generally, the international centers within the Universities can be of immense help in finding a suitable job.
- Another effective way to limit expenses is to look at shared accommodations. While most universities will offer on-campus living options it is generally offered to new students. It is however common to see several student groups living together sharing rent and responsibilities thereby making living in a new place a whole lot easier.
- While there are several websites which can be scoured for possible scholarships and aids you may be eligible for, your professional and personal track record and achievements will surely make a difference. Make sure you check with your school/college about the process of application for the same.
GyanOne has been the pioneer in providing MiM Admissions Consulting to top Masters in Management programs around the world.
Want to check out more MIM Programs?
Masters in Management / MSc in Management Courses – top Schools
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