Master's in Finance or Accounting?

Monkey321:

I feel like coursework in Finance is more basic whereas in Accounting it's more in thorough and in depth

Your undergrad grades won't matter when you get your MSF/MSA degree. You will have difficulty finding a job if you're 1) an international student and 2) seeking BB investment banking positions. BBs don't hire masters students into their analyst pool

Don't do a master of accounting unless you want to do accounting. Accounting knowledge is important but you don't need a whole degree in it unless you want to do it.

And any graduate program within the business/finance realm should have some sort of network tied to it, or else you'll end up where you are now, even if you got better grades in your masters program. Why don't you consider moving to go to a better program?

Accounting as a degree is useless for practical purposes, because you end up discussing things like "what is an asset", "when a sale becomes a sale", etc. Unless you are into theory - don't do it. Finance is better, it is less boring, more fun and gives you way more "general" knowledge, which can be a bit useful in IBD.

My 2c

I got a MA in accounting, and am going to get a MA in fin Eng I think to branch into finance (its been about 6 years since my 1 year masters). Although my initial goal was to work big 4 a few years and then get a MBA later, so I guess I somewhat stuck to that

If you want to do finance/banking, get a finance degree not an accounting degree. But be aware of what your job prospects would be in each area when you make the decision .

A lot of it depends on the schools that you're looking at for MAcc or MSF. If you get into Princeton's MSF program like bcbunker, then I say go for that. However, you should do your own reserach for the non-top tier MSF programs and figure out how much recruiting they get.

I recently graduated and had both options, but eventually chose to do the MAcc after researching the both schools' placements. The MSF I got into is well regarded in the US, but I could not get a read on how well they place students going right after undergrad. Whereas, the MAcc I got into is one of the top programs in the country and I saw definitive placements by students into IB or Corp Fin coming out of the program. So, just make sure you do your own research on any program you get into.

@ BC Bunker

            MFIn from Princeton is an utter bitch to get into. Other than MIT not too many schools have <abbr title="Masters in Finance">MSF</abbr> programs (Ivey schools I mean). Supposing we take Princeton and MIT off the board. Would you recommend an MA in History from Columbia or a <abbr title="Masters in Finance">MSF</abbr> from <span class="keyword_link"><a href="//www.wallstreetoasis.com/company/barclays-capital">BC</a></span> ? I think the Columbia network and name is probably worth a lot more. 

See, thats what I meant. I went to Villanova and learned a lot about finance. Great network, but you do not need a graduate level understanding of finance to break into banking. I love finance so I enjoyed it, but if I was advising someone I would tell them to go for the name and network first and foremost.

Gotta factor in work experience too. 1st year analysts may have prior work experience in Europe (London in particular) but that's rare in the U.S.

In London, the average first year analyst seems to be 21 - 22, just like in WS. However, in the rest of Europe, school tends to end around 19 and in some countries gap years are very common. Bring into consideration, a four year degree along with a Masters and you're looking at a 25-26 year old analyst. I'll be around that age when I start working FT too.