MSF Programs In US

I have 4 internships 3 of which are in various divisions in financial services and 1 of which is international tax at a big4. Will be going into international tax full time post graduation this august( finished school in 7 semesters, could've been 6, but I have 2 random classes left for the summer semester).Degree: Econ and Math dual degree.School: non-target SEC schoolGPA expected: 3.8-3.9 ( all my hard courses have been finished)GMAT: 710I want to pivot into IB mainly and have been looking at schools like UTA and Vandy, I want to know what others think may be better for moving into IB. Despite the strong math and econ background I have, I'm not really interested in the MIT/Princeton/UCLA quant Msf programs. Will have around a year of international tax experience in a big4 when I expect to enter the program.

7 Comments
 

International tax full-time job/experience @ a big4 >>> MSF program. It's easier to turn int'l tax experience into IB, than an MSF degree into IB, trust me. Plus you will think an MSF program is a complete joke, since you have a math degree. Finance isn't a real degree, math is. Don't get me wrong, Vandy isn't a bad program whatsoever, but 1 year of int'l tax experience @ a big 4 will put you in a much better place. No idea what UTA is.

 

I think the accounting and financial statement analysis experience with multinationals is definitely useful, but valuation and transactions is generally more suitable for transferring over to IB. I got a full ride scholarship from my bachelors and wouldn't mind the $40-60k for a masters program like vandy or uta, they seem to have very good IB placement. My main rationalization for paying is if I land IB I could easily cover the debt

 

"I wouldn't mind the $40-60k for a masters program like vandy or uta .... My main rationalization for paying is if I land IB I could easily cover the debt"

This is a VERY naïve thought-process, no offense. I think you're romanticizing an MSF program too much. The only reason people attend MSF programs is if they REALLY screwed up their undergrad (which you obviously didn't). You'd be cutting out a year's worth of income and experience, to take on debt for Finance 101 courses and theoretical BS that have no applicability to the real world. You really don't want to do that. 

 

But looking at a program like vandy with 50%+ in IB and around 5-10% in PE wouldnt it be worth it. I’m being offered 80k as a first year in HCOL at big4. If I jump into IB or PE I could easily double that which would take about to 3-5 years in big4 to do

 

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