Doing Masters For Fun

Hello, 


I am an incoming SA23 at a BB/EB at a top group in NYC. The way I structured my courses, I was able to fast-track and will be able to graduate right after I finish my summer internship. As a result, I will have September 2023 - June 2024 free where I will not have to do anything to do.


I was thinking of doing a Masters degree in London just for fun since I feel like I did not get a solid education since I was so caught up in recruiting, given I am from a non-target. I love learning and would really enjoy the Masters I believe. 


I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on applying for Masters that are hopefully 9 months which I could do between my SA end to my starting FT. Thank you!

 

Dude, you are going to love LND. I started my master this year and it is great fun. But if I were you I would just travel a bit and read books/do project that you are passionate about. There is always some mandatory bullshit at uni that you do not enjoy.

 
Most Helpful

Assuming you get a return, one year of non-structured time is a long time, unless money is no object and you can really enjoy yourself, or, your self motivated you can learn on your own. It may be an isolating experience though as your classmates are finishing up their senior year and going on with their lives.

If money is no object then London is a great place and you can find a program to strengthen some weak areas or even dive into areas of interests or skills you want to develop. There are large number of different programs at LSE, LBS, Imperial, etc... which you can dive deeper into finance, fin/econ, analytics, or even a MiM. But these programs can get expensive so a school like RSM would be more economical if money is a constraint.

Applying for a masters may be a good back-up plan if you don't get a return or another FT position. From a career perspective having another network to tap into given your coming from a non-target is an additional benefit. Besides time studying for GMAT and writing essays/getting recommendations, don't see how it could hurt to create an option for yourself. 

 

It's going to be extremely tight. A master's program is generally 10-12 courses, and a recommended full time load is 3 courses. If we bump it up to 4 for you, you still have to make sure that all the prereqs line up so that you can graduate in time and have adequate summer availability. Usually the previous things end up pushing a masters to be a 2 year program instead of 1. 

Array
 

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