Master of Science in Finance - Help Please

College Majors Business Major
1

Hey guys,

I am considering applying for MSF in the fall. I graduated with a ME Undergrad degree from WPI last Summer and currently working at one of the top Jet Engine Manufacturing companies. As much as I love engineering, after talking to some of the engineers here they suggested following finance/ MBA track instead of MS in Engineering. Also, as part of my daily job responsibilities I run simple economic analyses and I really enjoy doing those. So, after putting much thought into it I decided to pursue MSF instead of MS in Engineering with a Corporate Finance concentration.

These are the list of schools I’m considering – MIT, BC, BU, INDIANA (KELLY), BENTLEY, BRANDEIS (not sure if they have MSF), NORTHEASTERN. I mostly have Boston area schools because I intend to work in Boston after graduation.

Indiana and NEU will be easy way in because my company has corporate partnership with these schools. For rest, I’ll have to go through the regular application process.

Now considering my situation,

  1. Which schools have the strongest MSF program / how would the schools be ranked in terms of their MSF Program rigors?

  2. Does having an engineering background put me at a disadvantage?

  3. Also, if I wanna work in Boston after graduation which schools give me the best shot at it?

Any help is appreciated.

2

1.) Boston College, Boston U, Brandeis, Case Western, Columbia, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Northeastern, Princeton, Rensselaer, UC San Diego, U Maryland, U Rochester, USC, UT Austin, U Toronto, Vanderbilt, WUSL. Research the program details to see what appeals to you; some are more quantitatively focused. Ranking them is tricky, but you can look at some combination of overall school selectivity, whether the school is known for business/econ/math, and program detail/length.

2.) It puts you at an advantage in terms of your preparedness for the more quantitative courses/tracks. If your GPA was wrecked in engineering, however, that will harm your overall chances. Note that you might have to take extra foundational courses that business/econ students have had in undergrad, but this shouldn’t pose much of a problem, especially if you choose a more quantitative program based on your strengths in engineering.

3.) Proximity has its advantages, but you shouldn’t have trouble finding your way to Boston from other schools. Choose the program that works best for you (i.e. location, cost, length, selectivity/rigor, program options). You might find more value and actual learning in programs that are 18 months+, but most are 1 year or thereabouts. I think Boston U, U Rochester, U of T, WUSL have longer options. Probably others. But “prestige” will count as much as length if you can get into Columbia, MIT, Princeton, etc.

3

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. My major GPA was 3.6 and overall GPA was 3.4. Does that limit what schools I should be looking at? What kind of GMAT score will let me into one of the top MSF schools?

4

Your GPA is probably fine for a good program, considering your GPA suffered the rigor of an engineering degree, but it’s hard to know without data. See if you can find any info in the program webpages on Class Profile, such as this: http://www.bc.edu/schools/csom/graduate/msf/classprofile.html

If not, email the programs of interest and ask for the latest class profiles for a specific degree program:

1.) year of data
2.) number of applicants
3.) number of acceptances (or admission rate)
4.) class size
5.) average undergraduate GPA
6.) average undergraduate GPA from engineering applicants (if available)
7.) range of undergraduate GPA
8.) average GMAT/GRE
9.) range of GMAT/GRE
10.) average age (or average work experience)
11.) diversity of undergraduate major

It’s a good idea to include the BC link (above) in your email, as an example of the data you’re looking for. Phone them if necessary.

This data will help you tailor your application list with maybe 2-3 matches and 1-2 reaches. It is ~$100 to apply, so cost might be a factor in total number of apps. Look at the selectivity too, to understand a safe number of apps. You will note that the BC MSF has a 12% admit rate with a 3.6 average GPA. That “reachiness” might be typical for a solid program. Your recs and essays can make a big difference.

5

Thank you Dunboyne for the suggestion. I’ll definitely email BC asking for that information. Do you have any thoughts on Indiana’s (Kelly school of Management) online MSF program. I consistently see them ranked as one of the top 20 business schools.

6

BC has provided their class profile (see link above). Class profiles of other programs could be available on their webpages. Just email the programs where you can’t find the data.

Online programs aren’t as well respected/known in the industry, but it’s doable. You’ll find people who got into finance with an undergrad engineering degree, so I can’t see how adding an online finance degree would be anything but a positive over that situation. It’s just risky because the cost is still around $30K, so you’d want to ensure that grads are having success (email them for their placement stats from non-finance roles into finance). If you did a traditional program, you might end up $100K in the red, but your odds of making it into finance and recouping that money are much higher. You’ll have to weigh out the risks. I’m not familiar with other online programs in existence, but if you go that route, it’s probably wise to choose the very best name you can find. Kelley is a good school, but do a comprehensive search for others. You might have better odds ending up in Chicago from Kelley based on alumni proximity.

7

I see Carnegie Mellon now offers an online version of their Master of Science in Computational Finance: http://tepper.cmu.edu/prospective-students/masters/masters-in-computational-finance/program-options This field is heavily quantitative, and you need a programming language to begin your studies. I’m not sure if you are open to going this route, but I mention it because of your engineering background. Grads normally head into “quant” roles, but financial engineering prepares you well for trading and other roles in wholesale/investment banking.

The online version is delivered over 6 semesters. It’s the same rigorous curriculum as the residential program. You connect online with regular classes, so I’m not sure how your job schedule would be affected. It looks like a significant investment: ~$50K per year, for 3 years, so there’s no savings over a traditional program (check that cost figure). The bonus is that you don’t have to give up your job/income, which is an enormous bonus, but it’s not an easy undertaking. There were only 3 admits for the Online program in 2014, so it’s a very competitive program (their Class Profile is listed).

If you’re interested in other MFE (Financial Engineering) programs, you can check rankings here: https://www.quantnet.com/mfe-programs-rankings/ I don’t know if other MFE programs offer an online option, but CMU has a stellar reputation in the field. It would be hard to find more prestige/rigor in an online program. What I said about the “riskiness” of online programs in the previous post doesn’t apply here.

If you know that you’re not interested in the more quantitative aspects of finance, then go with an MSF. MSF programs will vary based on quant focus, too, so watch that when selecting a program (it’s a good idea to choose a program with a fair amount of technical work). You definitely need the math/programming aptitude to be successful in the MFE programs, but grads benefit by having the option to pursue the heavier quant/trading work, while keeping open the more MSF/MBA type roles.

8

@dhman2014 It occurred to me that maybe you’re intending to stay in engineering, but just want more training in business/finance/management. Is that true, or do you want to leave engineering and pursue finance? I assumed the latter from your first post.

9

@Dunboyne Your assumption is correct. I do intend to leave engineering and pursue a new career path in corporate finance/ banking. As good as the starting salary is in engineering, upward movement is very slow, even at a F50 company like mine.

10

We’re on the same page then. lol I asked because if you wanted to stay in engineering, an MFE wouldn’t be of much use to you. I suppose there’s a continuum from MBA to MSF to MFE based on your desire to stay in engineering. An MBA would be preferred if you knew you wanted to enter engineering management. An MSF is a good middle-ground because it exposes you to concepts useful in engineering man’t or if you wanted to get involved in a startup, should you stay in engineering, plus it opens the door to a new career in finance. The MFE would fast-track you toward quant/trading/risk roles within banking. The MS in engineering is a different beast where you’d develop your technical engineering skills and throw in some business/man’t knowledge. It sounds like the MSF or the MFE would be best, depending on your career goals and aptitude for math/programming.

Regarding program rigor… The online MSF at Indiana looks like about 10 courses. Fairly standard. The CMU online MFE is 25 courses, so you can see how much more heft it has (with more expense). Columbia’s MS Financial Econ (residential) is 16 courses, as a comparison, so a decent middle-ground. Point being, programs (either online or residential) that are longer than the typical ~10 courses are probably preferable because of the added info/rigor you are getting. You’re coming from engineering, not a BA Econ or BBA, so packing on some extra courses isn’t a bad idea to improve your employability. But this depends on your time/finances, of course.

I’ll keep you posted if I discover more online finance degrees. I look at this stuff on occasion, so I’ll pay more attention to online options.

11

No, I don’t think I want to stay in engineering for more than 2-3 years and that’s the advice I keep getting from my company veterans. I really want to get into either banking or corporate finance. My only concern is how easy/ tough it’s gonna be to find a job in those fields. I talked to admission folks at BC, Brandeis, and Bentley and they keep telling me that if I have a good GPA, network well it shouldn’t be that tough, but I’m not sure how trustworthy those people are since schools are in the business of collecting money from students.

As far as course work goes, after going through few of the above mentioned schools curricula (MIT included) 10 courses seem to be the norm for MFIN or MSF. Since I want to work in the Boston area, I’m really thinking about attending part-time in person classes at one of the area schools. But please let me know if you discover more online programs.

Do you happen to know how easy (or tough) is it to get an academic year CO-OP while pursuing MSF?

12

If there is a summer break in a full-time program, internships are possible, but I’m not sure whether a school assists an MSF student very much in finding them. Internships wouldn’t be possible if you did a part-time or online program while keeping your job.

Would a Financial Engineering program be feasible for you (heavy math & programming)? What was your engineering major?

13

My research shows the numbers of opportunities with MFE is very small and highly competitive compared to MSF. I was a Mech Eng. major in undergrad.

14

Well, it’s certainly possible to enter the securities industry, for example – where technical expertise is at a premium – without getting funnelled into specific MFE “quant” roles. The MSF is a broader program, true. The advantage of the MFE, though, is that it’s more of an adaptation of your technical strengths to business/banking. Employers will see certain strengths in your resume, just as they see in candidates with an econ or business/finance undergrad background.

I spotted an online program at Columbia (engineering school): http://www.cvn.columbia.edu/program/columbia-university-operations-research-methods-in-finance-master-of-science It’s an MS in Operations Research – Methods in Finance concentration. It’s essentially a 10-course MFE. With this degree, you’d have an easier path to enter a more business-related role in engineering/manufacturing (if necessary), through the field of optimization. At the same time, it prepares you for banking/finance roles. So, a pretty good hedge against not finding what you want in finance, while still being able to exit the traditional engineering role that you’re in.

Another idea is to supplement your master’s degree (especially an MFE) with a certificate in a finance-related program. For the financial services, for example, you could look at certificates from NYIF: https://www.nyif.com/certificates (the Capital Markets certificate is fairly comprehensive). I’m sure many universities have suitable online business/finance certificates, too. Also, when you have the time/work experience, you could start on a CFA, which is an excellent, broad-based credential for many roles in finance.

If you want to focus on “corporate finance”, the MSF is the way to go, possibly with an MBA down the road when you have suitable work experience. The bottom line is that you have good options (MSF vs MFE) with your technical background.

15

@Dunboyne Great info. Thanks a lot man!