One of the first things people say when they find out I enrolled in Fuqua’s MSQM: Business Analytics program is some version of: Wait, aren’t you already doing this for a living? And they’re not wrong. I have spent nearly a decade in advanced analytics, living inside syndicated data, building dashboards, and translating numbers into commercial strategy for some of the biggest consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands in the country.

So why go back to school?

After a decade of on-the-job learning, bootcamps, and YouTube tutorials, I had proven I could do the work. For me, this program was about building a rigorous, theoretical foundation. I wanted to understand the why behind the methods I had been applying for years. Fuqua gave me that.

Professors That Show Up

Before starting, I had one real concern: Would I get the same quality of engagement as an online student that my on-campus peers receive? The answer has been a clear yes. Professors hold multiple office hours each week, respond to email, and have dedicated teaching assistants available to fill in the gaps. I never feel like an afterthought.

Working full time while completing coursework is not easy, but the structure of the program makes it manageable. The support system is genuinely there when you need it.

Connecting Coursework to My Career

This is where things get interesting for someone coming in with professional experience. My favorite courses this term have been the ones I can connect directly to my day-to-day work.

My takeaways from Data Analytics and Applications have been particularly satisfying. K-means clustering, PCA, linear regression — these are methods I use in my role. But learning them at this level, with the underlying theory, has changed how I think about applying them. I am not just running the analysis anymore. I understand what I am actually asking the data to do.

Empirical Analysis has been equally valuable, though in a different way. It has sharpened my approach to problems where the answer is not obvious, and the variables are messy. That describes most of the real work I do.

And then there is Ethics and Legal Issues in Business, which I honestly did not expect to be a standout. It sparked a genuine interest in the intersection of law, business, and data — an area I had never formally explored. It will absolutely show up in how I think about analytics strategy going forward.

Where MSQM Is Taking Me

The MSQM program is accelerating my mission to move from executing analytics to leading it at a strategic, executive level. The technical foundation I am building here gives me a sharper lens for the work I am doing right now, while other opportunities will help me shore up my leadership foundation. The program’s leadership intensive, an immersive weekend on Fuqua’s campus, is one of the experiences I am most looking forward to.

If you are considering this program and already have professional experience in a related field, do not count that as a reason to skip it. Count it as the reason it will be worth it.