As students, you might have several confusions, and one among them is MBA vs. MS; it’s a very popular one, though. Every career enthusiast, just like you, has to somehow go through this burning dilemma at least once. And we know that you want to choose the best one for yourself, that’s right. For which we say they both are great, no lie. Each one has awesome opportunities for everyone, given that you are fantastic in it. Be it personality development-wise, career-wise, and in so many aspects, they are just great. Well, but how to know which one is better for you?
See, that’s a good question here. Especially if you want to pursue your MS or MBA somewhere international, you really have to be particular about your choice. Otherwise, you’ll simply end up wasting your money, time, and effort. So that’s why educating yourself before you get any education is really, really important in the 21st century.
It’s such a vast confusion we know, hard to untangle, we know, and so, many of you need help, and we just know. Of course, we are here to do that for you and if that sounds reasonable and great, let’s get started without any delay.
What is an M.S?
First, let’s get the basics right…
M.S is a widely recognized short form of the very famous ‘Master of Science’ degree. Notably, it’s a full-time program/degree that will be presented to you by your respective university or board in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine if you successfully finish it. And it’s a fact that M.S is not restricted to only these fields, even many universities offer the degree in humanities and social sciences as well. Different universities, different conventions, and codes. M.S, in general, is an advanced level of study in any particular field, and that’s an excellent choice to become more professional in your interests. It basically would involve you writing a thesis or even a research project. Note, apparently, several universities also offer students to substitute a thesis with a research project. Isn’t that great? What’s more relaxing is, you don’t need work experience to necessarily get into the M.S. You are willing to explore and learn the in-depth subject of your choice that falls under the M.S category is just all you need. And more than all it takes is your valuable time of 2 years and your conscious efforts to study.
MBA
Fundamentals first…
This needs no introduction; we mean, how wouldn’t you know if literally every other student is speaking and seeking it? But education before any education is a gold standard policy for a bright future. So, MBA stands for Master of Business Administration. Well, this voguish educational program is a professional post-graduate degree that your university will present to you once you successfully finish these 1 or 2 years. And this degree specifically focuses on the business administration and management side of every field. So, you’ll dedicatedly study the theory and application of business and management principles in the real world in real-time scenarios. Interestingly the MBA originally came from the United States, and thanks to the era of Industrialization. To be very specific about the details, it was a time when the companies solicited some scientific strategies to management of the huge enterprises, and that’s when this all began. That brings us to the courses available in MBA; here they are, accounting, applied statistics, business communication, business ethics, ethics, business law, finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, operations, and several more.
As it’s too popular, it can also be hard to be very sure. That’s why many accreditation bodies are in operation to guarantee the quality of MBA education worldwide. Coming to how much time you can or you should spend on the program, we must say it actually depends. For instance, some institutions and business schools offer different MBA programs like a full-time 2-year program, one year full-time, part-time, distance, and executive programs as well. This happens because students, working professionals, regardless of their age, are pursuing MBA these days. And programs like these fit them just perfect to balance out both professional and educational life. Not to mention, all these programs require a different set and length of work experience, admissions tests, and more.
Opportunities you’ll get if you choose M.S?
A fascinating section for career-oriented students, and here we come with all the information. Okay, first things first, these opportunities may differ from one country to another and from one profession to another. However, chances are plenty. Now, we would like to extend more about the most renowned M.S degrees globally. So, if you want to pursue an M.S degree outside your home country, as most students do, you can have a bigger picture with you already. Perfect! Here’s the list of the most popular M.S courses:
- M.S in Computer Science
- M.S in Information Systems
- M.S in Engineering
- M.S in Management
Professions/career path you can choose after your M.S
- Software Developer and average expected salary would be around US: 80,000 USD/year.
- An AI Scientist, and for this profession, the average expected salary is around US: 83,500 USD/year
- Virtual Reality Designer and can get salary in hand up to US: 67,000 USD/year.
- Biotechnologist with an average expected salary of US: 45,000 USD/year – teacher, 114,000 USD – professor.
- Nurse with a reasonable average salary of US: 69,000 USD/year.
- Psychotherapist, you earn an average salary of US: 38,500 USD/year.
- Engineer with a whopping salary of US: 82,589/year.
- Under the M.S in Management you can start from an entry-level Analyst – $60-70K/year and can reach to a senior-level Analyst – $90-130K/year with salary ranging. And in the same domain you can work in well-liked positions like well-liked positions like Development Manager, Advertising Manager, Sales Manager, Managing Director and more.
- Well, literally a lot more you can do and more professions to come in the future.
Notably, M.S is a very technical program, and all the jobs that we mentioned do include full or some of the technical skills for sure. If you still want to continue with your further studies, you can opt to do a Ph.D. program afterward. It all depends on what you want to do next. You already have a pre-set future plan that demands you to have an M.S degree, or even if you don’t have any down the line, interests may change, and that’s okay.
Opportunities you’ll get if you choose MBA?
Countless! MBA is pretty famous among students because there are so many opportunities with a good salary, so that’s why all this demand exists. Best of the best colleges, universities, and business schools never have a shortage of talented students, and world-class companies come to them to hire these stars. Remember every company needs candidates from the field of MBA and more or less encourages most of their employees to pursue MBAs. You can do an MBA in the following fields, and accordingly, you can find your perfect job: finance, consulting, investment banking, private equity, and technology. And jobs like sales, marketing, business development, operations, and more are always open for you people.
And so here are industries that hire MBA students:
- Consulting: This industry can actually provide you an average salary of US: 90,900/year.
- Technology: Potentially can offer you around US: 89,633/year.
- Private Equity: This may differ from position to position that ranges from, Pre-MBA Analyst – $75,000 to $100,000, Pre-MBA Associate – $100,000 – $150,000, Post-MBA Pre-Partner $3000,000 – $1.75 Million, Partner – $1 Million to $10 Million.
- Investment Banking: You can earn a good amount ranging from positions and average salaries like Analysts – $91,000, Associate – 124,000, Vice president – 181,000, Director – 265,000, and Managing Director – 364,000.
- Energy: if you work in middle management positions you would earn like $125,000, and as you get into the senior positions, you can earn up to $165,000.
Again please note, these figures may differ from one candidate to another depending on how you perform in your interviews and may hike as you perform better at your organization. You see, the more skills you possess, the more money you can make. It’s simple as that and no other shortcuts, but you can prefer to work smart.
What’s the difference between M.S and MBA
The central focus point:
MBA is more business-driven, and the M.S is more technical knowledge-driven. This means that in MBA, you’ll focus more on business and management principles. On the other hand, in an M.S, a student will mainly concentrate on in-depth subject matters.
Investment of your time:
As discussed earlier, an M.S is a 2-year full-time degree that mandates you to attend class in a traditional college-going way. In contrast, the MBA has some exceptional programs that fit any profession, professional, student, or individual. Here you have a 2-year full-time, 1-year full-time, distance, part-time, and executive.
Required work experience
In an M.S, you don’t definitely need any prior work experience whatsoever, So that’s a plus point. But in an MBA, this indeed differs from college to college, but typically a 2 – 5 years of experience is generally needed.
Admission exams for M.S and MBA
If you want to get into the field of M.S, you should and must clear GRE, and for MBA students, the GMAT exam is mandatory. Then for English tests, some universities accept the TOEFL, and some others accept IELTS or SAT for international students.
GRE is a Graduate Record Examination that thoroughly examines the candidate’s verbal and quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills.
GMAT is a Graduate Management Admission Test that tests the candidate’s analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English.
TOEFL is a Test of English as a Foreign Language that analyzes the candidate’s listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills.
IELTS is an International English Language Testing System that checks a candidate’s listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills.
SAT is a Scholastic Assessment Test that validates a candidate’s capabilities in three major areas like critical reading, maths, and writing.
Now how do you choose your best one?
Let’s clear this out…
Before you choose anyone, you need a clarification of what you want out of your future. What do you expect from the career path that you prefer? We have broadly categorized it into two factors and hope this will help you narrow down your decision.
1. Do you have any goals?
Science and Business are making the world very new for us every day. If you want to be part of that mission, then you are doing it all right.
Also, we know it’s so much pressure to choose a career and goal in life. So many people around us have an impact on our decision when it comes to dreams and careers. So our humble advice to you, do what you are doing because it brings joy to your heart, not money. Passion is vital to succeeding in any field. You lack passion; no matter how much you earn a year, you are never satisfied.
So, having a goal before you start gives you direction to move towards it. And the same works in M.S and MBA. But, you just choose M.S because all others are doing it or without a goal, you may further get more confused. MBA is famous, no doubt, but you don’t do it because your friends are doing it. You do it because you dream of leading a marketing team or anything similar. So, a simple conclusion, career goal is to know if you want to choose M.S or MBA.
2. Return on investment :
We just spoke about how important it is to have a goal. And when you reach there, you get your return on investment for sure. But, practically speaking, if you are opting to do an M.S or MBA in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, or any country would cost you so much money. Some students get huge scholarships; others manage to find part-time jobs or even do a CPT program.
And with that, we want to conclude by saying passion for doing something can be a good base for decision-making, so trust your passion. And if you still need more assistance, we are always right at your help with our best experts in the field. Stay tuned if you like the type of content we publish and more updates and blogs are your way
