Graduated from UIUC MSM, moving on to MBA

[fmsoa]

I haven't been on this board in a while, thought I would give a quick update in case it's helpful for someone else considering their educational journey. tldr I graduated from the UIUC MSM a few days ago.

Background: Completed 120 credit hours as a traditional college-age student, but didn't graduate (some credits were electives that didn't fulfill requirements, then I took a job in another state, intending to return to finish, then never returned to finish for decades)

Went to UMPI last summer, completing a BBA in one session, with a 4.0 GPA.

Applied to UIUC MSM, Georgia Tech Master of Cybersecurity-Policy Track, Boston University Master of Data Science, and UMPI MAOL. Accepted to all. Decided to do MSM.

The UIUC MSM is about $13K and about one year, though you can go a little faster or a lot slower if you choose. I completed it in 10 months by taking a heavier than normal courseload in one 8-week session. I graduated on Aug. 11 with a 4.0 GPA and am now moving into the UIUC MBA, which stacks.

The MSM is 9 classes/36 hours. The MBA is 18 classes/72 hours, and is about $26K. (One class at UIUC is 4 credit hours, vs the more typical 3 hours, so the numbers are a bit inflated. The prices are actually billed per credit hour, with two classes costing around $2800.) A full course load is two classes/8 hours per 8-week session. It is not CBE. The work is divided by week, with due dates each week. You can't do a future week's work early. Most classes have required teamwork assignments that you do with fellow students, which often involve Zoom meetings, but not every week, only around the time of the assignments. Most student groups use a Teams channel for routine planning and communication.

The MSM coursework "transfer in" as 9 classes toward the MBA's required 18 classes. The only caveat I will mention is that the MBA has 7 required quantitative classes, and the MSM has only two. So, I now need 5 quant classes out of my remaining 9 classes, ouch. I hope I can maintain the 4.0 but we'll see.

In case anyone is wondering, this is "the" University of Illinois, the Fighting Illini, currently in US News & World Report's top 35 national universities in the U.S., not an alternate online-only campus or anything like that. Graduates can walk in the ceremony in Urbana-Champaign.

I am describing it in some detail to help people judge if this is the program for them. I recommend it, but there are many options and it's best to consider multiple options before deciding. If anybody has questions about the UIUC programs, please don't hesitate to ask.

I'm currently in the iMSM program as well, although I won't finish until next year because I've just been taking one class at a time. Awesome to hear your experience. I still have 5 more classes left, although I'm not in too much of a rush because I received the Coursera Scholarship so it pays for most of it. I'm still debating on whether or not to continue on the the iMBA but I love the stackable path so much!

Congratulations on getting the scholarship! Do you mind sharing how you applied for it? I am planning to join this program in the spring semester.

I'm interested in iMSM as well since all my previous degrees are in STEM. How does the scholarship work? Is there an option in the initial iMSM Graduate application to apply for the Coursera scholarship as well?

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Thank you for sharing your experience , I am accepted for iMBA as PAT , I have low GPA , I was wondering why it takes 72 Hours thats alot for that reason , do you think its better for me to go for MSM first and then stack to the iMBA ? or go straight to the iMBA , which one do you think its better route if you have to redo it again and why ?

I think each path has some pros and cons. I am glad I did MSM first, because it allowed me to have a master's sooner, which especially mattered in my case because it let me do some adjunct instruction sooner. Part of my semi-retirement plan is to be an adjunct, so getting some experience in that realm earlier seems like a plus. It also meant that when I applied for jobs in the meantime, I could list a UIUC master's degree, which may have helped. I ended up not changing jobs during this time, so I guess it didn't concretely help, but it gave a sense of security.

So, I'd say the main pro is you get a master's degree sooner.

The cons are not that severe, but they are worth mentioning. The first is, the MSM has 9 classes, of which 2 are quant; the MBA has 18 classes, of which 7 are quant. This means if you do the MSM without doing quant electives, you will enter the MBA needing 9 more classes, of which 5 are quant. That is, more than half of your classes in the second year will be quant.

You can plan around that, but, it's something to be aware of.

The second con is that it complicates applying for transcriptable grad certificates. It is possible to do so, but all coursework has to be done either entirely in MSM or entirely in MBA, even though for most purposes, all of the classes are viewed the same way. In this specific way, they are not, and it's a little harder to meet requirements entirely in one program or the other. Then again, who really needs a grad certificate once you have the master's?

In sum, I think MSM and then MBA worked out for me, but some people may prefer the simplicity and commitment of going straight into MBA.

Oh, I should also mention, if you are admitted to MBA, you cannot do MSM as part of MBA. You would need to leave the MBA program, apply to MSM, enter and complete MSM, then apply again to MBA. Despite how closely related they are, rules are rules, and at an official level, they are different programs with separate admissions decisions.

As for the 72 hours, bear in mind that each class is 4 hours (not 3). It is 18 classes. It's a healthy, rigorous program that covers all of the traditional MBA topics. But, it's not an especially long program (I will finish the MBA less than two years after starting at UIUC, and that is common). If the classes counted as 3 hours instead of 4, it would be 54 hours.

By the way, that entry method you are using is a great option. I am really proud of them for offering that. It won't really slow you down. All of my sessions except one were two classes, anyway, and if you are motivated, I'm sure you can do better than what they require for full entry into the program, which if I recall is a B average. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions or concerns!

Are all classes 8-week long? How does evaluation/grading work? Mostly proctored/Honorlock exams or presentations? tbh I hate peer grading it's a farce for online degrees