Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA)
Albers School of Business and Economics
Magda Garcia Martinez, ’22 MSBA, loves challenges. As a child, she was fascinated with space, so she pursued a bachelor’s and master’s in aerospace engineering in her home country of Spain. After several years working in the field, she found her learning curve flattening and decided to try a new challenge. She became a tech and aerospace consultant and after a few years, transferred to San Francisco just as the pandemic hit. Her work quickly pivoted to supporting the public sector in their COVID strategies.
“I worked with several large cities and states on everything from how to respond to the pandemic to how to distribute vaccines. The work was very rewarding but working 80-hour weeks was very exhausting,” She says. Ready for a new path, she decided to return to graduate school.
While most consultants pursue an MBA, Magda was drawn to the MSBA. “I knew I wanted to work in tech and data is one of the key things that you need to manage in tech. The MSBA has that data component with a business context.”
The MSBA program offers several options—students can complete the program in one year, 15 months or 18 months. Magda chose the intensive one year option. Just several months in, she secured the job she was hoping for, working at a big tech as a program manager. “This work really appeals to me, but I felt like I couldn’t do it well if I didn’t know what was behind the engineer’s work,” she explains. “You can’t manage a project if you don’t know what’s behind it.”
Magda found the philosophy of the MSBA program matches her own. “I’m really happy with what I'm learning in the MSBA. I’m not training to be the best programmer; I’m understanding what’s behind the codes and how that is applied to the business context that I want to understand. I want to manage a project that has a lot of artificial intelligence behind it, so I need to understand that.”
The MSBA program scaffolds learning. The first quarter focuses on learning several programming languages. The second and future quarters build off that foundation. “I was worried because I didn’t have a lot of experience. It had been 5 years since I had used coding language. But it was a really good refresher,” Magda says. “For people with an engineering or technical background, it’s perfect.”
Magda has found energy and excitement in her program. “I have really enjoyed the learning experience and the opportunity to connect with my teams on assignments and build relationships, which is a big part of why I wanted to go back to school.” She has also found connecting with professors to be rewarding. “As a student you have the option of building those relationships, but for me it’s been great to talk to professors outside of class. You may be talking to your professor about something to do with your assignment and they may share something from their research, applying what you are learning in class in a real context.”
Magda has suggestions for other international students. She recommends starting the graduate application process as soon as possible because it is a lengthy process to be accepted at U.S. universities and urges potential students to learn as much as possible about work culture here. “For example, in the U.S. looking for an internship or job requires you to network, which is less common elsewhere, but your success hinges on those relationships.” Spend time up front understanding what you are hoping to learn and why. “You’ll be able to find a program that is tailored to your needs and once in that program, the time will fly and you won’t have to pause and think about what job or internship you want next.” Lastly, Magda encourages international students to take advantage of Seattle University’s International Student Center. “They are really helpful and have a lot of opportunities to meet other international students.”
Magda is well on her way to using her MSBA as a program manager in big tech. But up next? Once she has the required green card, she is pinning her sights on Blue Origin’s space projects, tying together her love and expertise in space with her MSBA business and data skills.
