AUBG Professors and graduates

 

Depending on the program, graduate schools allow students to build on research projects started in college, or to further develop in a field of interest different from their major. Doing an internship, finding a job or volunteering, are some alternatives to studying at a graduate level. In the long run, if you want to become a professional, a master's or a doctoral degree is indispensable. So what is the graduate school trend among AUBG students, how does each major prepare students for graduate education, and what schools are recommended by AUBG professors?

BUS - let's talk business

The trend for AUBG's Business Administration (BUS) graduates is going to Europe rather than the United States, BUS Professor Zlatinka Gougoumanova said. "Popular programs in business in the USA would be ones in schools accredited by the AACSB [The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business]. However, many good European and other countries' business schools haven't sought AACSB accreditation," she added.

Graduate programs focus on management, human resources, academia, accounting, finance, marketing and other areas. "Most business schools would help with professional placement through their career services centers," Gougoumanova said.

In addition to the institutions accredited in the United States, Gougoumanova recommends schools in the United Kingdom (Cambridge, Oxford, London School of Economics, University of Kent, University of Essex, University of Lancaster, University of Leeds, University of Newcastle, University of Warwick), France (Haute Ecole de Commerce (HEC)), Canada (HEC Montreal) and South Africa (University of Witwatersrand).

COS - where heroes start

After doing a Computer Science (COS) graduate program you can become a computer systems analyst, computer systems administrator or researcher, and get a much wider range of opportunities than you have with a bachelor's degree, Chair of the COS department Volin Karagiozov said.

"I would not say that most of them choose to go to [a graduate] school - maybe not more than 30 percent. Most of them prefer to find a job just after they graduate [from] AUBG, and usually they start with good, relatively high salaries," Karagiozov said.

"I am thinking about [the] Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I would like to specialize in electrical engineering and computer science," AUBG senior Boyan Barnev said.

Georgia Tech in Atlanta, University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom or Columbia University in New York are some of the top choices in the field.

ECO - taking control

According to Didar Erdinc, the chair of the Economics (ECO) Department, 42-52 percent of the class of 2008 ECO graduates pursued a master's degree in economics. Once decided on the graduate school option, one has to set career goals, Erdinc added.

International trade, spatial economics, experimental economics, risk management, and banking and logistics are some subject areas economics graduate schools offer. The alternatives are job experience before graduate school, or simply working.

"If the student is interested in financial economics, it may be desirable to work a couple of years [...] to get a better understanding of how financial institutions [and] banks work [...], but for others who are interested in research it is absolutely necessary to start a master's or a PhD before they take up a job," Erdinc said.

Does a master's degree guarantee a higher salary or better prospects for a promotion? "Master's degree helps in terms of promotion, [and] in terms of getting a better starting salary, but it all depends on the kind of work you are doing [...] on the market, whether you have the necessary skills for the job, whether your skills match the requirements of the market place," Erdinc said. "That is the biggest challenge for the students, how to match their skills and their diploma with positions opened," she added.

Alexandra Dimova graduated with a degree in Business Administration and an ECO minor. She is now attending a two-year Master's program in Economics program at the Central European University (CEU), which "is located in Budapest [and is] popular among AUBGers," she said.

EUR - mix and match

European Studies (EUR) graduates usually go to Western Europe for their master's degree. Maastricht University, Utrecht University, Leuven University, University of Sussex and University of Bonn are some of their top picks.

"One of my main concerns was the fact that I was applying for EU law programs and I did not have a strong background in law. [...] I have started my master studies [and] it turns out that it is not as hard as I had imagined it to be," Doriana Dragomir, a former defacto reporter, said.

Although not compulsory, having a research project is an edge. "More and more schools ask for a research agenda. If you had the chance to start your thesis, this will make things much easier," Jean Crombois, the chair of the EUR Department said. Many graduates rely on a senior thesis to increase their chances, he added.

Crombois said he is in favor of students pursuing a Master's degree after college, especially if they have a career plan. "In Europe, usually a decent level to start a career is with a Master's degree. A Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree is not enough," he said.

HTY - ‘til the end

Unlike most major programs, History and Civilizations (HTY) major is not professionally focused. "HTY graduates usually go to [graduate] school simply because history is genuinely an academic discipline," history professor Markus Wien said. Most HTY majors have a clearly defined interest usually "related to their own country," he added.

Many HTY students at AUBG write a senior thesis, Wien said. Based on their research projects, students apply to graduate schools. Some of the most popular ones are Central European University in Budapest, School of Slavic and East European Studies (SSEES) and London School of Economics, Wien added. Universities in Germany and Austria are also popular among HTY graduates, because there is no tuition fee.

Majoring in history does not limit one to just being a scholar. Other professional fields are the publishing sector or journalism. Still, "once you major in history it is clear that you are thinking of an academic career," Wien said.

INF - the newborn

The new Information Systems (INF) major was approved by the Curriculum Committee last fall. According to the Registrar's Office, four students have INF as a major so far.

"Many of the courses that earlier went as MIS [Management of Information Systems] are now counted as INF courses so we expect the first students to graduate in May 2010," Karagiozov said.

"My major, [Information] Systems, requires me to have some working experience to make the future graduate program more relevant," sophomore Uladzislau Lisin said.

"There are more and more graduate programs that require students to have both COS and Information Systems undergraduate courses [...] The demand for students with double major, COS and INF, or BUS and INF, is also very high in the world market," Karagiozov said.

The graduate school opportunities for the major are similar to the COS ones, differing only in terms of specializations, Karagiozov said.

JMC - the door opener

The dominant trend for Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) graduates is to "get some experience" before their master's degree, rather than go to a graduate school immediately, journalism professor Phelps Hawkins said. The gap year between college and a graduate school can also be used to narrow down a student's interests, he added.

A good time to take up graduate school "is when you have really refined what you are interested in and decide to go for that," Hawkins said. Many graduates tend to switch focus from their major and choose to develop in a different field of study, such as "conflict resolution, gender issues, [or] international relations," he added.

By being an open specialty, JMC reaches out for different topic areas that connect to you in a personal way, Hawkins said. He advises students to "go work in Africa for an NGO, do good works, and see things, experience things." After this period if you are still interested in journalism, you have some "real experience behind you and you know what you want to do," he added.

Some options for a graduate school in Europe are Utrecht University, Maastricht University or University of Leeds, but "there isn't anything close to the quality of [graduate] schools in America," Hawkins said. The top graduate schools in the United States are Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Medill School of Journalism, Missouri School of Journalism and Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

An important difference between the European and American graduate schools is that the latter help students find a job after graduating. While programs in the United States tend to be practical and stress on hands-on experience, European programs are more theoretical. Schools "in the [United States] are academically high but very professionally oriented," while in Europe journalism is rather a focus within a program, Hawkins said.

AUBG alumna Yaldaz Sadakova majored in POS and minored in JMC at AUBG and got her master's degree at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in May 2008. "[JMC courses] taught me the fundamentals of western journalism, which is what I practiced at Columbia and later as a reporter in the [United States]," Sadakova said. "My strong points [when I applied to the graduate school] were my writing [skills] and my news background. My concern was my GPA, which was only 3.00," she added. Sadakova was granted a full scholarship which covered living and housing expenses.

MAT - the brains

"An undergraduate diploma in mathematics is just a beginning, you really have to go for a higher degree if you are doing mathematics," Alexander Ganchev, the chair of the Mathematics (MAT) Department, said.

Mathematics graduate fields include actuarial science, quantitative psychology and operations research. Mathematics is not limited to statistics or linear algebra. The range of choices matches the range of opportunities, Ganchev said.

Some places AUBG graduates choose are North-Western University in Chicago, Central European University in Budapest and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, USA.

POS - it's all about politics

Comparable to JMC, the Political Science and International Relations (POS) major is a wide open specialty, offering students a variety of viewpoints and perspective. It particularly educates students to do research in social sciences, to write, and introduces a diversity of political processes, Robert Phillips, the chair of the POS Department said.

Graduates are increasingly interested in "quasi professional programs," Phillips said. This means that similar to most graduates, POS majors are inclined professionally rather than academically.

Public administration, European Union law and European integration are some available options. Leiden University, Utrecht University, Maastricht University, University of Limerick and University of Sussex are the some popular European graduate school destinations for AUBGers. "[There are] more [AUBG] students studying in Europe than ten years ago. I think students are looking to the European Union for jobs," Phillips said. "There are going to be openings in European Union law, [...] companies are going to need not lawyers but people who can do consult law, [...] public policy analysis [and] environmental governance," he added.

POS graduate Andrei Pantu is doing his masters in Political Science at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Field of study, motivation, GPA and recommendations are all important when applying for a scholarship, he said.