May 2024 Grad - Big 4 Audit or T1 MSF?
Recent grad here, have a FT job offer in Audit & Assurance at a Big 4 and as well as an offer for a top tier MSF program (think MIT, Chicago, Vanderbilt). Curious to see any insights on which path I should pursue. Would love to gain work experience ASAP rather than staying in school, but realistically what will my career progression look like if I start in audit? If breaking into IB / high finance is still the goal, is my best bet to transfer internally to TAS / deal advisory and then lateral into banking?
Placements from almost all T1 MSF programs have been extremely weak due to market conditions, and I will probably have to find another relevant internship this summer to gain experience for upcoming FT recruiting. Not sure if I'd be able to end up with a better offer than the Big 4.
Background: Semi-target school, interned in IB last summer but no return offer despite positive feedback (headcount issues).
Bump
In a similar situation, would love to hear ppl's thoughts - btw nice ID, madrid fan?
Was at a MBA program with a well-regarded MSF program (T1 MSF program). From the looks of it, recruiting seems 'okay.' Not sure how placement is for the 2024 class but majority of the 2023 class I knew had offers at graduation (varied across IB, consulting, corporate finance, real estate, PE). Overheard a few MSF students talking this year - some had MBB / IB offers while I did hear a few of them admit that they were fairly desperate in their job search but that was around ~Feb / March so not sure how it turned out. Would recommend trying to message one of their recent grads (this year or last) to get a sense about how things were going.
I would personally recommend taking the BIg 4 job, work for ~3 years and get an MBA instead. Congrats on the offer though, the job market is brutal out there right now so to get a solid job like you did is impressive.
Appreciate the advice! I’ve talked with some of the students who just finished the program recently, and the placement rate this year has been absolutely brutal…
I will definitely plan to get an MBA sometime, but not sure if I would still want to pursue banking at that time. Starting in Big4 Audit and without an MBA, I was just wondering what the fastest way of breaking into IB would look like.
Quite simple, lateral once the job market recovers.
bump in similar spot
MSF is best used as a fifth year to get an internship and do FT recruiting, since most jobs are spoken for by the time school actually starts. Since you don't have an internship for this summer, very real chance you spend $70k and end up with no offer or a weak offer.
Given that, I would do big 4 and try to get to MBA quickly... do GMAT while you are still fresh, hone the well-rounded part of your application and go work for two years. You've missed the 2+2 deadlines but think a similar 2-3 year timeline.
TAS/deal advisory was doable in 2021 but less so right now... there are a LOT of people stuck there because IB has plenty of experienced candidates for those roles. Even in the best of times it's a long path. I would pull the MBA trigger and just set yourself up for a strong bank.
Thank you so much for the insights. With the accelerated SA recruiting timeline, it was really tough for me to find a SA 24 internship after finding out about my return offer status in late summer 2023. I've interviewed for some FT roles during my senior year, but did not really have any luck for internships... Seems like some FT spots can pop up any time, but SA offers have been already signed at least 1+ years in advance. With that said, I believe I can still perhaps land something for this summer if needed to (maybe a remote internship at a boutique shop).
Definitely agree with you regarding the MBA route and will try to take the GMAT ASAP. I was aware of the 2+2 program deadlines but only received my Big 4 offer recently (I think you need a job offer lined up in order to apply). However I do not regret too much because I heard they tend to take more non-traditional students for these deferred MBA programs. Now I've graduated from a Top 20 college with a 3.8+ gpa, do you think starting my career in audit will hurt my chances for MBA admissions?
Yeah, all around unfortunate timing and I feel for you. I would just take audit. Small remote boutique is not going to be much help for FT recruiting, and if you ditch that audit offer you are entering into a very challenged job market.
You will need a great GMAT of course but you should be able to land one of the M7, and definitely T15 at the very worst. Fewer and fewer people are going to MBA these days, and audit -> IB is a very straightforward story.
Audit won't heard you but definitely try and get a TAS move ASAP to give yourself a better base to recruit/admit from.
MSF
Big4 Acctg will pigeon hole you real fast, let alone paying you peanuts. I’d stay away from that! You’re better off doing T1 MSF and network like crazy beforehand
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