Check Out What Students Have To Say About Five of the Coolest Online MBA Electives

From data analytics to leading diverse teams, the electives included in the comprehensive Michigan Ross OMBA curriculum allow students to dive deeper into subjects they are interested in and equip themselves with new skills and knowledge that they can apply immediately in their jobs. In addition, several of the courses provide the opportunity for action-based learning experiences, such as managing hundreds of thousands of real dollars in the student-run Maize & Blue Endowment Fund or role-playing corporate leaders in a crisis right in front of the actual company’s executives. 

Hear from Michigan Ross students about their takeaways from five cool OMBA electives.

Samatha Borowski, MBA ’23

TO 718: Managerial Data Analytics

“While Managerial Data Analytics was one of the more intense courses I've taken at Ross, it was by far one of the most valuable. Broadly, the course focused on various means of drawing business insights from data, mainly by using the tools and resources available through Microsoft Excel. As my prior Excel knowledge was limited, I enjoyed learning basic features, like how to filter, merge, and process large data sets, as well as more advanced functions, like building optimized models to make predictions and how to use these results to inform critical business decisions. 

Working in business development, I've already been able to put these tools into practice to adopt a more targeted sales strategy by drawing conclusions from historical sales data. Being able to provide data-informed answers to questions like ‘How responsive will customers in different geographies be to various means of marketing communications for a given campaign?’ and ‘What top product correlations exist across various customer segments, and how successful do we expect X new product to be based on this?’ is a valuable skill that I expect to continue to benefit me not only in my current role, but as I advance through my career.”

Spero Peters, MBA ’23

FIN 705/706/707: Managing the OMBA Fund

“Managing the OMBA Fund is unique in terms of content and structure. The elective focuses on how to screen stocks, analyze stock valuations, and develop a stock pitch to potential investors. After screening out stocks in a single industry and analyzing them, we had an opportunity to pitch a semiconductor manufacturer to become part of the endowment-funded Maize & Blue Fund portfolio. Other groups in my section pitched stocks from sectors such as consumer cyclicals, banking, and energy. Practically, this class exposed me to FactSet, which is a tool I’ve continued to use in multiple courses. Academically, this course introduced and reinforced various financial valuation concepts used in many of my other Ross electives.

The structure of Managing the OMBA Fund is different from other electives, as it consists of  three, 0.75-credit-hour courses taken over three half-semester terms. This spread-out pace helped me slowly tack on another elective as I was busy with other Ross courses, residencies, and my day job. Everything considered, it was great to have a course focused on the execution of practical finance skills with excellent scheduling flexibility.”

Amanda Uphold, MBA ’23

MO 730: Leading Diverse Teams and Organizations: A DEI Toolkit

"Leading Diverse Teams and Organizations covered topics related to bias, allyship, inclusive leadership, and DEI policies for organizations. The course was structured to think about DEI from an individual and organizational perspective. I was familiar with a lot of the topics covered in the course, but I wanted to understand the data and research studies that were behind effective DEI policies.

My favorite aspect of the course was the peer coaching groups we used each week for discussing how the course topics related to our personal experience. I learned so much from my peers and received helpful feedback. I feel empowered to take these ideas and policies to my workplace to fight for a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization."

Peter Yoon, MBA ’23 

MO 711: High Stakes Leadership: Building Resilience through Relationships

“The High Stakes Leadership course was a monumentally insightful and impactful course as an MBA student at Ross. My classmates and I were assigned stakeholder roles for each session, including but not limited to C-suite, regulators/government, and analysts/investors. Each session included a crisis that we had to maneuver in real time, followed by a Q&A with world-class executives from corporations that are household names. Corporations exist in the world of quarterly earnings reports and shareholder expectations and countless other obligations that come with running a company, and this class allowed me to increase my ability to adapt and re-adapt. The crises were challenging and dynamic and were also great exercises in compartmentalization. You address one thing and quickly shift your focus to the next. 

This course makes it clear that there will always be crises and failures for which you can never be fully prepared, but the bond you form in high-stress moments when you’re sharing information that you can’t discuss with anyone else is a powerful one. In every emergency I’ve encountered during the course live sessions, I’ve been grateful for the competence and cool heads and humanity of the team around me.”

Maya Dagher, MBA ’24

MKT 722: Digital Marketing

“Digital Marketing was one of the most memorable courses I took at Ross. Professor Marcus Collins came to class every day eager and excited to teach, which, I promise you, was universally felt in the virtual classroom. His vivaciousness, knowledge, and all-around love for teaching kept the students engaged, created thoughtful discussions, and piqued our interest in the subject. This course was designed to teach the interworking of digital marketing, where its power lies, and how it influences behavior in order to get people to move — all of which was taught through the lens of real-life business applications. More importantly, Professor Collins instilled in us the importance of putting your customer at the center of all that you do. Though this is a simple concept, marketing doesn’t always follow this golden rule. I think that’s why I appreciated this course so much."

Learn more about the Michigan Ross Online MBA Program