Feedback on MSF programs
I am looking to apply for the following Masters in Finance programs for the Fall 2025 intake and would love feedback/advice on the strength of their alumni network and placements in IB / ER / AM / HFs.
In no particular order:
1. UT Austin
3. Notre Dame Mendoza
4. Ohio State Fisher
5. ESSEC (note: I don't speak french)
6. HEC Paris (note: I don't speak french)
7. Stockholm School of Economics
8. HKU (note: I don't speak mandarin / cantonese)
9. HKUST (note: I don't speak mandarin / cantonese)
Profile:
- South Asian female
- 645 GMAT ~ 89th percentile (will retake ahead of the R2 deadlines)
- 2 years of full time work experience at matriculation (1.5 of which would be in commercial banking at a bulge bracket)
- Summer internship at Point72 (in the Economist team)
- 3.29 GPA, Major in Econ and minor in Math from a mid-level university in Bangladesh
- Notable extracurriculars (during undergraduate years):
- co-founded the first organized angel network for women investors in Bangladesh, doubling the representation of women investors in the investor pool since inception
- Facilitated $1.5m worth of investments into early-stage startups in the country
- Led the execution of a cross-regional accelerator program for women founders in South Asia
- Wrote for one of the leading news dailies in the country
Some additional info:
- Heavily relying on scholarships and merit-based awards to finance business school, so the affordability factor is important.
- No preference per se in terms of geography as long as I can work and settle in one of the above locations. Don't want to return to Bangladesh for at least 5 to 6 years.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's a detailed breakdown of the MSF programs you're considering, focusing on alumni network strength and placements in Investment Banking (IB), Equity Research (ER), Asset Management (AM), and Hedge Funds (HFs):
1. UT Austin
2. Yale SOM Asset Management
3. Notre Dame Mendoza
4. Ohio State Fisher
5. ESSEC (Note: You don't speak French)
6. HEC Paris (Note: You don't speak French)
7. Stockholm School of Economics
8. HKU (Note: You don't speak Mandarin/Cantonese)
9. HKUST (Note: You don't speak Mandarin/Cantonese)
Additional Considerations:
Conclusion:
Good luck with your applications!
Sources: MSF or MBA for my experience level?, MSF Class of 2019, MSF Class of 2017, MSF Class of 2018, Ohio State MSF vs Villanova MSF
UT MSF is very fratty if you are a muslim women going there... It's going to be tough. They won't hate you or anything like that but you wouldn't fit in very well. SOM not impossible to land IB out of but many Yale undergrad alumni will not be responding to networking. TBH that's an issue at all MSFs but especially Yale. Can't comment too much on the rest of them but I would add Booths new MSF to the list. For IB it will be the best program. They have partnered with the local Chicago offices of countless banks to help get you an internship from the program. You will either get return offers from these internships or leverage them for NYC full time recruiting. They were recently given a massive donation for this program so aid should be decent.
where'd you get all this info about booth's msf
Source I run a club with a chapter at Uchicago. Asked several club members how there albeit limited time at the MSF was.
Just to piggyback -- would also second adding Chicago, as well as Berkeley Haas, and some of the UK programs (Oxford/ LSE?). Am an outsider but based on my own research.
This is not fact-based but from an American perspective would deprioritize state schools in the mid-west, e.g. Notre Dame, Ohio, etc.
Can't comment on Europe but regarding HK, HKU and HKUST would be comparable in terms of reputation (and likely alums/ placements, but you may want to triangulate this from your own research and primary sources), though UST is the higher ranked b-school in general
Vanderbilt is the only real choice in the US, then maybe UT and USC imo
Vanderbilt downhill apparently but still decent.
Hey, i am in the same process for a lot of the same schools so would love to pm. Regarding UT MSF, i was rejected because their course is designed as a 'first in finance' so i had a dual major finance undergrad and they told me that i knew 'too much finance'..... for a MSF, very frustrating.
That’s just an excuse.
If you are an international / don’t have a job/internship lined up, you get rejected.
They don’t want to ruin their employment statistics. I got accepted from all higher ranked and regarded MFins but got rejected from UT despite being from UT STEM with a 3.95+ GPA and multiple awards from the UT system.
I know this isn't true because i have an internship/grad job lined up over there. I am stressing this point in an appeal so hopefully they change their mind.
Reiciendis aut labore quam inventore omnis. Expedita reiciendis fugit eum blanditiis blanditiis. Enim maxime quia atque quia. Et harum quis praesentium recusandae. Et sit excepturi vitae quis rerum velit. Explicabo aut corporis explicabo modi suscipit.
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