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MSc Marketing in UK

Skippy 2/2 0:11

Hi guys,

Before I ask my question I would like to thank all the people involved in maintaining this website and all the ones who are helping out by answering our questions and giving more information to help make life changing decisions for many.

Let me introduce my self. I 24 and I graduated 2.5 years ago from a uni in UAE with bachelor degree in Business Administration with concentration in Marketing and MIS. Since graduation I have been working for an auditing company which was and still is a great experience but………… my heart lies with Marketing since the first class in uni and I think its time to pursue my career in that field.

Although my work experience was mainly related to accounting I am having many meetings and client consulting to get them ready for the audit process. Because this can’t be really considered as a marketing experience I have two options:

- Move to a company in a marketing passion and start from scratch.
- Study masters’ degree in marketing and boost my chances of getting a “above entry below management level” position in marketing.

The first choice would be tough during the current climate so I picked the later. Since my uni provided a high level of education (I know I am being biased) I wanted to do my postgraduate at a uni which is better than my previous one. This can’t be done without traveling outside the country which is a big plus for me since I wanted to visit other countries and experience the culture and meet new people.

I have spent quite some time doing my research (this site really helped) for the right unis that teach marketing in Europe and after almost two months (and using up quarter of my yearly vacation days ) I narrowed it down to only 4. Below I will mention them with pros and cons that I have observed and reflect my needs:

- Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School (Belgium) (Marketing Management)

I thought I would start with a uni outside UK since I think not many would know it on this forum. The uni has a very high standard (top 10 MBA’s in Europe by FT) and the course material is the most suitable for my needs. It is also relatively affordable which is an important factor for me since I am financing myself on this trip (mooched off enough of my parents during bachelors ).

Pros
- High educational standard.
- Triple accreditation
- High on the business school ranking
- The right course variety
- The end project involves 3 months working with a company and doing a market research project and marketing audit.

Cons
- The uni is in a small city well known for historical importance but can’t be compared to the main cities of Europe.
- I don’t think there will be much interaction with the local students and the place is not that fun if I am not an ERASMUS student (not and option in my case).

Cardiff University (Strategic Marketing)

Pros
- Well known uni across Europe
- As per my research the students are quite happy in general there
- The uni takes good care of international students
- My colleague’s friend is studying there and he likes it.
- Beautiful city with good student life
- The course ends with a marketing plan instead of a dissertation

Cons
- Eight compulsory modules and no room to pick one the ones I like more.
- Can’t be compared to the major cities in UK.
- The marketing plan does not involve working with a company so it will be all theory.
- No proper accreditations like the famous ones.

University of Birmingham (Strategic Marketing and Consulting)

Pros
- The course is quite advanced and requires bachelors in marketing or relevant work experience.
- At the end there is a consulting project
- It’s in the second biggest city in UK and is close to the centre.

Cons
- Not well know in terms of ratings as a business school
- No proper accreditations
- Fewer job opportunities (as per one the threads here compared to Aston)

Aston University (Marketing Management)

Pros

- Well know business school around the world and high on ratings
- Has triple accreditation
- Walking distance to city centre
- Priority to international students in terms of accommodations

Cons
- Half of the courses I already took during my bachelors. But again most of the above mention unis have the same courses (can’t have a marketing masters without market research, consumer behavior, strategic marketing…etc) so I assume they will be of a higher level.
- Just a dissertation at the end and no interaction with the business world.

At the end of the day my purpose of the masters in not only the education part but the whole life experience and exposure to different cultures.

I hope you can have some feedback on the above choices and let me know if my reasons make sense or not.

Appreciate your feedback in advance and hope to hear from you soon.

P.S.
Here is why I didn’t pick the other unis just to clear things and show that I gone through them.

Warwick: great uni but too expensive and far away from a major city.

Cranfield: very good uni but quite expensive and again far from the city. Some of the reviews suggested having a car.

Bath: too expensive

Lancaster: the price is good but too far from civilization. Good if you’re aiming for a nice quite city and campus life.

Manchester: too expensive

Nothing in London (I guess its mainly KCL) because of the price again.

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dancchica530 2/4 7:17

Hey Skippy,

I'm currently a student on the MSc Marketing course at Birmingham and just wanted to say a few things. Don't know if you caught this but Birmingham is actually accredited by EQUIS and AMBA (I realize its not 3 bodies but just so you know). Also, since you seem to have a background in marketing- I'd say definitely go for one of the courses for more advanced students (not sure about the other 2 besides Birmingham but I know Aston is open to all levels as I applied). Just an observation on my course is that those more advanced students would be better suited in the MSc Strategic Marketing just because their knowledge matches their fellow students. And a final thought- you could consider applying to the schools you've considered but crossed off your list. Sometimes they will offer scholarships that cut the price of tuition. I applied to Manchester and got a tuition scholarship without any extra effort. So sometimes it pays to just- see. You could look into whether any of these schools offer such scholarships.

Good luck in the decision making process.

cibolover 2/4 16:33

Hi dancchica530,

Could I know why you finally chose Birmingham but not Manchester?
(coz you got a tuition scholarship)

Actually,I've got the offer of MSc strategic marketing and consulting at Birmingham. However,I just can read official information about this program on uni's website,which makes me confused. Could you tell me more about this program from your observations or feedback from students?

Thank you!

dancchica530 2/5 6:25

Hello,

I picked Birmingham over Manchester largely due to the structure of the course- the elective modules were more appealing to me, and the course as a whole! And I still think it was the right decision. However, although I got a tuition scholarship it was only 3000GBP which was basically just enough to keep Manchester in the running.

OK- while I don't know the students on the MSc Strategic Marketing and Consulting course... I know a bit about how all the Marketing courses are run here at Birmingham. There are 4 total MSc Marketings (Marketing, International, Communications, and Strategic Marketing and Consulting). The Marketing and International Marketing are the larger courses (because they are open to students of all backgrounds and levels- and often the modules taken overlap. Similarly, some of the modules for the marcomms and sm&c overlap (however these groups are much smaller, which is a good thing).

In the first half of the course you'll take required modules and the second half of the course you pick what electives you want- out of a wide selection (all 4 marketing courses are mixed in about 8 electives). For the most part- I've enjoyed my lectures here. Professors are knowledgeable. Of course I think there is always the exception and some professors are better than others.

For your consultancy project- I know the school gets in touch with companies, and I believe its up to you to prove you can take on the project.

Oh- you actually get guaranteed housing as an international student here- just FYI.

Some general problems (that may or may not apply to you):
-As I mentioned, I think someone with experience is better off being in a course with other people of similar experience- these more experienced students appear to get more bored/frustrated when they've covered something the rest of the class is just learning (although I cannot say these students have outperformed others in the course- meaning, there is always something to learn)
-Generally I find the communication/language skills of many of my classmates to be poor, which is difficult when working on group projects- these same classmates also tend to not contribute as much to these projects and I find myself taking on much of the workload- However- I think the students on the more advanced courses, at least at Birmingham- have better language skills (so perhaps schools with higher language requirements are better? or again the more advanced students due to greater variety in home country)

OK- so this is just a start- you can ask me anything else and I'll let you know if I can help.

-Natalie

cibolover 2/8 14:36

Hi Natalie,

Thanks for your kindly response!
All information is useful for me.

It's good that you pointed out one of the phenomenon - poor communication/ language skills of your classmates.
As a non-native English speaker, I definitely need to improve my English language ability; otherwise, just as you mentioned, I may not contribute to the group/class, even though I have some ideas/opinions.

I will make my final decision on choosing uni recently, and I believe Birmingham could be a great choice for me. (Especially here is a kind alumnus I've known!

)

shadow_7girl 2/25 20:43

hi!
am applying for a masters and am confused where to apply! my options are lancaster, leeds,cardiff, leciester.. manchester said my scores wernt good enough! :( so which course do u think is better among the top 1's i mentioned.. thanks so much! :)

fre3ze 5/21 18:22

@cibolover

I am really glad that I stumbled across this post. I am in a similar situation as you and i've got offers for the MSc Marketing & MSc Strategic Marketing & Consultancy programme at Birmingham (I just have to decide now). The university delegate who gave me a spot offer suggested me to go for the MSc Strategic Marketing & Consultancy programme as i have studied a bit of Marketing basics in my graduation degree (He sounded a bit too pushy). So what have you decided cibolover ? How you got anymore offers ? Do you know anyone who has done/doing this programme ?

@dancchica530
Hey, thanks a lot for the descriptive explanation about the course pattern. Are you on facebook, twitter or MSn ? I wanted a favour from you....