UF / MSF / IB Questions

Career Opportunities & Internships Investment Banking
1

<p>To start things off, I am a freshman econ major at the University of Florida. I graduated high school as an Ivy-caliber student but chose UF because of a very enticing financial package and because I would have taken on a good chunk of debt otherwise.</p>

<p>I am interested in going into investment banking and have been for a while now. I've heard a few speakers talk about different areas of the field so I am sort of familiar with it, but I remain hazy on the subject as a whole.</p>

<p>I have just become aware of this combined degree program here at UF, MSF. You earn your undergrad degree, most of the time a BS finance, and your masters in finance at the same time totalling 4 years for most students.</p>

<p>Initially, I wasn't very interested in the program as I had no real interest in graduate studies in the near future besides law school or MBA at top schools. However, I've been looking more and more into what it takes to get into IB from UF and it seems that the best route would be through this MSF program. </p>

<p>I'm currently looking at placement by class from this program and I am not entirely sure what to make of it.</p>

<p>Here are some links I'd like some of you kind and knowledgable users to view and analyze for me:</p>

<p>MS</a> Finance - Finance, Insurance & Real Estate - Warrington College of Business Administration</p>

<p>Look under the classes of 2010 and 2011 specifically at New York job placement.</p>

<p>I've read about things like "front office," "back office," BB, etc. and from my understanding I'm looking to be a financial analyst at a BB in NY, which is one of the most prestigious and hardest to attain positions? Are at least a few of these placements consistent with this?</p>

<p>Even more specifically is this girl's resume here posted on the website, probably one of the most stellar students coming out of UF.</p>

<p><a href="http://warrington.ufl.edu/fire/docs/msf/resume_CarolSkordas.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://warrington.ufl.edu/fire/docs/msf/resume_CarolSkordas.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This student specifically caught my interest as she has secured a position as an analyst at Goldman Sachs upon graduation (2011), which is one of the companies I am most interested in, and also stands out a bit in that she has an undergrad degree in Economics instead of Finance, which is my major. </p>

<p>I'm not entirely sure what the rest of my questions are. I'm just a little confused right now, and I am trying to start making some decisions as my next semester scheduling is to be done within the next week or two and I already have about a year's worth of credits from AP. So I don't really have as much time as most freshmen do unless I want to waste time just hanging around, which I do not. </p>

<p>Comments, concerns, answers, guidance, trolling... all appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Well the 2+2 thing is pretty impressive. Apart from that she works in Capital Markets which is considered front office but does not have the same prestige/pay/exit opp as an industry group. </p>

<p>I don’t think the MSF adds much value for IB recruiting and I think you should simply try to break in straight from undergrad. Just do a search for “non-target” and you can read about strategies that have worked for people in the past who come from schools like UF. And definitely do the finance or accounting major. </p>

<p>However, if it is somehow possible for you to transfer to a target school then I really recommend doing that. If you are at a target the recruiting process will be very straight forward.</p>

3

<p>The real question is if an econ major could be admitted to that program. If yes, then it would be a great idea.</p>

4

<p>From what I understand Econ and Finance > Accounting for entry into IB.</p>

5

<p>The UF MSF is a great program and has a lot of solid placements. Florida is not a target for banking recruiting (maybe RayJay), but the MSF places in mostly FO spots. From what I have heard the professor that runs the program is pretty hardcore in promoting the program and the students. </p>

<p>One thing I do not like is the lack of UG diversity in the program. Everyone is a UF undergrad. I think there is something to be said about a program having a mixed of undergrad institutions. Hopefully in the future UF will open up to this. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.msfhq.com%5B/url%5D”>www.msfhq.com</a></p>

6

<p>I recently just read through many of your posts on MSFHQ and the one concerning math threw me off a bit.</p>

<p>I understand the list of necessary math came from MIT which makes pretty much every subject highly quantitative, but what I’ve come to understand here at UF is that many students entering the MSF combined degree program are Finance majors. Here, finance majors are only required to take a semester of calculus, a semester of statistics, and a semester of business statistics. </p>

<p>Just wondering if you could weigh in on the subject since you seem to be an expert in the MSF field.</p>

7

<p>She is actually going to be in their healthcare coverage group, which is one of GS’s top groups. </p>

<p>MSF is easily the best way to get into investment banking from UF. It’s not the degree that adds value - it’s the relationships with the professors, which you wouldn’t get with the undergrad degree.</p>

8

<p>I take it you’re in the program?</p>