UIUC vs Purdue?

Hey everyone, Which one would you recommend for an MSF? I'm looking at a career in corporate finance or consulting.. preferably in and around NYC! Please pick one in terms of b-school reputation, campus life and favorability in terms of job offers for international students!Thanks a lot, your opinion matters a great deal :) Cheers.

28 Comments
 

I wouldn't look at either of these. I think you posted before. Neither of them would be easy to get recruited from if you're aiming for NY. I'd consider another program - Vandy or Villanova.

 
matayo

i think a lot of people would disagree with nova

If someone is looking for NYC placements then Nova would be good fit.

IMO, UIUC would be decent enough if you wanted to work in Chicago. Might be tough if NYC is your goal. F500 should be relatively easy to land out of most MSF programs at big name universities though.

 
TNA matayo:

i think a lot of people would disagree with nova

If someone is looking for NYC placements then Nova would be good fit.

IMO, UIUC would be decent enough if you wanted to work in Chicago. Might be tough if NYC is your goal. F500 should be relatively easy to land out of most MSF programs at big name universities though.

im sure you were around for the great nova complaining thread of '13

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Best Response
matayo TNA: matayo:

i think a lot of people would disagree with nova

If someone is looking for NYC placements then Nova would be good fit.

IMO, UIUC would be decent enough if you wanted to work in Chicago. Might be tough if NYC is your goal. F500 should be relatively easy to land out of most MSF programs at big name universities though.

im sure you were around for the great nova complaining thread of '13

Yes, I was. People complaining about a masters program being hard. It was hard when I did it and it is still hard.

I suppose the CFA is easy? These are graduate programs in finance, not some cheese puff certificate program. Villanova UG is also not easy as I know plenty extremely competent UG's who would sometimes take graduate classes.

Villanova is a great program with strong, NYC focused placements. If you are looking to coast through a joke program then I would advise looking elsewhere.

EDIT - I also find it funny the implication that Villanova is somehow harder than other MSF programs as if they are easy. I've spoken to students at WUSTL, UT Austin and Vanderbilt, programs that are within the peer group that Villanova is in and all of those students told me the programs were very hard and rigorous, with students having a range of GPA's.

 

@TraderDaily: That's right ...I did. It's just that I got the admits this time round.. so I had a decision to make.Thanks again though!

 

No insult, but you really don't know that much about the degree then. You'd look at Nova over other schools if you wanted mainly NYC placements, if you wanted to be 15 minutes from the 2nd larges city on the East Coast and an hour and a half from NYC, if you wanted to save anywhere from $10-15K or more in tuition when compared to other programs, etc.

Villanova's placements are on par with all the other schools also.

Change is good as the program adapts. It recently received CFA partnership status which will mean more CFA scholarships for students. Courses are added and dropped to remain relevant. Change is good. And I know the situation very, very well. It had little to do with change and more to do with hard summer classes and misguided expectations.

 
TNA

No insult, but you really don't know that much about the degree then. You'd look at Nova over other schools if you wanted mainly NYC placements, if you wanted to be 15 minutes from the 2nd larges city on the East Coast and an hour and a half from NYC, if you wanted to save anywhere from $10-15K or more in tuition when compared to other programs, etc.

Villanova's placements are on par with all the other schools also.

Change is good as the program adapts. It recently received CFA partnership status which will mean more CFA scholarships for students. Courses are added and dropped to remain relevant. Change is good. And I know the situation very, very well. It had little to do with change and more to do with hard summer classes and misguided expectations.

lol i'm not sure the philosophic merits of change is really what we're discussing- though, while you do raise good points on what change is good, i'm sure you have to concede that too much is bad. neither you nor i currently attend the school, so we don't know what median grades are like, but im sure those people's complaints weren't born from nothing

cost is one thing that villanova does have over other schools, but considering the placement, i'm still not so sure it's worth it. and prestige is a real thing, so im still not so sure if nova is any better than the other choices

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You do realize I am a Nova alumnus and know every historic placement, as well as details regarding this drama that you are talking about. I also know enough of the historic placements at the other schools you are talking about to say that Nova's placements are on par.

And I do not disagree with you about prestige, but we aren't comparing Nova to NYU or Duke. If you want to work in finance in NYC being an hour away is a major advantage.

I also think people discount the Villanova brand far too much. It is consistently ranked tops when it comes to UG business schools and there are countless Wall Street alumni.

 
TNA

You do realize I am a Nova alumnus and know every historic placement, as well as details regarding this drama that you are talking about. I also know enough of the historic placements at the other schools you are talking about to say that Nova's placements are on par.

And I do not disagree with you about prestige, but we aren't comparing Nova to NYU or Duke. If you want to work in finance in NYC being an hour away is a major advantage.

I also think people discount the Villanova brand far too much. It is consistently ranked tops when it comes to UG business schools and there are countless Wall Street alumni.

okay, that's fair you probably know more than me about the subject, and i agree nova is discounted a bit too much still, i'm not entirely sold on the idea of nova>other MSFs mentioned

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Fair enough. Many people hold differing opinions so there isn't one right answer. I know people at all three programs and everyone is successful which is good.

 

Both are going to be about the same regarding job prospects for international students. I'd personally choose UIUC as I think it has much better Chicago pull. Your choice though.

 

Will be tough for you either way.

You will be able to find a job if you hustle - but I found that most of the intl students at my MSF didnt hustle (or didnt know how)

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