UROP - Should I do it for Work Study as Junior this Fall? (Also, Ross Master of Management)

I’m a rising junior, and am currently signed up to do UROP in the fall. Should’ve done it fresh/soph year, didn’t, oh well. I have full work study and was intending to use UROP for work study this fall. I also have an excellent on-campus job, which I’m currently working at and will continue to work at, that is work-study only.

I am a Communications major and am also doing the Ross Sales Track (marketing certification). Other things on campus I do include being the editor in chief of a new mental health magazine, some volunteering clubs, some graphic design for magazines, a sorority, and I’m going to join the Ross sales club this fall. Overall nothing too substantial, just a few leadership positions in the mental health magazine. I may join more organizations, I don’t know.

I intend on pursing the one year Ross Master of Management degree. I really have my heart set on that, and am studying intensely for the GMAT and pursuing business as much as possible outside of the classroom. I love e-commerce and intend on starting a new project with that this summer, amongst other things. To have a master’s degree from Ross by age 22? What a dream… hoping to make it a reality. Not particularly interested in other grad schools or studying anything else. I want to get a higher degree in business. I have pre-paid tuition credits, and after my bachelor’s I should have ~29 credits left to apply to a masters. The MM program is 30.75 credits, making a $46,000+ degree possible for <$5000 for me.

Here is my dilemma, well I have a lot of dilemmas… work study will only pay for ~10 hours a week of work, UROP is at least 6. Ideally I’d work as much as possible at my on-campus job, which allows me to do homework almost my entire shift, for probably at least 8 hours a week. Therefore, doing UROP causes me to limit my hours at my job. If I choose to do UROP I’d like to do a project in communications or business.

I wanted to do UROP because it seemed like a solid opportunity for a unique experience (though I doubt I’d want to continue to do research in the future) that I’d get paid for, I want to boost my resume, and, potentially get solid professional contacts. MM application requires two letters of recommendation, and unfortunately, I can’t think of two people I’d like to ask. I can’t say that I gave full effort in my classes the first two years going to office hours or otherwise getting a relationship with any teachers (fortunately, my GPA isn’t absolute trash, I still have a 3.5 and intend on raising it as much as possible). My current boss would write one, however, I’d really like to have some relevant people that could write my letters of recommendation. I hope to gain solid relationships with professors in this upcoming school year and will definitely put considerably more effort in.

I’m only taking 10 credits this fall because the classes offered were not what I needed/wanted to take, and as stated, I have pre-paid credits and it is pointless to waste them on unnecessary classes. Oh, and I can’t be in the UROP seminar with juniors, because I have a scheduling conflict with a necessary class. I’d be with freshman and sophomores. Ugh.

Can anyone give me some advice? I’m at a crossroad here about UROP. If anyone has any advice about the Ross Master of Management degree, that’d be excellent too! Thanks everyone for reading. Feel free to share your actual experience with UROP too.

i don’t want to poo on your parade, but i’m not even entirely sure if a Masters in Management adds much value to your bachelors.

The salary and breadth of companies are unimpressive.

https://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/Programs/MM/pdfs/16_mm_1.pdf

I’ve seen LSA grads work at Ford, Amazon, IBM, Accenture, Oracle who majored in Sociology, Communications, English, Psychology, or Economics without a masters degree. A number of them get better salaries than $50k per year

You’re better off leveraging Handshake, other online job boards, company info sessions, Fall/Winter Career fairs, the LSA internship hub, polishing your resume, preparing for interviews, and networking in student orgs.

Personally,it looks like a money grab using the Ross brand. Even if you get tuition for free, you need to account for the opportunity cost of not being in the workforce.

You’re better off applying for the Ross MBA later in your career. The average entering age in the MBA is 28 or 27 i believe.

“my on-campus job, which allows me to do homework almost my entire shift, for probably at least 8 hours a week.”

That is an ideal situation for a student. What is the campus job?

@betoh , how does it seem like a money grab? I didn’t even mention anything about salaries. I just want to do this because I’m getting little business knowledge in my undergrad and I want to have core business skills. This one year degree will give me that. I think that the opportunity cost of going to school for another ten months than working ten months is worth it to me. For reasons that are not worth explaining on here, I don’t think getting a MBA is in my cards.

I’ll try to do everything you suggested, like leveraging Handshake and networking, in addition to my goal of a Masters in Management, so that I can be the strongest job candidate I can possibly be!

@098123Student it really is, I hit the jackpot of student jobs. It’s a front desk assistant job at a studying place on campus.

no, i’m saying uofm is doing a money grab, not you.

According the employment data, there isn’t an advantage of having a Master’s in Management. Those same companies and salaries can be gained without the Master’s in Management. Your LSA degree by itself is just fine if you’re looking for the same type of jobs.