Is getting an Masters degree in Finance a good way to enter the Investment banking business

Well that is exactly what I will be doing (MSc in Finance and Accounting at the London School of Economics). I went to a public state school, and finished in 3 years, so I figured I might as well spend my fourth year in a masters program :)

The job prospects are relatively decent, Goldman recruits analysts for their M&A departments, and a bunch of other banks recruit from that program as well. What you need to do is get an internship with an I-bank, this way you might not even have to shell out the dough for an MSc, and just go directly into I-banking after your undergraduate studies.

A masters in finance is probably not as sought after as MBA's, and you'll most likely have to start at the analyst level if you even break into IB. I heard that it might help for those already in investment management (possibly preparing for the CFA) but that for IB it's not that helpful.

By the way, the MS in Computational Finance at CMU is actually financial engineering, not traditional (corporate) finance. If you had to choose between an MSF and MSFE, I would say that financial engineering has the edge, and your computer science background will definitely prepare you for it. Note that very few top schools in the country even have an MSF (or MFin) degree. I can only think of Princeton. It seems like it's a Europe type thing (LSE, LBS, Oxford, etc.) Financial engineering is available at many top U.S. schools, which might help you network your way in. Also remember that those are 2 years, so you definitely want to take that into consideration.

Hmm...MS in Computational Finance is actually 3 semesters with an internship component during the summer, so i think CMU gives you a lot of options in terms of job availability....I think that starting out at analyst wont be too much of a problem since I'll be that age even if i take a 2 year MS...but that aside, I am just worried of getting myself in no man's land...in other words a scenario where the banks don't recruit for analyst level since I am not an undergrad or over qualified and they dont recruit for associates since i have no work experience, this is my biggest concern...I feel that I would have to stick with programs available in the country since I am international, and I guess i have a decent Math,CS, Finance background from college so the Fin Engg. type program should be a good fit...but lets see..

Jacless has a good point, saying that financial engineering programs will give you more of an edge over the simple finance masters. However, I debated over that question for a long time (fin or fin eng.), and it is an undergrad professor who convinced me to go into fin. If you are in engineering your degree will qualify you for good research jobs, or you will be designing applications for traders.

The problem is that a lot of MSc programs are just pointless to do. I chose the LSE after careful considerations, and I had to really dig into the program and talk to alums to make sure I had a future.

So fin or fin eng? It depends of the school.

Well here's my two cents:

GO TO THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. I know a ton of people there and they literally have an investment bank giving presentations every two weeks. Gays in Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs Women in Business, South Asian Traders, you name it! The recruiting for non-Ivy targets in North America is pathetic compared to what they have going on over there. I think we can all agree without becoming overly emotional that getting into IB without going to a top 20 school is very, very difficult. So that's why a lot of students from my uni in Canada go to LSE and do recruiting there. I've heard you learn jackshit, but you know what...who cares!

Oh and by the way, the best programs are MSc. Finance & Economics, MSc. Finance & Acct (in that order).

But I personally know a girl who studied MSc. Socialogy and now works at GS...

Sociology*

Thx for that little feel good comment mrcanuck ;) The Fin & Econ is harder to get in, but some kid who finished the program told me that I-banks (especially M&A divisions) hire from the MSc Fin & Acct in particular. But who really cares, because both should give you decent chances of getting a good job.

Banks do not have a preference in terms of recruiting programs. Everyone from LSE has an excellent chance of getting in, there are students doing history and IR getting offers.

I agree 100%, going to the London School of Economics is always a smart decision. The school is a stone's throw away from the City (i.e. downtown), and recruiting at LSE tops Oxbridge any day. The only thing that is lacking (one could argue), is the brand name associated with Oxford/Cambridge. But if all you are trying to do is break in...who cares! Good luck with recruiting and know that you're making a good decision...

I think we completely missed the point.... I meant MS programs inside the US....actually do you think, just going for any MS degree like say MS Comp Sci, at an ivy or target school would help to get in as an analyst..

Anyone have any sense on how competitive admission to LSE is, specifically the MSc in Fin/Econ? I've got a ~3.6 in econ from a top public university, is that in range?

I'm doing a 3 week summer school course at LSE right now. I'd be pretty interested to hear how competitive getting into the Masters in Finance/Accounting program is also. Mrcanuck and others, can you tell us a little more about the path you or your friends took at LSE?

Well I know a lot of people who got in. I would say to get into MSc Accounting and Finance you need a 3.6+ from a 'reputable school'. So I know people from McGill, Cornell, Dartmouth, UVA, Emory who have around that GPA who got in to MSc Accounting and Finance. From England, you need a 2:1 (LSE, Imperial, Oxford, Cambridge) or a 1:1 (all others). GRE/GMAT scores need to be very competitive (think 93+ percentile)

MSc Finance and Economics is much tougher to get into, and is the most competitive course alongside MSc Applied Mathematics. I know people from Waterloo and McGill who got in, and they got in with a GPA of 3.75+ and a GRE/GMAT in the 95%+ range.

Given that recruiting from BOTH programs is pretty good, I don't know if the extra competitiveness to get into Finance/Econ over Accounting/Finance is worth it. I guess MAYBE one could argue that the Finance/Econ MSc's have a better shot at getting sales and trading roles...although I'm just speculating...

I looked into their program and it has some good recruiting to it, also looked up the MS computational finance at CMU (which is also hardcore)...Both the programs get a fair participation of hedge Funds, PE shops, S&T and I-banking (heavy on quant HF and trading)...but its hard to actually see a pattern of a particular business recruiting here...but i guess both the programs are pretty good... I am also looking into Boston College MS Finance, have no idea how well they are recruited though..