<p>I'm sure many of us have gone through that debate between Working first, study later vs. Study now, work later when it comes to grad school. I evaluated my academic options after college - MSF, MBA with a concentration in Finance, Ph.D. in Finance, an MA in a completely different field. I chose the MSF at Bentley, the same school I went to for 4 years as an undergrad. </p>
<p>When I was looking into schools that offer the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program in the East Coast region, I only found Bentley, MIT, Boston College (BC), and Princeton. If you want to pursue the MSF degree, you probably have found the same thing I did: there are only several schools throughout the nation that offer it. </p>
<p>For those who are thinking of the Bentley MSF program, I hope I could give you some information or answer your questions in addition to your own research of the program and the school. Why? I have talked to a number of prospective students, especially international students, about the undergrad experience during my 4 years. Usually they prefer a mix of official information from the school and "unofficial" information from existing students like me. I think that's also the best approach for anyone considering any school - the wider variety of information you get, the better decision you'll be likely to make. </p>
<p>If you have questions about the Bachelor of Science in Finance at Bentley, I will be happy to help you as well.</p>
<p>Hi, thanks for the offer to help. I’m a Junior in Undergrad with a major in business and concentrations in finance/management. I’m starting my search early for schools after undergrad.</p>
<p>Is your program more quantitative or more of a general approach to finance?</p>
<p>It’s definitely a good idea to start earlier in the process. The MSF program has two tracks: general and quantitative. Those who want to pursue the latter should have had some background in mathematics - not necessarily math majors, but they should at least have completed some advanced math courses. The quantitative track requires students to take certain maths/statistics courses as well as a capstone course; the general track doesn’t. Electives and general requirements are very similar between both tracks though. </p>
<p>I haven’t yet found the latest placement stat, but here is the result from last May for your reference: </p>
<p>Pjigglez,
My apology - the link was for undergraduates only. May 2008 was not a good time in the job market. Not even now. </p>
<p>Dawgie,
If you mention the placement based on the link to the pdf file, please see above. I have not yet found the placement stat for the MSF/MBA program, will update once it’s up on the site. Even with a small scholarship, I do agree that the MSF program is expensive - just like any other master’s degree. I guess if we talk about getting the most bang for the buck, we’ll be talking about the big names from MIT and Harvard to NYU and Rochester. If I were qualified for one of those schools, I wouldn’t worry too much about placement for a little while.</p>
<p>I’d recommend you try to go to a better school than Bentley for a masters if you are able to. It really doesn’t do very well at placing candidates into top jobs. BC would be an order of magnitude better, and MIT would be considerably better again. Also, Rochester and Vanderbilt are okay and not terribly hard to get into. Check overseas for more programs.</p>
<p>I had a discussion about a candidate we had interviewed who had been near the top of his class from Bentley. The manager said the following:</p>
<p>“he was a star there sure, but who cares, its like winning a medal in the special Olympics.”</p>
<p>Thank you for offering your help. I have a question in MSF in general. I am from life-science background. I am sort of lost in what I want to do right now. I thought I wanted to become a doctor, took MCAT and all but decided that I’m not really interested. I have gotten my MS in science. I have a great undergrad GPA 3.8 and just took GRE and received 1600. I am definitely applying for PhD in science this year. I love science. But I don’t know if I’m faculty-track. I’m applying to PhD because I love science, and I’m pretty sure that I can get into Harvard, Stanford, or some top schools, but in the end, I really don’t know ultimately what I want to do and I’m hesitant to go through 6-7 years of schooling. I randomly came across information about master of finance, and became somewhat interested. One of the things I was considering doing after PhD is consulting. Perhaps I can get into consulting by getting master of finance and working at banking for a couple years while making some bucks to pay back my student loans. BTW, I tried applying for consulting positions but was turned down many times because of lack of finance experiences. I was wondering what you think my chance would be if I were to apply to MIT or Princeton MSF. I have no finance background or experience, but I do have great basic science research background that includes years of experience at Harvard, MIT, and Cornell. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I do understand the ranking and where Bentley seems to be among the schools you suggest. Given my own situation (GMAT, financial, time,some other matters), Bentley was pretty much my only choice. I’m starting school in 2 weeks, and I’ll try to make the best out of it. Thank you for suggesting the programs though! I did look into some programs in Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, but again I was not in the position to pursue such paths. If I pursue another degree in business after the MSF, I’ll definitely aim for a good variety of schools.</p>
<p>Just a side comment regarding what your manager said because it triggered me. I assume he meant that the interviewed candidate was not as stellar as someone from an Ivy or a more well-known school. I would also assume that many candidates at your company came from those top schools; otherwise the manager wouldn’t have made that comment. Not knowing the competitiveness of the position or the actual ability of the guy you interviewed, I have to say that comment was inappropriate. First, it’s ignorant to assume that a top student from Bentley would not be as good an employee as an average student from, say, BC or MIT. Second, if he only cared about candidates coming from the top 50, just say it in the job qualifications and see where that would lead him to. Third, winning a medal in the special Olympics is not any less challenging - if not more - than in a regular one. That one comment says quite a lot about the manager’s personality, putting professional credentials aside. I guess the interviewee didn’t end up at your company, and I’m glad for him not having to work with that type of manager. Whether that guy was from Bentley or another school at the similar ranking, my opinion would have been exactly the same.</p>
<p>Students in MSF or MBA programs come from a variety of backgrounds. Their undergraduate majors could be anything from business and science to liberal arts and music. Regarding your situation, I think the top priority now for you is to identify clearly what you really want to do. When you look into the curriculum, job prospectives, cost, and other aspects of the programs you’ve considered, do they really sound like something you will want to do over the next few years? Even one year in school is precious time, so “making some bucks to pay back my student loans” should not be the only reason why you want to pursue an MSF or MBA. Getting more finance knowledge to complement your science background is, on the other hand, one of the good and more specific reasons. </p>
<p>While I cannot tell you how likely you will get into MIT or Princeton, I can tell you this - if you could in the admission essays and interview state what you have learned from science and your research experience at Harvard, MIT, and Cornell, how you want to gain professional development by integrating financial knowledge into scientific research or how science has prepared you to take on the new challenge in the field of finance, why accepting you into the program will bring a new perspective to the entering class, and most importantly, why you want to pursue the MSF at that school - you will be among the great candidates with a different background, a strong sense of personal and professional development, and a genuine interest in the program and the school itself. </p>
<p>These are just suggestions, but if you could answer most of those questions, I personally think you have a good chance in the schools you’re looking into. And don’t forget you need GMAT, GPA, and stellar recommendations too!</p>
<p>Usually business schools require the GMAT, but some accept GRE as well. In some cases the GMAT can be waived - for instance, if the candidate has significant working experience. It’s on a case basis, so I would suggest you contact the schools directly. </p>
<p>You could briefly describe your background and mention that you already took the GRE, asking them whether the GRE is acceptable and/or the GMAT could be waived. It’s always worth asking because if they do require you to take the GMAT, you know how much time you have to prepare for it. If they don’t, it saves you time and money since the GMAT exam costs $350!</p>
<p>thanks again ms. t. and thanks dawgie. i just looked at the class profile (thank you). [btw, are you in the program?]</p>
<p>how is the degree msf viewed as a degree? are job applicants with msf viewed very competitive? from brief gathering of school websites (which i don’t wholly trust since it’s an advertisement… so i want to know you experts’ opinions ), it seemed to me like getting msf will help me get a foot in the door to the world of finance for people like me who have no finance background. will i have to worry about job security or does having an msf make me a competitive applicant so that i don’t have to worry about such thing? sorry for bunch of n00b questions. i’m a n00b.</p>
<p>No idea how the program is, I just know it’s new and its a top program. I’m currently studying for the CFA to someday break into Finance. Just took last two parts of the CPA and hopefully passed.</p>
<p>got it. hope you passed!! i just saw bunch of CPA examinees when i was taking my gre on wednesday. i miss boston so much! hopefully i’ll visit there for labor day’s weekend. yay</p>
<p>Maybe that was inappropriate, but it was the view of the hiring manager for a desirable position, and therefore relevant.</p>
<p>Also, I went to a relatively obscure UG college, and was able to catch up in the job market, but it took a few years, and wasn’t always fun. Certainly its doable, but not easy by any means, I don’t wish it on others. This is why I recommend people go to a school with a good “brand”. </p>
<p>Personally, I think people put too much stock in the “name” of the school a person goes to and it can at times be unfair. Unfortunately fair has nothing to do with most things that matter though, and an awkward truth is still a truth.</p>
<p>I understand. Thanks for sharing your story. It is crazy that you had to go through the few years you did just because somebody else has formed a distorted perspective of your school name and thus, your own name. Chance is, many others including myself who don’t go to the top schools in the nation will need to deal with the same issue as well.</p>
<p>Personally, I think that if we need to forgo fairness to achieve the “things that matter”, we probably focus on the wrong things - things that we think as important because others perceive them so. But before I have the capabilities to step out of that influence zone, I really appreciate your recommendation of the good “brand” schools to people. Going to a top school should give them a better edge/easier time going into the job market, whether slightly or dramatically.</p>
<p>hi everyone. so i was just wondering. as i have mentioned before, i’m in life science right now, and am considering switch into finance. one of the key reasons being i would make much more money. in life science, you get paid sub 40000 dollars even after you finish your phd (which takes like 6 years). post-doc years take like 3-4 years. so i’ll pretty much make no money for next 10 years. and even after 10 years, i’ll make maybe 60k if i stay in academic and 70-80k if i go into pharma (these are very estimated figures, but shoudln’t be significantly different. also i’m not claiming these are absolute #'s but they are true for the majority). as much as i like science, i don’t see myself going into faculty-tenure track, and have been considering going to consulting after getting my phd. but recently, i’ve been thinking why get phd at all then? it’s just too bad because if money wasn’t an issue i would go for science hands down. anyhow, that’s why i am considering mfin programs. i could’ve chosen other highly lucrative jobs, but i was intrigued my highly quantitative nature of the job, which is a skill/asset that is transferrable very easily (i.e. if i retire early and decide to go back to science).</p>
<p>Anyhow, bottom line is, besides lots of money you make in this career, what are some of your other motivations you guys have that made you decide to pursue a career as a quant? is there any other reason than just $$$? thanks much!</p>
), it seemed to me like getting msf will help me get a foot in the door to the world of finance for people like me who have no finance background. will i have to worry about job security or does having an msf make me a competitive applicant so that i don’t have to worry about such thing? sorry for bunch of n00b questions. i’m a n00b.</p>