Mikkel

Why did I choose my programme (and CBS)?
I chose CBS and IBP for my master’s because I enjoyed my bachelor’s and CBS in general a lot. I wanted to continue the deep dive into the interaction between business and politics, and I was not able to find the same combination at other universities in Denmark. I also enjoyed CBS because there have been created opportunities to participate in several events arranged by the different student societies. This allows me to get the deep focus from my studies and touch new topics in the spare time.

What do I like the best?
I enjoy the diversification of topics that we cover. We are going from method courses that focus on how research and approaches can be helpful to solve a problem to courses with a full focus on business, politics and markets and lastly courses that combine the two. This has opened the world of how business and politics cannot be separated, and no matter where you'll end up, you will have to work with both.

How do I experience the difference in academic level between my bachelor and master programme?
The intensity of the academic level and workload has increased. We are covering more ground in less time. But that’s also the great thing, as we are building upon our learnings from the bachelor, which only makes it more interesting, as you are not learning completely new material but always have some knowledge about the topic.  The professors also assume that we are well informed about both the current world and the learning objectives from previous courses.

What are the biggest challenges in my programme?
The biggest challenges in my study programme is its ability to be concrete. Some courses can be very abstract and not very logical. This can be very intimidating for some students, including me, but when you finally understand it, the concepts from courses can be used in several other courses and real-life problems at a potential student job. This is both a challenge but also a great strength of the IBP master.

What would I have liked to have known before starting my programme?
I would have loved to know which courses were new and which ones were old. The IBP study board is constantly trying to improve the programme, but this also means that the master students are sometimes the first cohort to experience a course, and this means that the professors aren't that prepared for how the formalities etc. for the course are, or what works well. Otherwise, almost everything I would need to know could be found online, courses, their exam forms, etc.

What do I want to do after finishing my programme?
I would like to go into either consulting or the energy markets. 

I find the IBP master’s extremely useful for attacking specific problems with a general knowledge and a tool box filled with ways of thinking and solving problems. Whether this is going to be management consulting or specific consulting on energy markets, time will tell. Energy markets are a general interest of mine, and the IBP master’s allows me to explore this in any given course as we can apply the courses to any topic we want.

If I could give myself a piece of advice, before starting it would be…
The advice I would like to give myself is to relax. You are going to be studying with so many smart and super nice people, and these people are doing a million interesting things. Don't rush and expect that you should or can do the same, but you are doing amazing stuff too. I think a lot of students, myself included, are stressing to get the perfect and most interesting student job or be president of the coolest society. Do what you want, and prioritise what you find the most value in. Don't stress about what others do.