Recruiting for banking out of UT Austin's MPA program
Does what you studied previously and if you did relevant internships in undergrad matter for IB recruiting out of UTexas MPA program? I'm thinking for the few students that actually want to do banking out of the program, positions mostly go to people who already have BBA's and have finance internships in their undergraduate career and it's used like a another year for recruiting? Can a person with a non target background use it for a rebrand and get internships during the program to get into banking?
OCR is going to be almost nonexistent for IB for MPA. If you do the MSF, then network a ton, use OCR, and you'll be fine. Last year the MSF placed 4 bankers out of 4 that actually tried to get FT positions. Two or three were BB in Houston.
I thought the sentiment was since UT's MPA is #1 in the country it had the cache to get respect by banks especially in Houston/Energy IB. A lot of UT grads say MPA students interview for banking positions all the time. I heard the rundown was UT's MSF placement has not been that great for IB positions especially since it's fairly new and banks don't know how to properly value the MSF degree anyway which makes recruiting difficult also? Plus same question applies to MSF, are most people securing IB postions coming from business/finance UG majors with relevant UG internships or can you use it as a complete rebrand and do the legwork once in the MPA or MSF at UT?
Yes you can get in, but it's because you're a UT student that did the 5 year integrated program. Traditional MPA isn't very feasible unless you can explain why you're taking two years of accounting to try and get an internship in a high finance role, it's going to be a really tough sell. The program has cache, but going traditional to IB is much much more difficult that even like MBB. Maybe you can be an intern as a fund accoutant or maybe as an analyst and then sell next summer how you fee IB is a better fit but also how your MPA will be of assistance to you and the company.
Why MPA to IB instead of MSF and why take two years of accounting instead of the myriad of other ways to get on Wall Street? I think that those will be the questions you'll have to answer.
It's a newer program but the MSF has some great connections with Houston and some in NYC as well. Like I said, anyone that has actually wanted IB and worked hard to network/recruit has ended up with FT offers.
And no one last year had a SA with IB and no one this year either. Last year one guy had some energy industry experience but I'm pretty sure that's it. This year, one guy had an operations analyst position with an energy company, another had an internship with a HF, another speaks 4 languages, and the last worked as a lending officer for a year. So basically some good experience but nothing IB.
Yes. People that recruit for IB out of MPA interview for internships that start the summer after their 4th year. (So still one year before graduation.) I guess it's feasible to try to recruit fall of your 5th year but by then most of the positions are filled with summer interns.
I know a few people who did IB (BB) and consulting (MBB) that were in MPA. They all, however, had internships with these firms the summer after their fourth year. I'm not too familiar with the MSF program but the only people I know who went through it were not in McCombs for undergrad. I considered doing MPA just because it is such a great program and allows an extra summer for an internship, but I won't be able to graduate in time as I'm studying abroad. I think MPA can be extremely valuable if you like accounting as it allows you to distinguish yourself from other candidates in the interview process but it definitely requires a lot of work (especially with studying for the CPA in your final semester). Ultimately, I think it just depends on how set you are on IB...
Yeah it doesn't make much sense to do an MSF if you're already in McCombs, that's some serious unnecessary overkill. So if somebody is applying to the traditional MPA is there a shot at getting good internships? Because it sounds like most people with the good ones are in the integrated BBA+MPA. Do peeps doing the ECON to MPA path break in?
It would be overkill and the admissions folks don't let finance majors. Tons of Econ though.
It's possible to get good internships with the MPA if you have some finance internship(s) going into the program. Just like how it's much easier to get a good SA with previous internships. You'll still have to network like crazy.
Without being too specific , what's your background? You make it seem like you're non-target finance but you're asking about Econ to MPA which is only for UT UG students.
I don't know what about the 1% IB number on the UT MPA site makes you think you'll have a solid chance at front office finance coming from that program. The MSF may be new but it has the advantage of people not automatically grouping you as an accountant, yes employers know the value of the MACC degree more so than the MSF, but that serves to reinforce the expectation that you're going to be an accountant. This is also apparent in other programs, I passed on UNC MACC for SMU MSF for that same reason. In short, do not attend an accounting masters program unless you want to be an accountant, period. The only exception would be corp fin roles which are corporate accounting anyway.
I thought it was 4% which would be about 4-5 people a cohort to go to IB from UT MPA? I chalked it up to self selection, most students that go to UT MPA want to be accountants and go to work for Big 4 which recruiting is tailored to. All the info I've gotten from current students and alum is that anybody that wants IB out of UT MPA can surely get it. If you look at the placement info from the MPA vs MSF, MPA students are getting finance jobs at places like Barclays which is best energy bank in TX, while the MSF students barely have offers and it's from none of the top banks in Houston.
I can tell you, unequivocally, that the MSF had at least two of the total four that wanted IB got into top BB this last year. Not so sure about the other two but I'm pretty sure one is at a BB in SF and the other is at a boutique somewhere.
The placements info is outdated and the admissions staff will say as much, starting salary for the program is also like $5000 more than posted too, not including bonuses.
Good luck getting in. Don't do Econ if you don't like Econ and don't be an accountant to get into IB. BTW, to do Econ to MPA, you have to apply your junior year in the spring. There's also now an Econ to MSF and at least then you can recruit for SA's with the McCombs name and you can easily explain why you're not just doing a BBA.
Sorry- I should note that all the people I knew were iMPA and were also BHP. I'm not very familiar with the ECON/MPA or traditional MPA path as far as recruiting for non-accounting positions.
I dont know why u asked the question then, you seem set on the MPA, I would advise against it for front office finance, good luck.
It's definitely possible. You'll probably have more success if you reach out to UT alums who currently work in areas you're trying to pursue than to solely rely on firms recruiting MPA students from your school.
There is most definitely a presence of MPA in IB. My BB has more than a few former MPA students, including myself. JWill is correct, the statistics are self-selecting because most MPA students go to accounting.
Getting into IB from MPA is most definitely doable. The bank I am at did not really look at MSF. The general attitude towards MSF is that it's too nascent of a program to really place well. Also if you look at the backgrounds for the MSF students they aren't as great as the traditional MPA students.
I know of a handful of people who did IB from traditional MPA. It's an uphill battle but most definitely doable.
That's exactly what I have been told. Seems like the MPA is the thing to do until the MSF gets more aged, refined, and has more clout with IB and the high finance establishment, even though some people do make it from there currently. Pewpew are those the sentiments you are hearing of IB firms in TX or somewhere else.
Those are just what I've been hearing in Texas. I'm sure it's similar in NYC and other places but less of a sample size. MPA places from time to time in NYC / other cities and I don't believe MSF has ever placed anyone other than in Houston. Could be wrong though.
You can PM me for more info if you want.
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