I’m almost a senior at CU Denver majoring in Geography. A little bit of background: my original plan was to go down the city planning route, but after taking GIS (computer mapping) classes, I realized that to be realistically employable with geography, it would be most helpful to have GIS skills, but I couldn’t stand it. Then I looked into accounting and looked at pre-req’s for grad programs. I’m still thinking about accounting.
However, I recently started working in a national chain restaurant and I’m loving it. I easily and enjoy working 10-12 hour days, I help people that work other jobs in the restaurants (bussing tables, getting food and drinks out, etc.) I love jobs where I can interact with customers (spent 2 years in retail also). When I was looking at undergrad schools, I visited and got accepted to UNLV for their restaurant management program. But now I think I want to do it for my masters and try to be a GM at a large restaurant.
I live in Colorado so Las Vegas isn’t too far. Looking at top programs, most show Cornell and Penn State, along with UNLV in the top 5 (MSU is also there). UNLV is only about 20 grand out of state, while Cornell is in the 40’s. I’m wondering if getting a masters helps get to a management level faster, or do restaurants prefer more experience over education? Would getting a masters in accounting while working my way up to manager be a good idea, that way I would have both job options? Do any of you have education in hospitality management? Any advice?