Is SMU Cox a decent school for an international student for an Msc in finance with 4 years of work ex?
I had admits from USC, SMU, Bocconi, UIUC, HEC Paris last year and SMU gave me a pretty great scholarship. I was wondering if SMU is worth it for an international student.
My main aim is to get a corporate finance role at a luxury firm or get into an REPE fund. I already have 4 years of work ex though but there is no way in hell i'm going to spend 100- 200k on an MBA to end up in consulting.
I have 1 year at a tier 2 consulting firm; think OW/Parthenon/LEK/ Strategy&, 1 year at RE strategy consulting (CBRE/ JLL), 1 year at LVMH and 1 year at a startup hence boutique consulting is doable after an MBA and MBB Dubai might be doable too but I hate both IB and consulting hence im not targeting those industries.
Also, i have friends who graduated from M7s this year and they said that if i don't plan on doing consulting i shouldn't even apply to the US as other firms in REPE/ Corp fin/ Retail/ Luxury etc don't sponsor. What do you guys think?
stats- 28 yo Indian male
undergrad- decent UK undergrad (Edinburgh, UCL, Durham, St Andrews) with a terrible GPA
online masters - BU/ GaTech with a 4/4 GPA
GMAT (Old)- 710
I was leaning towards either SMU or Bocconi cause of the scholarships. Bocconi has a pretty shitty campus in India which dilutes their value here and they are considered to be tier 4 here but i had a few friends who got into investment banking and trading at top firms in the UK after the bocconi MSF and one got into BCG Dubai after a bocconi undergrad so im guessing its a decent school for europe and ME placements. However, I have travelled europe extensively and maybe the US is better in terms of job opportunities and its time to explore a different continent?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what you need to know about SMU Cox and your situation:
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Ultimately, your decision should weigh the financial benefits, network strength, and regional job market opportunities.
Sources: 3 years work experience in big 4, Ms Finance or MBA? Could you please give me some advice?, SMU in Dallas, Is it worth going to study an Msc finance with no work experience in finance?, European Master in Finance programmes (pre-experience), Washington Uni in StLouis vs Vanderbilt vs Uni Of Texas at Austin postgraduate MS Finance
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anyone?
if the repe and corp fin roles don't sponsor mba's, they won't sponsor ms finance either, and definitely not from smu cox, which is a non-target at ms finance level and only imapctful for nepo babies. tbh, ms finance is for entry level roles at analyst level, not post-mba associate roles, so going to smu is waste of your money.
bocconi is slightly better if you are ok with middle east. why don't you consider usc/hec paris? they're your best non-mba options. tbh, if i were you, i would wait 1 or 2 more years so the job market improves and then do an mba. you can increase your gmat score till then and try to get a good scholarship. if you have money to study in and travel over europe, as an nri, i know you have enough money to put on an mba.
and yes, if you want the europe/us job market, consulting is your best option. and you can always exit from post-mba consulting/ib to corporate finance. just plan out your visa timeline.
Is USC that much better than SMU? It’s 50-60k more expensive.
Also I thought Bocconi places really well in the Uk?
bocconi placements in uk are all italians who deal with italian IB deals from london
usc is much better than smu. smu is all nepotism and as an international indian student, you're not going to benefit from it. usc will provide much better name and networking.
. I was wondering if USC is a top school. Is it much better than SMU though? uSC’s tuition is double than that of SMU. Also, I heard Bocconi places really well in the UK and is better than USC?
Would SMU not place well in Texas? I’m just thinking that USC would have 1) 50k more in tuition plus 2) much higher living expenses
Both unis are unknown in India and there are a lot of people I know who went to USC and had pretty poor acads at uni
what is the total cost for smu and usc each?
read my above comment for bocconi.
smu does ok in texas. ut austin ms finance is much better for texas. usc is a top 25 school in the us (same tier as uc berkeley/ucla), smu is outside top 50 (slightly more presitigious, christian, richer, american private college version of amity university)
i'm an NRI. you'll have a difficult time fitting in at smu. you could break into corporate finance at a normal big company in tech or regular consumer brand, but REPE or luxury brands like LVMH are off the table from SMU. also, if you want to work at luxury brands, particularly fashion/cosmetics, aim for USC. HEC Paris and Bocconi are also good, HEC is better because more brands in Paris. luxury brands seem to only take kids from prestigious schools in major fasion/media cities.
Hey, I would without blink pick USC. It is in the US, you won't have issue to find a job. Trump won't have an effect for top MBA's but more for shitter ones (if I can say). Schools will fight to keep good international candidates :) Nuts to pick Bocconi where the salaries in Italy are lower than India even... Good luck
Thank you very much. I was wondering if USC is a top school. Is it much better than SMU though? uSC’s tuition is double than that of SMU. Also, I heard Bocconi places really well in the UK and is better than USC?
Would SMU not place well in Texas? I’m just thinking that USC would have 1) 50k more in tuition plus 2) much higher living expenses
Both unis are unknown in India and there are a lot of people I know who went to USC and had pretty poor acads at uni
Depends Bocconi opens Italy not necessarily UK. SMU is good but mostly in Asia. Whiie USC being in America opens the world. I would go to USC even if it involves more money. Good luck!
I dont think USC is that much better than SMU specifically when it comes to MSF. Recruiting will be very similar ie no one holding your hand throughout the recruiting process and much of the legwork will be done on your end.
Main difference is Cali vs Texas and if it means you can come out of SMU debt free then go with SMU.
yup the only reason i was looking at smu was because ill come out of the MSF debt free whereas at USC i will have around 70k-100k of debt
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