MSF Degree - Is it worth going to a Tier 1B or a Tier 2 school

Graduate School
1

Hello,

After discovering my interest in the financial sector I am considering getting an MSF degree as it would provide me with valuable skills that would allow me to make a career change from Engineering to either Banking or Corporate Finance.

I’ve been researching online for a while and few issues that I have regarding the MSF degree that I would like to clarify:

  1. Is it worth getting an MSF degree from a upper level tier 2 school? I am thinking of applying to Boston College, Brandeis, Boston University, Bentley(I have labeled these institutions tier 2 based on their class profiles).
  2. How tough will it be to get a job in the Boston area after graduating from one of these schools? (Boston has tons of other schools that produce plenty of finance graduates every year)
  3. A lot of forums mentioned that the job market in finance is fiercely competitive and sometimes for students with grad degree very small. Will it be possible to break into the finance industry with an Engineering Background or companies will look down on me for not having a business background?
  4. Is there Academic year co-op/ internships for grad level finance students?

Thank you in advance.

2

Anyone has any thoughts?

3

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Any thoughts?

4
  1. What are those schools' placement rates like? Where do graduates get jobs after they leave? Surely the program must collect some sort of statistics about the employment rate, salaries and companies that people work for after graduating. Finding out that information will tell you if it's worth it. There's probably a huge difference between Boston College (a well known, top tier university with a top 50ish business school), Brandeis (an excellent university that's maybe less known for business) and Bentley (a good university that has less name recognition in the U.S.), so it's odd that you're grouping them together.
  2. Refer to #1 - the employment stats at the university are going to tell you this. Again, I am guessing that BC and Brandeis will offer better value in this area but that's just a guess. Bentley might have a great career services office or alumni network or something. You may be competing with the top students from Harvard and MIT who want to stay in Boston; you might also be competing with top students from other highly-ranked business schools who are coming from other places to Boston. However, being there geographically might give you a boost since you can network and intern during the school year.
  3. I'm sure there are. But the individual universities would know for sure. Look it up on their pages or ask them.