For Aubrey McFadden, Tippie is where marketing met machine—and it just clicked.
A Hawkeye is born
Did Aubrey McFadden see black and gold the second she was born? One will never know, but what is an undisputed fact is that she’s a lifelong Hawkeye.
So, of course, she chose the University of Iowa for her college journey. She started as an open major because she was interested in a lot of different things and wanted to explore them all.
At the start of her second semester, Aubrey declared business her major. She ended up pursuing a marketing degree, as well as a communications minor and event management certificate.
Yup, she was busy.
Marketing, meet data
As part of her required general courses in Tippie, Aubrey had to take a business analytics course. She loved it.
As she neared graduation, she met with her advisor and asked how she could incorporate a more technical side into her creative marketing background. He suggested she look into Tippie’s Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program.
It didn’t take long to realize it might just be the perfect next step.
“I thought a master’s in business analytics could help me marry my creative side with a technical side. I knew I wanted a data background, because I think data is the key to succeeding in business. You have to be able to understand it and then communicate it.”
To accomplish just that, Aubrey officially enrolled in the MSBA.
Grow, resume, grow
While she could have explored a master’s program elsewhere, “Iowa just felt like home. Tippie is unmatched.”
Aubrey already had fantastic connections and felt the support of everyone—professors who stayed after class to answer her questions and responded to her late night emails. Alumni who she’s connected with on LinkedIn. Fellow students who are happy to brainstorm with her.
“The support here can’t be beat.”
That especially came into play when Aubrey first started her MSBA. She started the program with no coding experience. At best, she could navigate Excel pretty quickly. But through her courses, she’s built programming skills in Python and SQL. She’s also excited about the visual analytics course, which will help her explore tools like Tableau, Power BI, and more.
“Before the MSBA, I was able to understand data, but now I’m able to effectively communicate it. That can be attributed to the group work we do in class and hands-on experiences we have.”
Having opportunities to dive deep into data and explain the findings through class projects has been huge.
“My resume has definitely grown. It used to be more traditional, but now it’s more data- focused. I’ve got a technical skills section, and it’s growing as I take more classes.”
A big confidence boost
With her MSBA and marketing background, Aubrey hopes to pursue a career in marketing research or consumer behavior.
“This program helps prepare me for that. Before it, I was hesitant to apply to analyst roles or marketing research roles. I didn’t feel as confident. Now I feel good about it.”
She particularly wants a client-facing role. The good news? The MSBA has prepared her for that, too, because she now knows how to communicate data to support her clients best.
“A lot of money goes into decision-making, so being able to help drive that with data and help clients come to effective solutions is really important.”