Recently, we spoke to Edwin Marmolejos, an 18 year-old student from the Dominican Republic, who is currently enrolled in the Dual Degree in Business Administration + Data and Business Analytics.
This particular dual degree combination provides the ability to gain highly technical, data-focused skills, alongside the more general business management knowledge necessary in all corporate environments. With this dual degree, students can go on to have highly successful careers in large corporations, especially as their ability to effectively integrate both management and technology catches top recruiters’ attention.
The fact is, data is an increasingly integral part of business operations, and having a skilled manager who can also organize, extract and analyze data to influence on-going strategic decisions is immensely valuable to organizations worldwide.
Here’s what Edwin had to say about his experience in the program.
Why did you decide to study the Dual Degree in Business Administration + Data and Business Analytics at IE University?
I enrolled in the dual degree as it deals with a combination of both data and business, which made me think it was a truly complete option. Aside from the program itself, I decided to study at IE University because of the great diversity here, and for all the opportunities on offer such as seminars, labs, and many networking opportunities. I was particularly interested in the Finance Lab, which is really popular. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in because they were all full, but I’m planning to join next year.
How do you find the classroom experience?
I find the methodology that we use in class to be really useful to help me organize my time. The professors do a really good job of making everybody contribute during classes, which makes it a more interactive experience.
Are you involved in any extracurricular activities?
I attended the Virtual Reality 101 seminar, where they explain how virtual reality works from start to finish. Then there’s a wide variety of clubs such as the boxing club, which is a new club that I’m going to be joining soon, and various sports teams like the basketball team and the soccer team, which I’m currently a member of.
What’s the highlight of your experience so far?
I think the biggest highlight of the dual degree for me is that we can use knowledge from one degree and apply it in the other. Many classes really implement knowledge from both degrees, and that will help us in the end to understand both programs.
Any recommendations for future students?
If I had any recommendations for future students, I would say that the most important thing here at IE University is to network. Build relationships with other people from different parts of the world. In the end, this will help you be better as a professional and as a person.
Based on other alumni from this dual degree program, Edwin and his fellow students have an exciting future ahead of them. Some have gone on to occupy roles such as a fintech specialist, customer insight director, or high-frequency trading expert. Whatever path Edwin decides to take, we are sure it will lead to a whole new world of opportunities.