Hi,

I am an Indian citizen and have got an offer letter from UCD in MS in Strategic Management for September intake 2020. I am currently working in Accenture of 4.5 years as a Senior Software Analyst. I am a functional tester and have worked in some good financial insurance and resources utilities project. Also, I was at the client location in Norway and Germany for some time and henceforth have international exposure too.

I would like to know considering the covid situation, will it be a good idea to join this program in september? Also, how is the job market for Strategy Management in Ireland?

I had applied for two courses i.e. MS in Consulting Management and MS in Startegy Management , however I did get a rejection in Consulting Management.
Also, considering the ROI, will it be a wise decision to for Strategy Management.
Thanks in advance.

I see the website says: "80% of our graduates from this programme were employed after 6 months". So, that's greatly inferior to their MiM, which has 100%. Perhaps it's because the MiM has a strong quantitative element? 
I don't think there are jobs for 'strategic managers' or 'strategy managers' in many firms for fresh MSc graduates. 

I see the website says: "80% of our graduates from this programme were employed after 6 months". So, that's greatly inferior to their MiM, which has 100%. Perhaps it's because the MiM has a strong quantitative element? 
I don't think there are jobs for 'strategic managers' or 'strategy managers' in many firms for fresh MSc graduates. 

I see the website says: "80% of our graduates from this programme were employed after 6 months". So, that's greatly inferior to their MiM, which has 100%. Perhaps it's because the MiM has a strong quantitative element? 
I don't think there are jobs for 'strategic managers' or 'strategy managers' in many firms for fresh MSc graduates. 

Sorry, their degree in the FT MiM ranking is a MIM (International Management) rather than a MiM. It claims 95% (https://www.smurfitschool.ie/programmes/masters/cemsmastersininternationalmanagement/) but the previous year, as shown in the FT ranking, it was 100%. 
A little quant content is very different from none. 

I'm curious why you applied for these programs, rather than the better regarded MiM program (or, with your level of work experience, the MBA...)

I did apply for MS in Consulting Management and MIM, however I got a rejection and hence they offered me a seat in Strategy Management. 

[Edited by stsoumya3 on Jun 06, 2020]

I did apply for MS in Consulting Management and MIM, however I got a rejection and hence they offered me a seat in Strategy Management. 

[Edited by Yyttyu on Jun 06, 2020]

I'm curious why you applied for these programs, rather than the better regarded MiM program (or, with your level of work experience, the MBA...)

I did apply for MS in Consulting Management and MIM, however I got a rejection and hence they offered me a seat in Strategy Management. 

Very strange. I know many students who are in the same position as you. They got rejected by the two programs and were offered the strategic management msc. I think you must have applied through a consultant in India. These people actually dupe students into applying to UCD by virtually promising them a good job after their masters. I have seen people with 10 years of work experience and a good gmat attending the UCD MSc management when they could’ve gotten into much better schools. 
if this is the case, there is a chance that your consultant can bargain with the university and assure them that you will accept an offer for management consulting if they hand you one. The same thing happened to a friend of mine and he was asked by the consultant to pay his deposit on the day the university reconsidered it’s decision. However, tbh I have seen indians completing the strategic management MSc and getting a job in Dublin on the basis of their previous tech work ex at tcs, mu sigma etc. 

I think a lot of people are in similar positions. It seems like a very uncertain time to take a management degree, but it's actually the very best time because the opportunity cost is low and a degree from an excellent, highly-international business school like UCD's will help your CV. I think there are two parallel tactics.



First: Work out what you can do to make a success of UCD. Obviously UCD's approach will help the development of soft skills and the ability to deal with more uncertain factors like behavioural change, business transformation and the evaluation of new opportunities. Many of the students will have solid work experience. So, I think the courses are useful and relevant. UCD is also in a great school. However, I think it's important to focus on the roles where graduates end us: many are in highly regulated industries like financial services and high technology rather than in consulting firms. I assume many students in the degree want to work for the big strategy consulting firms and will have focussed their job hun unproductive in that direction. I also think it's worth looking at the skills gap between this MSc and the MIM at UCD, and to look for supplementary courses and projects which can fill that gap or show the skills. 


Second: because so many schools are starting online and will have lower conversion rates of admitted applicants into paid-up students, are there better programmes which might admit you? Some schools are more flexible. There might not be a better option available. See:  https://find-mba.com/board/general-forum/best-msc-mim-degrees-for-international-students-placement-52915

I think a lot of people are in similar positions. It seems like a very uncertain time to take a management degree, but it's actually the very best time because the opportunity cost is low and a degree from an excellent, highly-international business school like UCD's will help your CV. I think there are two parallel tactics.



First: Work out what you can do to make a success of UCD. Obviously UCD's approach will help the development of soft skills and the ability to deal with more uncertain factors like behavioural change, business transformation and the evaluation of new opportunities. Many of the students will have solid work experience. So, I think the courses are useful and relevant. UCD is also in a great school. However, I think it's important to focus on the roles where graduates end us: many are in highly regulated industries like financial services and high technology rather than in consulting firms. I assume many students in the degree want to work for the big strategy consulting firms and will have focussed their job hun unproductive in that direction. I also think it's worth looking at the skills gap between this MSc and the MIM at UCD, and to look for supplementary courses and projects which can fill that gap or show the skills. 


Second: because so many schools are starting online and will have lower conversion rates of admitted applicants into paid-up students, are there better programmes which might admit you? Some schools are more flexible. There might not be a better option available. See:  https://find-mba.com/board/general-forum/best-msc-mim-degrees-for-international-students-placement-52915

What do you consider to be "top"? It looks like that course places into Accenture; Deloitte; Grant Thornton and Deloitte. Those are, with EY, the largest consulting firms. On the other hand if you are focussed on the MBB strategy firms, you might need to reassess your goals. They select the most excellent students, and it seems that UCD is chanelling you towards the programmes for very good, but not excellent, students. 

For MBB firms:

https://find-mba.com/lists/other-top-business-school-lists/top-10-mbas-for-jobs-in-the-top-three-strategy-consulting-firms

MBB has very well established recruiting funnels set up through schools like Insead, LBS, and some top US full-time MBA programs. Maybe they would recruit somebody from UCD, but this is probably not typical.