Navigating the World of Marketing: A Guide to the UCF Marketing Degree
Marketing is all around us, vital to the success of almost every organization. The marketing major offered through the Department of Marketing is vital to all organizations and individuals, from global corporations to small businesses, from CEOs to proprietors of small retail stores, from global manufacturing operations to a new “high tech” start-up. Contrary to some stereotypes, marketing is not about manipulation or tricking people into buying things that they don’t actually want - in fact it is quite the opposite. A truly good salesperson will never sell you something you don’t need, they will only find a need and fulfill it. Even if a potential customer does not purchase anything themselves, if they have a positive outlook on a brand/product, either through advertisement or personal selling, they may promote the brand or product to others through word of mouth - the undisputed most powerful form of promotion.
At UCF, the marketing program emphasizes practical coursework and hands-on projects, which many students find valuable in preparing them for the workforce. In addition to the core business classes, marketing courses cover a wide range of topics such as consumer behavior, marketing research, and digital marketing. This well-rounded curriculum helps students develop a strong foundation in marketing principles and practices.
The Core Principles of Marketing
While promotion and advertising is an undeniable part of marketing, it isn’t the only thing students will learn about. As taught by Dr. Carolyn Massiah and many other marketing professors at UCF, the foundations of marketing is made up by the five P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. This means that promotion only makes up about a fifth of what marketing really entails. The major covers both business to consumer interaction as well as business to business interaction. There are also marketing classes that teach about and how to perform marketing research and personal selling. Most jobs include marketing in some shape or form. If you are writing to a consumer, that is marketing. If you are making a business or brand decision for a company - big or small - that’s marketing too.
Career Paths with a Marketing Degree
Upon graduation, you’ll have the opportunity to break into a variety of interesting and challenging career paths such as marketing and product management, professional selling, retailing, advertising, e-business, marketing research, sport marketing, procurement, distribution and logistics, and public relations. Marketing professionals are in-demand across the nation, especially in California, New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois. Build interpersonal communication skills in order to more effectively and efficiently work with various teams in an organization. Gain an understanding of consumer research to ensure success within competitive marketplaces. Increase the bottom line by researching, planning and developing solutions that gain a competitive edge. Students with marketing degrees may find excellent job prospects in international markets.
Experiential Learning and Networking
One aspect of the program that many students appreciate is the opportunity for internships and networking. The College of Business encourages students to seek internships during their course of study, helping them to build connections and gain experience in the marketing industry. All Internships are now housed within the Office of Professional Development. Additionally, UCF's location in the Orlando area provides access to a broad range of businesses, allowing students to network and find job opportunities upon graduation. Many Marketing majors seek positions in advertising, public relations, sports management and entertainment. Such positions are often difficult to obtain and require breaking in at the bottom level. Most entry-level positions for marketing majors reside in sales.
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As a prospective marketing student at UCF, I'd recommend taking advantage of these experiential learning opportunities, connecting with professors and classmates, and getting involved in extracurricular activities related to marketing, such as clubs or business competitions. This will help you build a strong network, gain practical skills, and stand out in the job market after graduation.
Curriculum and Admission Requirements for the Marketing Major
A degree in marketing can also teach you how to sell yourself, useful for getting employed and essential for those who aspire to be self-employed. Even a minor in marketing would be useful to somebody in almost any field of work, because much of the information is easily applicable to any company or field of business. At UCF, the major also offers a variety of internships for students to apply for while they are working towards their degree.
If you are interested in the marketing major, there are some requirements and perquisites you should know about. To get into the marketing major, students are required to have completed a variety of economic and finance classes, as is protocol before beginning any business major. Admission to UCF does not equate to admission to the College of Business Administration (CBA). After receiving admission to UCF, students must qualify to be admitted to CBA and therefore all students enter the University as a ‘pre’ business major. This applies regardless of the specific business major a student intends to pursue. Complete GEB 3006 Career Development and Financial Planning. Admission to the marketing major also requires a minimum primary core GPA of 3.0. Upon admission into the Accounting, Finance, Management, and Marketing majors, a minimum grade of C “2.0” is required in all coursework in the program. After selecting a specific business major and receiving college approval to enter the major, students will begin taking coursework in their selected major. All business majors require 27 credit hours of coursework in the major. In addition, all students will complete the Secondary Business Core and the remaining three courses in the Career Professional Series. The Secondary Business Core courses are designed to ensure that students have a solid understanding of the various functions of business and the environment in which the enterprise operates. In order to prepare students for their post college career, students will also complete the Career Professionalism Series that began with GEB 3006: Career Development and Financial Planning. Career decisions relating to choice of major and programs of study are often time consuming and haphazard. This course provides personal reflection and decision making skills to help you successfully navigate educational and on-going career challenges. Students will finalize the implementation of their career plan and learn what to do after they get their entry-level job to manage their career.
As a marketing major at UCF, you’ll gain hands-on experience with conducting market research, gathering information on consumers and competitors, deploying campaigns, increasing the bottom line and analyzing various metrics. Align your personal and professional goals with your coursework by choosing from two tracks: marketing management and professional selling.
Marketing Minor at UCF
For both the minor and major programs, the class must be passed with grade of B (3.0) or higher. UCF also requires marketing minors to have a GPA of at least 2.75 at the time of admission into the minor. The minor is 18 credits and open to all major, more information can be found here.
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Minor Admission Requirements
Open to all UCF Majors other than Marketing. Completion of MAR 3023 with a "B" (3.0) or better. UCF overall GPA of 2.75 or better required at time of admission to the Marketing minor.
Minor Requirements
After admission to the Marketing minor, a grade of "C" (2.0) or better is required in all marketing courses taken to satisfy the minor. At least nine hours used to satisfy the requirements of the Marketing minor must be earned at UCF within the Department of Marketing. Students must satisfy each course's prerequisites before enrolling in the class.
P.O. sMARt Initiative
P.O. sMARt Initiative is a UCF Department of Marketing effort to create a community around MarTech executives and thought leaders. Each semester the Department will host academic and industry experts who are leading the technological revolution in marketing.
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