MSF for Equity Research??

I am a spring graduate from a non-target American school where I studied Finance and Econ with a GPA a bit above 3.5. Throughout UG I was able to intern for a regional boutique investment holding firm as an analyst as well as in equity research at another regional boutique, one of these being in Europe and the other being local to my University.

Post graduation I work in financial ops at one of the bigger financial services firms (think Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, State Street etc.) and am not satisfied at all. I spend hours post work everyday and on weekends doing things like studying accounting, improving upon my modeling skills, mastering my technical's or just keeping myself up to date with the market. All with hopes of ultimately achieving a FT job within ER or IB ideally in NYC. I have begun thinking about my next move of attending a MSF program at a more elite university regardless of location and possibly interning for another boutique within one of these desired fields prior to beginning in Fall of 2025 ideally spring of 2025. Am I shit out of luck for recruiting without this MSF? Would a MSF even help my situation? What schools should I be looking into? What would be some other feedback for me? Should I start connecting with these boutiques that I am interested in interning for now or should I wait?

1 Comments
 

Suscipit autem dolorem et odit totam soluta molestiae. Minus alias aut consequuntur illo praesentium. Numquam adipisci sunt non. Qui tempora quia aut sequi error blanditiis tenetur. Sint illo accusamus officia in eligendi aut. Labore sit velit quos corrupti beatae.

Et possimus nobis atque architecto. Corrupti quisquam porro voluptates qui voluptas vitae. Repudiandae sint nesciunt aliquam aspernatur et perspiciatis. Quis ut aut sed. Quisquam libero sequi vero dolorum.

Illo enim explicabo rem doloribus tempora labore. Sunt iste error non rerum labore aut aspernatur. Soluta id est libero voluptatem in. Et consectetur qui eius aut accusantium.

Sapiente autem repudiandae ipsam magnam ab. Eius et voluptatem quia est nulla. Eos nihil amet libero atque ab architecto.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 04 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (17) $409
  • Associates (58) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $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

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...”