Is MSF right for me?
College student whose late to the finance game. Philosophy major, non target, 3.9 gpa. No finance internships/experience. Down the road, want to do MBA…but I still need actual good experience in finance first that isn’t northwestern mutual, which seems impossible given my situation. Thinking of doing an MSF to initially break in, get 3-5yrs, and then MBA. Any thoughts on this?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, pursuing an MSF could be a solid move for someone in your situation. Here's why:
Breaking into Finance: An MSF is often recommended for individuals who lack a finance background or experience but want to break into the industry. With your strong GPA (3.9) and academic foundation, an MSF can help bridge the gap between your philosophy major and a career in finance.
Career Reset: MSF programs are designed as a "mini reset button," giving students the opportunity to gain specialized finance knowledge and access to recruiting opportunities. This is particularly useful for non-target school graduates or those without prior finance internships.
Path to MBA: Your plan to gain 3-5 years of experience post-MSF and then pursue an MBA aligns well with common career trajectories. Many professionals use an MSF to secure their first finance role, build experience, and later leverage an MBA for career advancement or rebranding.
Considerations:
Alternative Path: If you can secure a finance-related role (even entry-level) without an MSF, you might consider gaining experience first and then pursuing an MBA directly. However, given your non-target background and lack of internships, the MSF route seems more practical for breaking into the industry.
In summary, an MSF can be a great stepping stone for you to gain the necessary finance experience and set yourself up for a future MBA. Just ensure you target programs with strong placement stats and align them with your long-term goals.
Sources: MSF or MBA for my experience level?, MSF Question and Answer, MSF schools BC MSF/Villanova MSF/UVA Ms in commerce(finance track)/WUSTL MSF (WAM), MSF Class of 2019, Any success stories from non-top MSF programs?
As someone who did an MSF at a regional target, you have to goto a target school to break in with your background or need insane connections. My cohort only had 4 people out of about 90 get into MM IB, the rest landed Big 4, CorpFin, RE roles. Out of the 4 who landed, 2 had traditional IB internships at LMM and MM firms, the other two had full time corporate finance experience. Without any internships at all, I’d recommend going to CorpFin/FP&A route, get experience then MBA to IB at a T-15. (Regional Target such as Emory/SMU/UNC/UF)
Job market also isn’t amazing right now.
If Vandy/MIT MFin is on the table, would you say it’s a no brainer to take it?
MIT could definitely get you IB. Vandy struggled this year with the job market from the people I knew who did their program. FP&A and Corp Fin are most common from regional/mid tier MSFs with no finance backgrounds
Also, is CorpFin or FP&A attainable from non target, non finance major?
Getting an msf could help but at the end of the day isnt gonna get you the intro experience that you would have if you actually did what helps non targets - hitting the phones. If you havent paid your dues there an overpriced degree would only help of done on conjunction
Just finished my MSF and I would say do your research before you go and start networking the day classes start. I will say the MSF program I did was amazing in the fact that it gave me all the knowledge needed to break into finance in 10 months. I had no previous finance experience and it really helped me break into the industry
Appreciate the response. Do you mind telling me which school you went to or if it was a target (Vandy, GTwown, MIT, etc)
Semi Target. I did not know there were target and semi target schools before starting just wanted to pivot from what my undergrad was in
I did an MSF and was 4 or 5 years out of undergrad being a pre-med biology student. The MSF was instrumental in me breaking into real estate finance. Choose your school wisely. Depending what your career goals are, you can do absolutely fine going into a non target school assuming it’s in a major city for corporations and jobs. If you’re trying to break into investment banking, most IBs aren’t hiring graduate students for analyst roles anyways, but even then you’re best to go to a major name brand school.
Either way, start networking day 1 of school. Go to the career department (and if they don’t have one, I probably wouldn’t go to that school lol). Do mock interviews, job fairs, get on hand shake and apply, etc.
Many students (maybe not so much on here) assume that you are just given a job by graduation. You have to work your ass off wherever you go. Hope this helps.
What schools do you consider to be worth it if I'm looking for NYC CorpFin/FP&A aside from Vandy/GTown? Thanks for the input, lot of good info
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