MIT Masters in Finance Associate Placement

Does anyone know how well the MIT Master of Finance program does in Associate (*not analyst*) placements? Their employment report doesn't have that data.

I'm 27 and hoping to make a career switch from quant to IB. Quant stuff is great but not for me. I did some special situations type investing at my previous gig too, but I can't move to HF because I never did the 2 year IB stint. Apparently they seem to be sticklers for that. Thats fair, because I still have no idea how to model a company or deal.

I'm applying for MBA programs but not sure about MSF.

-760 GMAT (Quant is 50)
-CFA Charter
-2 Years back office, 3 years front office quant. Not the same firms.
-Now taking a short break and helping a friend launch a tech startup.
-My GPA sucks (3.45 in double major) but it was 5 years ago and due to health issues. (See username) Not sure how much adcom will discount it.
-Undergrad at semi-target. Ranked US News top 25
-Decent EC's, but I don't think that matters for M.S. Fin admissions.
-College athlete (D-III)

Thanks.

 
Best Response

You're a little old for MIT, but you obviously have a strong resume, which is an important part of the admissions decision at these programs.

You may also want to consider Princeton.

Both of these programs are a little off the beaten path for IBD recruiting. Have you considered something like Structured Products/Strats IBD? For instance, there is a group at Goldman Sachs headed by Gaye Erkan that largely custom-tailors financial products for insurance companies. It's in IBD, it's 70 hours/week (not 110), and you need some sort of quantitative graduate degree to really work there.

Not sure why you would want traditional IBD. Seriously, people who know how to do math and stochastic optimizations tend to have nicer lives at banks than other people.

Not sure which hedge funds you are looking at, but a lot of the systematic ones would really want guys with quant backgrounds. Check out AQR, GSAM, Two Sigma, Bridgewater, maybe Citadel or DE Shaw? These guys are at the other end of the spectrum from the SACs of the world. If you want fundamental research, I guess IBD could be a better way to go, but you're not doing this efficiently.

I'd head on over to quantnet.com and have a chat with Andy Nguyen. You may also get some advice from Wilmott.com

So I guess the question is how badly do you want to preserve your quant background? And would you rather be the IBD guy or fundamental researcher making the finance decisions, or would you rather be the quantitative investor making the finance decisions? Frankly I'd want to be the quantitative investor making the finance decisions because that preserves more of my optionality. But that's just me.

An MBA will cut off any opportunities you'd have for a PhD and would close more quant doors than it would open. An MFE, MFin, or PhD could help you make a career transition, but probably not to IBD, unless it's some structured products role like GS Strats.

I think I've given you a lot of stuff to think about. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Hey, thanks for the info.

IlliniProgrammer:
You may also want to consider Princeton.

I did - I don't have the prerequisite coursework. (Diff eq and linear algebra)

IlliniProgrammer:
Have you considered something like Structured Products/Strats?

My goal is to end up doing special situations (similar to what I was doing at my previous gig but more in depth) at a HF, so I don't think structured products would work. I would probably need to be on some sort of M&A / Restructuring / Distressed Debt desk. Pure fundamentals.

IlliniProgrammer:
So I guess the question is how badly do you want to preserve your quant background? ?

Meh, not really badly. I did quant at my previous gig. Didn't really care for it. (Low fund returns didn't help either). I was more passionate about the special situations stuff I did. I believe I should chase what I'm passionate about. When I was watching Shark Tank at work instead of backtesting, I kinda knew I wanted to do the fundamental stuff.

IlliniProgrammer:
An MBA will cut off any opportunities you'd have for a PhD and would close more quant doors than it would open.

I'm okay with that. Again, don't care for quant.

IlliniProgrammer:
would you rather be the IBD guy or fundamental researcher making the finance decisions, or would you rather be the quantitative investor making the finance decisions?

I want to be the guy who buys senior debt of a distressed small-cap company at 6 cents on the dollar, and then sells it for 90 cents on the dollar once I tell management how to get their act together. So whatever it takes to get there. Perhaps an MBA is better for that but I saw some MIT MFin --> M/B/B placements

IlliniProgrammer:
An MFE, MFin, or PhD could help you make a career transition, but probably not to IBD, unless it's some structured products role like GS Strats.

Interesting. Thanks. I was asking because their FAQ stated:

Why not offer a degree in financial engineering? Finance is broader than just financial engineering, which suggests “quants and traders only.” The MFin addresses the broader area of finance

 

Honestly dude, get an MBA. Your profile is great. I think your experience surpasses any benefit that a specialized masters can give you. With that said I think you'd be a great candidate for MIT and would probably have an easy sell when it comes to coming into IB as an associate. Just make sure you understand the technical questions, maybe take a class on modeling.

 

I'm with ANT on this one if that career path is what you really want.

An MFin can help here, but if the quant and PhD options aren't appealing to you, go for the MBA.

Just be prepared to work. Hard. And be prepared to do a lot more grunt work than a quant typically has to do (If you think coding is grunt work, wait until you start cleaning data and correcting pitch books.) Quants have pretty cushy lives and careers; regular finance people don't.

 

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