Wake Forest Master in Management Student Review

I’ll be honest, I was very late to the game in terms of looking for a one-year / pre-experience Masters program.  I went to a semi/non target (but not unheard of) liberal arts school in the Midwest and, although we typically had a handful of good consulting/finance firms recruit on campus, Fall 2008 was a rough time to find a job.  By January 2009, with graduation only a few months away, no job offers and no more legitimate firms coming to campus, I went to my school’s career guidance center looking for help.

The Wake Forest Masters in Management program had actually just contacted them, so they had some of Wake’s brochures.  Coincidentally, I knew a few people from high school who were at Wake’s undergraduate business school, so I contacted them and asked about the MA program.  It was (and still is) a relatively new degree and program, but it sounded like placement was promising, especially in the Southeast.  I took the GMAT, asked for a few recommendations from my professors and submitted an application.  In relatively short order, I got my acceptance letter.

For me, as a liberal arts economics major, the Masters in Management program offered a good opportunity to gain some practical experience and a more marketable skill set.  I had two decent internships at a F500 over the summers, but I hadn’t found my niche.  I liked the idea of being able to take business classes in different disciplines (finance, accounting, marketing, operations, etc.) and getting a better understanding of what types of jobs were out there.

The program also has an internship-type program that runs parallel to the coursework.  You are placed in a study team of 5 or 6 other students and work with a local business on a variety of consulting-type projects.  Depending on your career interests, this can be a great talking point during an interview.  A few students even leveraged their internship into a full-time offer.

The most direct benefit was another year in school to refine my interviewing skills, beef up my resume and give on-campus recruiting another shot.  Wake has a good regional alumni network in the Southeast and I knew I wanted to end up in Atlanta/Charlotte/Raleigh/Richmond/DC.  I also genuinely learned a great deal in my classes.  My undergraduate school was very purist in terms of the liberal arts curriculum, so I had never taken accounting or finance before.

I think the MA program is best for someone who wants to add a “capstone” year to a liberal arts degree, especially if you are unsure about what field you would like to enter.

I will fully admit that the generalist nature of the MA program is a blessing and a curse.  I really enjoyed taking classes in different areas, but I sometimes worry that the degree isn’t technical/specialized enough.  I graduated with good foundational knowledge in accounting, finance, marketing, strategy, etc., but it’s hard to know how the degree will position me if/when I apply for a full MBA.

They give you the option to come back and finish Wake’s MBA program in just one additional year, but I would prefer to go to a more “target” MBA school.  At the end of the day, as is the case with everything, the Wake Forest MA in Management program will be as good as you make it.

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