3 years in banking-->MFin or MBA?
Hello,
Long time lurker on the forum. Thanks for all the help over the years. I now have worked at a top BB in US for 3 years and due to visa issue, I have returned to my home country and currently am taking a gap year traveling and applying to grad school. I am choosing between Wharton MBA and MIT Sloan Master of Finance and was hoping to hear your thoughts.
My goal is to stay in the finance industry, likely doing corporate development or growth equity / investments, or even just a regular corporate finance role at a F500.
My thoughts on the pros and cons for each are below and would appreciate your views.
Wharton MBA
Pros:
1. Name brand and credibility,
2. Ability to develop a big network,
3. Flexibility in terms of recruiting opportunities,
4. Potentially a better, more “prestigious” degree than MFin
Cons:
1. 2 year program (vs. 1 year for MFin)==> Since I am forced to go back to grad school because of visa issue, I’m not sure I will enjoy 2 years in bschool and be able to make the most out of it; plus, I am already taking a gap year so I don't really need another 2 years of "vacation".
2. More expensive due to the length of the program and all the travels and study abroad opps to be able to make the most out of the program
MIT Sloan MFin
Pros:
1. > 1 year program, less expensive as a result and less of a pain to endure since I do not enjoy schooling and basically just need another chance with the visa from getting another degree
2. Ability to tap into the broader MIT and Sloan network (supposedly, though not sure how integrated the program is and how receptive the broader alumni network is to Mfin grads)
3. Has a corporate finance concentration which fits my 3 years of banking experience
Cons:
1. May be perceived as a “weaker” degree compared to MBA, perhaps? but still, it has the MIT Sloan brand name and is highly selective
2. Less flexibility for recruiting - will be limited to finance opportunities, but guess this is fine as I intend to stay in finance
3. May not have as strong of an impact on long-term career as compared to an MBA? —>>> would appreciate your thoughts here but I think increasingly an MBA degree is no longer a necessity for career progression?
TLDR:
I think my biggest issue is that since I am basically forced to go back to school to get another chance with work visa, I am inclined to do a 1 year program and move back to my normal working life again asap. However, as I continue to do more research, I am starting to wonder if I should take this opportunity to get the MBA degree instead from a longer term perspective. At the same time, given that I don’t have any prior PE experience, I doubt an MBA will be of much help to me since 1) I won’t get into post-MBA PE roles anyways without prior experience and 2) corporate development / small growth equity roles don’t seem hard to get into by leveraging my existing 3-year BB IBD experience so a 1-year MFin program gets the job done.
How should I think about this decision? I guess I am a bit torn at the moment between my urge to do the minimum (i.e. 1-year MFin program) and my concern about the long term impact of my decision. Would really appreciate your thoughts here. Thanks so much!
Bump. Facing some related issues.
I am not able to PM you, can you PM me pls?
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