Many MSF programs say that most of their students have a year or so of work experience some even more.
My question is that suppose that you had an unpaid internship, for 6 months to a year, could that substitute for work experience in the MSF application process?
Has anyone gotten accepted to a good MSF program with only having internship experience?
most MSF's that I know of are primarily composed of students will less than 1 year of work exp. I got in at WUSTL MSF with 0 years of work experience but 1.5 years of internship experience from undergrad. I think close to 70% of my class this year has less than 1 year WE. I think other programs like Vandy, Nova, MIT, etc. are similar.
You ideally don't want more than 1 year WE. Princeton seems to be the exception to this rule. If you have more than 1 year WE you put yourself in dangerous territory with recruiters.
Why is it the case? Just curious, I've been thinking that people who want to switch their careers into (quanty) finance would want to go to MSF/MEF.
Hi ANT. I'd PM you, but I'm still a few bananas shy (long time lurker). Do MSF programs only consider "relevant" WE or any WE in general? I'm sure the answer is obvious (working at McD's doesn't count), but I'd like a definitive answer from a viable source than my own gut.
Honestly man, I wouldn't discount any work experience. Obviously having something business or related would be optimal, but anything showing you did more than just playing xbox is good. I'll SB you so you can PM if you want to talk about your direct situation.
If you want to be a quant then you go for the MFE and switch careers. The MSF tends to be for college age students with little or no WE. Maybe in the future this will change (Princeton has students with significant experience), but right now, if you come into a program with a lot of work experience, you will get dinged.
When applying for a Masters is work experience viewed as essential? (Originally Posted: 10/12/2015)
Let's assume you have good grades (1st class honours = 3.7 GPA I think and 720 GMAT) but you don't have any relevant work experience (or any work experience) will this harm your chances of getting admitted to Universities such as UCL/LSE/Warwick/Imperial?
They are asking for CV/resume which is why I am asking.
Or a better way to phrase it...let's assume person X has graduated with the grades mentioned above but is unemployed and never worked in his life. If person X was to apply for a Masters would he be considered seeing that his grades are good or would admission be turned off by his lack of work experience?
I apologise if this sounds silly, I just wanted to know your opinions.
it's a mix of strengths and weaknesses. They aim to have a diverse set of cohort. you're going to be good at some and bad at others. but it's b-school, so your strength may be more of a commodity than work experience strengths.
Thanks a lot.
Actually in Europe most MSF are pre-experience. So it's kinda usual to see someone start a master's program immediately after undergrad.
From what I gather it seems like if you have zero internships/WE it's almost impossible to get a decent job anywhere - even outside of IBD/financial services. For someone with this profile coming from a non-target, would going to a good MSF program even help with the job search? I'm worried about spending $30-60K on an MSF and then having just as hard of a time with recruiting because I have no WE.
MSF & Work Experience (Originally Posted: 03/02/2012)
Is a year of finance/accounting-related full time work experience too much for an MSF?
Fill disclosure: I bombed my GMAT yesterday uncharacteristically after scoring 680, 690, 710 on my last three CATs prior and given that I cannot take the GMAT for 31 days I will miss R3-R4 at the MSF targets. I will most likely take my GMAT in May and [calm the fuck down in the test] and apply in R5 to Duke and Vandy w/ a low 700-710, but I need more than a prayer at that point even though my CV/background is solid b/c of available boat space.
No.
No. ANT had more than three years before going to his MSF. Vanderbilt accepts people with more than 2 years of MSF. All of MSFs do that. They wouldn't turn you away because of that. In fact, you'd look bettter than other applicants with no work experience or no internships before going into their MSF. Also, the recruiters would like that too.
Well you obviously want to work on getting that internship. An MSF alone is not going to do it for you. With that said, I know people who had no internships and ended up getting a FO position from the program.
1.5 years of exp before MSF? (Originally Posted: 06/01/2010)
What are the chances of getting an interview with a BB firm if I get a MSF 1-2 years after undergrad (top-50 semi-target). I will have 1.5 years of work experience in a risk management role at a F500 financial services company at the beginning of the MSF. Essentially, I am a Finance grad in May 2009, applying for a start date of December 2010 or Summer 2011. Been working at the same job since Sept 2009.
Obviously lots of factors, but say I do well in the program, and its a semi target (LSE, Nova, UIUC, Vandy). Will the work experience hurt me?
I went to Nova with 3 years of work experience and couldnt get OCR for my life. 1.5 years might be the sweet spot though.
LSE is semi-target? what is considered target?
Sorry- i realized that when I typed it in. I meant to say LSE A&F as opposed to LSE MSF (which I think is a slight reach for me)
bump
if you go for summer 2011, you'll be in the same spot as me (2 years of experience except i'm entering my msf in summer 2010). i'm curious about other opinions as well...
anthony, so you're saying you were in that awkward bucket where neither mba recruiters nor ugrad recruiters knew what to do with you? or what? i kinda remember you posting on a thread i'd started saying that 24 or 25 wasn't too old for an analyst gig...the thread was something like "how do you get recruiters to realize..." how old you are or something like that...
EDIT: i just checked that thread and i was mistaken about you having replied to it.
Villanova has no MBA recruiting because all the MBA's are working. I would imagine that I would of had more opportunities had there been FT graduate OCR. You should be ok, but anything over a year is risky.
Anyone with similar exeperience? How did you fare vs. kids straight from undergrad?
I'm in a similar situation. I did 4 years military and then 2.5 years of financial advising with a big firm (Fidelity/ML/Schwab) without ever completing my undergrad degree. (stopped after 3 years for personal reasons) So now I am 30 y/o and back in undergrad and finally graduate next year. I'm studying Math/Econ with a 3.63 gpa but not sure yet if I want to pursue MSF, Mfin, MFE, or MBA. Any thoughts?
WHich MSF programs dont require work experience?
MFin w/out finance experience (Originally Posted: 04/19/2011)
Is a Masters in Finance worth pursuing if you didn't come form a business background and failed to have any financial internships during undergrad???
I'm applying and I have consultancy work experience. Depends really on your career plans
I went through a master in finance recruiting cycle and I would say the competitive candidates had some finance experience. I did see successful people secure FT positions after they secured internships while still in school and maintaining grades. Just like undergrad get a 3.5 or better at school and that can get you in the door.
well that is somewhat good to hear. I am an applied math major looking to get into finance but failed to land anything for my junior year internship except for a small part time position at a local asset management firm. I plan on studying my ass off and acing the GMAT and depending on which Mfin's I get into I figured I might even have the chance at an SA next summer.
All of them
Non-finance experience and MSF (Originally Posted: 03/30/2015)
What are the "worst case scenarios" of recruiting prospects for people going into an MSF without finance experience? Do they typically end up in financial analyst gigs and whatnot, if they don't work their asses off to network, etc. and do all of the right things to break into IB? I'm debating about whether or not to get an MSF or MBA given that I have about 4 years of experience at an MBB (but non-finance, non-consulting role). Will an MSF help me rebrand myself just as well as an MBA at this point? Thanks in advance
Do an MBA. You have too much experience and MBAs without finance experience routinely go into IBD as associates.
I think TNA is right about the MBA route being a better option for someone in your position. To answer your question, if you're curious, a large portion of MSF graduates have essentially 0 FT work experience at time of graduation. Their experience, if they have any at all, is almost always exclusively internship experience. In my situation, I entered an MSF program with no FT or internship experience. I was able to land an internship through the program, specific to private healthcare business valuation/consulting. I'm currently working as a business valuation/consultant for big 4 advisory, specializing in biotech/pharma.
Most of my friends ended up in CF, IB, AM, ER or in PE. Again, none of them, with the exception of 1, had actual, finance related, full-time experience.
Hope this helps.
:) awesome
but I plan on getting at least one internship before i apply so that I have some experience under my belt
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