IB Analyst Position or USC MSF
I just got admitted to the MSF program at USC with a 25% scholarship. I am an economics major with a minor in finance from a Latam country, and my end goal is to score a full-time position in the US. I don't really have a location preference, as long as it is in a big city, although USC does have good placements around SoCal (LA or SD would be more feasible).
I also applied to the Mfin program at MIT but did not get admitted which made me start job hunting in my country since I thought I would get rejected from USC as well. I currently have two IBD analyst FT offers at a big local investment bank and a European bank. I am also in the last round of a Big 4 transaction advisory position and I am quite certain I will receive an offer. I'm debating between accepting one of these offers or joining the MSF program. The main issue regarding accepting a job offer in my country is the comp is extremely low (Around 15K/year including bonus for the IBD analyst and around 9K/year for the Big 4 analyst position). I live with my siblings who are still in college and my parents pay for housing/utilities/food which means I would get to save around 70-80% of my wage and I could apply to other MS programs in a few years, whether it'd be an MBA or something similar. On the other hand, the MSF program costs around 50K (after scholarship) + housing and other stuff (total around 85K) and the average base salary was 75K with a 95% placement rate back in 2019.
I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these MSF programs in the US as international students (this one is a STEM degree that allows for a 3 year OPT). I am not necessarily aiming for an IB position and I am open to looking for other options (ER, Corporate Finance, AM, WM).
TLDR: Looking for advice between:
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joining USC MSF program aiming for a FT position in the US in IB/ER/AM/WM/corporate finance
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accepting an IB job offer in my home country with extremely low comp
Bump
What's your previous experience? As someone that has done a MSF, having previous internship experience is almost necessary for internationals trying to stay in the U.S.
Also, 15k does sound low, but I assume it is much higher than the average salary in your country and still a good income?
From my viewpoint, I don't really see how the MSF can benefit you, as you would recruit for analyst positions anyways. Yes, it can get you to the U.S., but also not sure how good USC's program is. MIT, Vandy are the top ones, and the drop after is pretty steep. And even from those, most people recruit for MM/Big 4.
In my opinion, you should take the analyst job and try to move within the bank after a couple of years, maybe see if that has been done before.
Or then like you mentioned, get a MBA here with IB experience under your belt and transition to a U.S. bank as an associate.
Either way, it seems like that the MSF would just cost you a lot of money but not really give you a benefit.
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