Is a masters in finance really that useful?

Like a lot of other students all over the country, I have decided to pursue a masters to defer having to enter the job market by another year. I would like to pursue investment banking as a career and am aware of the top masters programmes (Oxford MSc Financial Economics, LSE MSc Finance, etc.). However these 1-year programmes are so bloody expensive and it's clear that recruitment give no special privileges to masters students over bachelor students when it comes to recruiting. So my question is, why the heck would anyone want to dish out £45k+ on a MSc Financial Economics course at Oxford when they could do another course at Oxford such as MSc Mathematical Sciences for a fraction of the price at ~£10k? Am I missing something here? I really enjoy maths and think I stand a good change of being admitted into the course.

Note for context: I did not manage to secure a summer internship in 2020 and attend a non/semi-target university where I study a bachelors in maths/econ

5 Comments
 

Supply and Demand I guess.

This year Oxford raised the price again to 47K, and then you’ve still got to pay living costs and accommodation. The biggest barrier to entry for these courses is the price.

 

MSF is a way to reset and recruit for IB/PE. It’s not really comparable to a masters in maths, since it isn’t really an academic program.

These places have tons of finance clubs, case competitions, networking events, etc that you won’t find in masters in maths.

If you look at top programs (oxbridge/LBS/LSE etc) you’ll see that they get a lot of attention from banks. These programs are designed to shoot people into high finance in one year, not give you an intro course to Galois theory. This is a much greater value-add in terms of ROI and drives the price.

 
Most Helpful

Delectus et aliquam est dolorem beatae. Explicabo est ut sed maxime. At temporibus minus at dolorum modi illo nemo.

Rerum ut iusto doloremque rem. Natus quis voluptas laboriosam commodi sed quidem sequi. Temporibus dignissimos et ipsum iste autem. Debitis nostrum consequatur et enim aut odio. Cupiditate aliquam ab fuga perferendis laudantium quia quia. Voluptatem dolorem voluptate et voluptatem libero.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”