November 7, 2022

On October 29th, 2022, the NYU Stern - NYU Shanghai MS Programs Graduate Admissions team held a city event in Shanghai, adjacent to NYUSH’s Qiantan new campus. With the topic Growing - Your Journey From Graduate Programs to A Business Career, the event provided prospective students with the opportunity to communicate with admissions officers, current students, and alumni to better understand the programs and application requirements. Before the event, the admissions committee offered a limited number of in-person consultation sessions to prospective students who have already started their application to the programs. 

One-on-one consultation sessions with the admissions committee

During the event, Shlomit Narotzky, Director of Graduate Admissions for NYU Stern - NYU Shanghai introduced the programs and application requirements, followed by panel discussions with current students and alumni.

Shlomit Narotzky, Director of Graduate Admissions, was introducing the MS Programs and sharing an overview of the application process

We have summarized the key points from panel discussions. Our panelists provided valuable information and their own particular perspectives about the program resources, and what students can expect to experience during the program and after graduation. 

Event Panelists

Panel Discussion with Alumni

Mingqi Pu, MSQF, Class of 2022 and Yuxin Ouyang, MSDABC, Class of 2022

Alumni Sharing

Shlomit: How did you balance your academic study, internship, and life during this 12-month intense program? 

Yuxin (MSDABC, Class of 2022): Reflecting on my own experience, I think time management skill is particularly important. Our program is a one-year-long, intense program. And if you break the one-year time down, there’s not much time to waste. One suggestion I want to offer is that try to focus on your career goal, set specific milestones, and plan to reach those milestones accordingly.

I knew I wanted to work in an industry related to consumer goods at the very beginning. I had looked for internships in this particular area at an early stage and got an internship in L’Occitane. With solid internship experience, I could have more hands-on experience and thus have more detailed information to talk about during interviews during recruiting season. I remember our class schedule was really internship-friendly because the classes usually took only half a day and the rest of the time can be spent on internships. Aside from time management, plan ahead for job applications, and use CDC(career development center) as resources.

The second point I want to share with you is to pay full attention to classes. It is more efficient for us to understand what professors say during classes than to spend time self-learning after class. I would suggest students marking deadlines for school assignments and job applications by weeks and plan ahead. And make sure to list priorities on the to-do list to help stay on track.

My last piece of advice for you is “have fun”. Enjoy the program and don’t stress too much. Although you will have a very busy schedule during the program, it’s also important to relax and have fun before being a working professional. I remember during the weekends I always hang out with my classmates. We would go out for food and drinks and so on. You’ll find that the friends you meet are friends of a lifetime and are your best resources throughout the year and even after.

Shlomit: Was the program able to support you along the way?

Mingqi(MSQF, Class of 2022): I think the program supports me in three aspects: professors, curriculums, and Career Development Center. 

First, the professors in the program are very helpful and accessible. They are not only willing to help us with academic study but also willing to provide guidance for our career preparation. 

Second, the curriculum of the QF program also supports me to find a job. I should say that the coursework is unique and very helpful during my interviews. A lot of jobs in the finance sector, especially those equity research jobs, will not only ask for behavioral skills but also technical skills.

Third, the Career Development Center (CDC) and Capstone Director are also very helpful during my job hunting process. I had applied to a cosmetics company, and a CDC mentor who worked in this field for many years helped me to prepare for my interview. Also, I received interviews from JP Morgan and then reached out to Han Shen Lin, the capstone director of QF for help. Professor Han Shen Lin gave me a lot of advice regarding the interview question preparation.

Shlomit: As you look back on your student days, what do you most remember? 

Mingqi(MSQF, Class of 2022): During the program, I have done lots of group-projects and I often remember the time I spent with my groupmates, and the great group communications we had. My teammates are super supportive. Most of us have internships during that time. During those group projects, we gradually found the way that is most effective. The bondings among us were tight. We connected a lot after graduation and I think the friends I met during the programs are the most valuable.

Yuxin(MSDABC, Class of 2022): For me, I think that friendship was the most valuable thing. We had around 40 people in the program and all of us got along really well. Even till today we are still keeping in touch with each other and hanging out every once in a while. Really, the friends you made can be friends for good. 

Panel Discussion with Graduate Ambassadors, Class of 2023

Jennifer Kang, MSMRS; Celine Wang, MSOMS; Ryan Chen, MSQF; Judy Zhu, MSDABC

Graduate ambassadors sharing

Shlomit: All of you are highly talented and had other academic institution choices. Why did you choose NYU SH?

Jennifer (MSMRS, Class of 2023): There are two main reasons why I chose this program.

Before attending NYU, I worked for a year or two at a public relations agency in New York City. After working for a while, I realized that there were certain elements of the job I enjoyed less than I did when I started, and I felt it was time to expand my knowledge. There are a lot of similarities between PR and Marketing, but one key difference was that PR lacked the quantitative and analytical elements that are heavily driving the future of business / marketing. ​​The MSMRS program helps fill in that gap through providing a balanced curriculum incorporating both traditional and new marketing elements, as well as the blend between the science and art of marketing. For example, during the first semester, we took courses in Python, and learned how to use softwares like JMP and Tableau to analyze consumer data.

Another key reason is the opportunity to study in both NYC and Shanghai, as well as the program’s significant emphasis on the China and Asia market. It is designed specifically for students who want to work in China and Asia in the future, and that is a goal of mine. 

Celine (MSOMS, Class of 2023): Firstly, I would say is the ideal location of the program- New York and Shanghai. 

Secondly, the most important point is small class size with students of diverse backgrounds. The Organization Management and Strategy program is a new program, and I was lucky enough to be the first one among the mainland undergraduates in the program, as there were less than 30 students in my class and most of them were overseas undergraduates, which ensured the participation and diversity of thinking in the class.

Thirdly, I would like to say the class mode is flexible and teachers are supportive. Lastly, CDC service is also something you don’t want to miss. 

Shlomit: What were your expectations? Especially career aspirations and how the program contributes to achieving your goal?

Judy(MSDABC, Class of 2023): First of all, my technical skills are definitely improved through the program.The curriculum covered predictive modeling, programming, and machine learning algorithms, and we learned a lot of most commonly used machine learning models, like NLP, XGBoost. These are really helpful for either entering industry or if you’d like to apply for phd programs later.

Secondly, during the courses, we have a lot of opportunities to talk with the head of data and CTO from the industry, from those big companies including Internet, FMCG, and so on. These guest speakers helped me a lot in career aspirations, such as how data is currently being used in their companies and general in the industry, what kind of business problems or a specific project they’re dealing with, and their data team responsibility and requirements.

Thirdly, I believe the NYU alumni network and career development center also helped a lot. We had company visits. I attended a lot of recruitment sessions on campus to get in touch with NYU alumni and recruiters. This kind of close contact can help me better understand company value, work experience and so on.

Except for career aspirations, I get to know a lot of students with diverse backgrounds in the DABC program. We also learned from each other, such as others’ work experience in a specific company that are very helpful if you’d like to enter that company.

Ryan(MSQF, Class of 2023): My expectations were learning more knowledge and exploring the career opportunities in the China financial market. After graduation, I hope to be an equity research analyst in a security company or an investment research assistant in a mutual fund in China.

The program offers more than I expected. The classmates are more diverse than I thought before. We have a classmate from psychology background, a physics background, and a  classmate working in the government financial sector, that allow us to learn from each other.  

I found the program helpful for me to achieve my career goals because its unique location allows me to take internships in Shanghai. And I learned more useful financial knowledge than I expected, such as learning about the China Financial market. We had the high-level professionals come to our classroom and give us lectures about career life and give real-life advice. We also have great professors who worked in top banks, investment banking and so on. The program also helps us with career events, group interviews, and 1-on-1 interviews to get the job. 

Shlomit: What have you most enjoyed thus far and why?

Judy(MSDBAC, Class of 2023): Except for classes, guest speakers, industry discussion, company open day, I really enjoyed the time in the graduate lounge. We always study there for team projects, or just chat with other graduate students from either DABC program or other programs.

Ryan(MSQF, Class of 2023): The location about the program. Studying in Shanghai really helps you to explore career opportunities if you want to work in China in the future. 

Celine(MSOMS, Class of 2023): I would say the class materials that are provided by professors. Most of our class are case studies. Through these cases, we deepened the understanding of business. By discussing these cases with classmates, we feel really involved in class.

Jennifer (MSMRS, Class of 2023): I’ve really enjoyed meeting all the students and professors thus far in the program, especially since everyone’s been so welcoming, kind and friendly. I spent the summer in New York, and it was interesting to finally get to meet everyone in-person this semester in Shanghai.

Q&A Session

A prospective student asking questions

Q: For DABC program alumni and current students, what skills other than hard skills have you learnt  from the program？

Judy(MSDBAC, Class of 2023): We’ve just finished our Machine Learning class. We had a group project about how to use product reviews to give feedback on marketing retainment. This is how we apply hard skills in actual business scenarios. We also carried a lot of business cases where professors talked about how you can use data analytics skills in different industries. We also had opportunities to talk with guest speakers from different industries to learn about how they are utilizing data in the real business world.

Yuxin(MSDBAC, Class of 2022): Besides hard skills like programming languages, It’s important to have logical thinking skills - statistical skills and analytics skills.  I think a lot of my classmates are working as business analysts. During work, there are a lot of numbers you have to look at and make decisions upon. So you have to be sensitive to numbers. I think these are something you can get practice with during the program.

Q: Please share your programming proficiency when entering the DABC program.

Yuxin(MSDBAC, Class of 2022):  Before entering the program, I learned how to write C and how to write R, and I learned to use a lot of program languages such as SML, SAP. Their logics are in common（except for SQL,is probably something you would take longer to get used to), and if you’ve already learned one, I think you would get to learn another one very quickly. I think R programming is required for our program. So make sure you get R if you want to apply for the DABC program. 

Judy(MSDBAC, Class of 2023): My undergraduate major was data science. I had some proficiency in R, Python， C++ and SQL. I also did some projects before. But when I entered the program, we started from the very beginning level. You can get along with other classmates who may not have very high proficiency based on that. You’ll learn together and practice then you will know better about the programming languages. 

Following the panel discussions, prospective students participated in a networking event with current students, alumni, and the admissions team.

The networking session with prospective students, current students, alumni and the admissions team

With this knowledge, we hope you have a deeper understanding of the four MS programs. If you wish to learn more about us, you are also welcome to register for our upcoming events and reach out with any questions.