MS Accounting and Fundamental Analysis at Columbia Business School

Hi folks,

I am an Economics undergraduate student from India, currently in my final year, graduating in May. I have received an admit from CBS' MSAFA programme. However, I have a few concerns and would appreciate if someone could help me out with the same-

  1. The MSAFA program is newer compared to the MBA Programme- is there a significant disadvantage with respect to hiring when compared to MBA grads?
  2. The programme is very expensive and will require me to take a huge amount of debt to join the same. Is the Columbia advantage worth it?
  3. I am a fresher- I do not have previous work experience (outside of internships in VC/Consulting). Will that put me at a significant disadvantage to my peers in class, and more importantly, in terms of post-graduation recruitment opportunities?
  4. Are firms, in general, open to hiring foreigners and sponsoring?

Thank you!

1 Comments
 

Et quia autem libero quidem. Iusto placeat officiis beatae eligendi. Placeat blanditiis laboriosam est omnis itaque et itaque quia. Ut voluptas vitae magnam commodi nobis et alias.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

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 97.1%

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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”