Thesis Award winner Julia Murphy - about MSc Marketing Management

My name is Julia Murphy, and I graduated in July from the MSc in Marketing Management at RSM. I’m 22 years old, Argentine and American, and am excited to share a bit about the advantages and disadvantages of the program, my own experience, and my advice for any incoming students.

While the one year of the MSc in Marketing Management was filled with late nights and long hours at Polak, I feel confident, looking back, that it was worth it. To me, the strength of the program comes in the applicability of the content and the rare balance of the curriculum: the classes are structured in such a way that students can explore the creative aspects of marketing and discover the complexity and power of taking an evidence-based approach to marketing. This is what drew me to this particular master – I wanted to treat marketing as a science and as an art, and understand how it could be both at once, and I feel that this program delivered on that promise. Beyond that, the electives provided flexibility in the curriculum, allowing me to delve into areas of marketing that were of particular interest to me, and specialize within the broad umbrella that is marketing.

 

The thesis was also a notable highlight for me – I was able to really explore marketing within a context I was passionate about. I was challenged to do applicable, valuable, and rigorous research, which gave me the opportunity to put everything I was learning into practice. Recently, I got to revisit my thesis by presenting it at the Erasmus Marketing Thesis Awards hosted by MAEUR, where it received the award of Best Marketing Thesis. This honor was a great reminder of how much I had learned, and how incredible it was that I had had the opportunity to do research of this nature. Looking back, I can’t stress enough the value of taking advantage of the opportunity the thesis trajectory presents by choosing a topic you are passionate about, and challenging yourself to do it well.

 

Of course, not everything about my experience was perfect. The MSc in Marketing Management is a challenging program – you’re pushed to think critically, independently, and beyond your comfort zone. It’s also condensed into one year, which means it’s demanding. And, finally, treating marketing as a science means the curriculum is, perhaps, more quantitative than one would expect from a marketing degree.

 

My suggestion to do well in the master would simply be to come in with the mindset of learning as much as possible, to actively think about the applicability of what you’re learning and use that as motivation, and to take advantage of the varied curriculum to figure out what you want to do in the future. Finally, my biggest tip is to have an open mind. I came into the master fearing the quantitative courses, and left with a passion for both quantitative and qualitative market research so, you never know what can happen.

 

With that being said, if you are passionate about marketing, the many forms it takes on, and the power it can have – I think this program is a great first step in delving into a career in the field.