Dora Fornstedt

CBS was an obvious choice for me after high school. I had previously studied one semester at Columbia University and knew that I now wanted to be closer to home while still studying somewhere outside of my home country Sweden. Therefore, CBS was an obvious choice, heard a lot of good things about the school and loved the idea of living in Copenhagen. Furthermore, I also knew that I wanted to continue to study in English because I had been doing so throughout high school and I believe it is a huge advantage in the future.

When I decided to study at CBS the first natural choice was to apply for IBP. I had previously studied globalization, politics, and international economy at Columbia University and focused on the same subjects in high school so it felt like a good and natural progression. It was only a few days before the deadline that I changed my mind. Started reading about different programs and DM caught my attention. What caught my attention was the focus on IT without being a conventional and traditional IT program, the balance with a business focus intrigued me. The opportunity to be able to skip a traditional IT education which really was not my interest but being able to understand how digitalization affects all aspects of our economy and the change of our time felt highly relevant. It felt like a natural step with the development of the world. At first, I was nervous about my choice because it felt foreign and I was not sure of what exactly I was getting myself into but my curiosity drove my decision.

Today I am very pleased with my decision and know that I choose the right program otherwise I would never have crossed this path or gained all this knowledge. I would definitely say that I have gained a new perspective on the economy, finance, and organizations, and not only new knowledge but also a new way to look at knowledge gained in previous education.

In the beginning I was surprised by how much of an IT focus there was in basically every class. Of course I expected it to depart from a digitalizing perspective and the role that IT plays in todays economy. However, I was not really prepared to learn about how to apply it and program. On the other hand am I really happy we get to learn those things and gaining that knowledge opens up a lot of doors. I truly believe that I never would have dared to start DM if I knew that from the beginning because it would feel to intimidating and foreign. I will not lie it was a challenge at times especially the first weeks because programming was a completely new thing for me but trust me most students feel the same and you just need to give it some time to sit and settle and do not stress about it. When it settles it is extremly rewarding!

I think many people believe that the social aspect is not as fun in an IT program. However, I have to say that it is not true about DM, personally it is one of the best things about our program. There is a great mix of different people, all very welcoming and a great atmosphere that both work academically as well as socially outside of school. Academically people are also very interested and forward thinking. I never get the feeling that people chose DM because it was an obvious, simple or right choice, instead there is a genuine interest among all the students.