I leave for ad school in two weeks for strategy, but I’m starting to have doubts about my decision.

Is it still worth attending one nowadays?

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It's a very strategic move

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Get a post grad degree in psychology or sociology. You’ll be so far ahead of people who just went to ad school.

likeuplifting

Answer based on trends: Agencies have been consistently loosing business to data plays, consultancies and big tech.

If you’re going to study strategy, do it at a university that will give you the option to land a job at all of the above. An MBA will get you a job at an ad agency and when ad agencies eventually die (lol) you can become a good consultant.

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Objectively: It’s a waste of money

Subjectively: I’m not a fan of candidates from strategy diploma mills. I prefer planners with interesting backgrounds and unique points of view. (We’re paid for our unique points of view after all.)

likehelpful

You don't need to go to ad school for strategy...

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Jesus, no. If you want the mba get the mba. Do not go 54k in the hole for a degree no one cares about. Get into the best mba program you can (top 25) which costs you the least. Only go into debt if you can honestly justify the cost/ benefit with real income data.
54k for a strategy degree from an ad school? Hahahaha hahahaha. No. I’d smack you if I knew you in person.

likeuplifting

NO

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NOOOOOO

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👆 yep. Also no school guarantees a job 🤔

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Paying for more school for a job that isn't guaranteed is a terrible idea. You'd spend less taking a year off, going on vacay, and buying out all the networking tables in the industry. That'll make you more interesting than a line on your resume and LinkedIn profile. My two cents.

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@ACD 1: Definitely going for an MBA later in life. The ad school I’m attending (Brandcenter btw) is just so I can get a guaranteed job in strategy instead of sitting around, wasting my time on unconfirmed "opportunities”

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It seems like you have already made your mind up about what you want to do. Now own it and make the most of it.

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You don’t need a degree or ad school to be a strat, but if it’s a life goal to do a masters, get it

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Went to Circus 🐐. Generally, if you don’t know “people", might as well throw your certificate or masters degree in the trash. So that’s #1 on your checklist. Props to @SCW1 - sociology and psychology are great ideas. The book/guidance from school environment is good — but you can get those things by partnering on the side with creatives and getting some industry mentors. This depends on how much natural talent you have and how self driven you are to learn the rest. The education can be piecemealed together if money is a major issue.

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Hi JS- there are lots of ways to break into strategy roles. Ad school is one of them. At the Brandcenter, we’re pretty transparent with job and internship placements, alumni salary reports, and sharing portfolios of our grads. All of that info is on our website so you can take a look. Wherever you decide to go, you definitely want to study that info for your program. Look at it as the ROI for the investment in yourself that you are about to make. If you have questions about the Brandcenter, let me know!

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Honestly the best part about Brandcenter was the connections I got. They were invaluable in getting and moving jobs since. It’s a foot in the door at any place with alum (which is a LOT of places).

Some of my favorite strategists went to Brandcenter and I might be biased, because clearly I don’t work directly with them, but they had a unique insight and perspective that some strategists from other places didn’t have. And also you DO get your Masters in Business from Brandcenter. Just leverage it any which way you want once you graduate. Trust your gut. The program is good (not as amazing as they say), but the connections are great.

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@Copywriter 1: of course I don’t need to. But with the way junior strategy jobs are so far in between, Id rather pick a school that can guarantee me a job in that space And I’m not eligible for most internships nowadays either

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@SD 1 and ASD1: would love to know why the no’s

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Hey JS. I graduated from Brandcenter. Creative track though. Have you looked at the last few years of job placement for strategists yet? If you’re already thinking MBA, why not just find a job at a startup for two years, study for GMAT and then go to a top tier MBA school? I looked at the recent portfolios of Brandcenter and was pretty surprised the student work hasn’t really changed since I left 10 years ago. Kinda worries me TBH. With the current state of the industry, an MBA has more runway. Depends on your end goals and where you wanna work. If you work in an agency as a strategist, I don’t think you’ll have much clout. Your job will be to just back rationalize/back strategize the creative work and sell it. DM if you wanna chat more. I thought about MBA too

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School is fun, especially if it helps you get connections in the industry. But objectively speaking, you should be looking long-term like a MBA or some shit that actually is interesting beyond strat

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