Vidya Chokalingam is a student in the Rady School of Management’s Master of Science in Business Analytics program. We asked her to share her experience on why she chose to come to the Rady School to pursue an MSBA degree.
1) Why did you choose to pursue an MSBA?
I had been working as a data analyst previously for two years and I thought it was time to get some formal education in the field. I chose a business analytics concentration instead of a data science concentration because it would focus more on the stats and business part of analytics rather than technology. This essentially means that after graduation I would be focusing on actionable insights for businesses.
2) Why did you choose the Rady School?
One of the main reasons I chose Rady is its exceptional faculty. I saw a webinar in which there was a mention of Professor Nijs’ business analytics tool that he has developed on his own. How cool is that? Rady being a part of the UC system and UC San Diego being widely known was also a definite plus.
3) What do you feel makes Rady unique? How do you benefit from these aspects?
The Rady School has a reputation for innovation and entrepreneurship. Down the line I see myself getting involved in a start-up or starting up my own company. I felt that Rady would better prepare me for where I want myself to be in a few years. After I got admitted and before I accepted, I checked out the website and was really interested in some of Rady’s programs – mystartupxx, StartR Accelerator, Center for Business Analytics, etc. Again the focus on entrepreneurship really caught my attention.
4) What classes are you looking forward to this year?
Business Analytics with Professor Terry August and Digital Media Analytics and Customer Analytics with Professor Nijs.
5) What are your goals after graduation?
Immediately after I graduate, I am going to join the tech industry and try to use the skills I learn in a large company. Down the line, I plan to join the startup scene.
6) What advice do you have for prospective students?
My advice would be the MSBA program is great, but try to figure out if you have the aptitude for it. This course has programming, stats, and business all put together. For example, if you do not want to code and get your hands dirty, it would be really difficult to survive here. Also, San Diego is just so beautiful and pleasant. There is a Google office coming here shortly. You might want to consider those things as well before you apply.
An Entrepreneur in the Making was last modified: September 5th, 2017 by Rady School
Vidya Chokalingam is a student in the Rady School of Management’s Master of Science in Business Analytics program. We asked her to share her experience on why she chose to come to the Rady School to pursue an MSBA degree.