Gies V Freeman (MSF)

Hi folks,

I really need your advice. I've been admitted to both Tulane (Freeman)(MSF) and the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign (Gies College of Business)(MSF). I've got a 40% merit scholarship and TA(Tulane) (Huge benefit) my end goal is to end up in NE in IB preferably BB.  Can you please suggest which of these has a higher rep in NE and reputation on the street?  Where would you go and why?

Please help, and thanks. 

11 Comments
 

Not as many people at Tulane are competing for Banking than at UIUC. Tulane also places much better in NYC where as UIUC does not. If you can’t land a job in NYC for Tulane, then you can probably find a position in Houston, Dallas, Miami, etc. They place well all around.

 

Did you apply to BC or Villanova MSF's? If you want to be in the Northeast both of those schools will have better placement than both of those options. I don't think Tulane will get you to where you want to be. 

Only Tulane grad I've come across in NYC was in the BO. You'd be better suited recruiting for Houston and transferring to an O&G group in NYC if FO finance is your goal. My understanding is that Tulane is a semi target im Houston but is a complete non target for the Northeast. 

 

unfortunately, i missed deadlines for some great programs and unis such as Vandy and Villanova, BC isn't STEM so as an international, it's not as appealing. I'm still awaiting the decision from JHU (Carey Business School) the program is solid but JHU isn't exactly known for finance. I'm also doing CFA on the side, hope it'll help whilst recruitment, I'll obviously look for entry-level positions but BO isn't appealing at all. Tulane did say that they get OCR from BB, but what do you know these days. They do have numbers in JPM tho, not so much in GS. I'm really torn, deadlines from major programs are passed, so at this point, i only have options between those two (and hopefully JHU). 

Thanks for the advice bud. 

 
Most Helpful

What are your other options? I honestly wouldn't attend any of those programs if I were you and it would be a waste of $40k or more if I'm just being completely honest. Less competition for IB at schools like Tulane isn't a good thing and means that banks aren't hiring a ton of analysts from there.

Vandy, MIT, and UT-Austin are pretty much the only MSF's consistently putting people in IB seats. Look at other programs like the Duke MMS and MQM. Duke is a target for firms in NYC but those programs don't even consistently place people in IB. All of those schools are head and shoulders above Tulane in terms placements and prestige. 

I'm not trying to be a dick I'm just being honest and the admissions/career services people will tell you that's it's possible because they want your $. At the end of the day 90% or more of the class ends up in MO/BO roles they could have gotten before the MSF and while IB is not impossible out of those programs its incredibly unlikely. You may be able to land at a boutique IB in the south but you're not going to land at GS/JPM because even the top schools like Vandy don't send the majority of their kids to BB's so I'd reset your expectations for what's possible out of the MSF

If you're dead set on an MSF I'd honestly go with Illinois as long as you were committed to staying in Chicago but if you go in expecting FO finance you're going to be disappointed.

 

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