MIT Masters in Finance placement stats up!

http://www.quantnet.com/forum/showpost.php?p=63115&postcount=25

He doesn't seem impressed ... lol

Very nice placement. Impressive list of companies. I wish they had more details of what the positions were though. They seem to go in-depth for every other aspect of placement minus this. It will be interesting what people think of this considering the 100K price tag on the program.

I would imagine they are being vague for a reason. 54% international is a high figure considering how hard it is to get an H1 these days. They also had a significant % of people with 3-5 years (kind of rare for an MSF). I am going to go though these numbers more in depth tonight. Just wanted to get them out there for you guys.

Average comp seems a bit low as well. Look forward to your analysis ANT

I don't know, I have been hearing comments from other people about compensation and the only critique I can say is that it is low relative to the amount spent on the degree.

Analyst comp is going to be 60-75K, base salary, depending on the area you work in. That is about it. You really do not get compensated more for the MSF, unless you go into F500 or use the degree as an MBA replacement. The MSF will pay off in the long run, but companies, especially IB's, hire on experience.

Princeton also has a very high price tag.

Princeton has a top notch MFin program. It is also the main graduate business degree at the school. MIT's MSF is not. The MBA takes front and center and the MSF is more of a secondary program. People need to keep this in mind.

Yeah, I didn't like their one 44K comp figure. I would cry after dropping 80K+ on a school to get that.

Nelly, not sure about the comp figures, but they place heavily into associate roles. I would bet money that Princeton has better comp numbers than MIT. It is a better structures, more quant heavy program.

I personally think the list is impressive because many people on this site always ask if an MSF can open up analyst doors and this placement proves it happens.

Impossible is nothing!

Also as far as compensation, Anthony said it- analyst pay is pretty rigid so I don't think that should be a concern for anyone considering an MSF.

Out of curiosity, almost half of the batch got jobs on their own (through networking etc.), is this figure similar for Princeton or any other school for that matter?

I think networking is a huge element of all programs. Princeton is most likely the exception since the MFIN there is their main, graduate degree.

My advice to everyone looking at an MSF is come with your game face on. Too many people consider an MSF as another year or school. In reality, you need to look at it as sudden death overtime. Fucking around will cost you dearly.

Is it just me or are these stats very unimpressive/somewhat disappointing?

1) 50% find jobs on their own isn't that bad. The degree is relatively new so no OCR comes specifically for it. You are competing with UG's and MBA's. Basically in the nether region. Also, the schools network is a huge selling point for the MSF program. It allows you to go outside OCR. Also, there was a heavy international contingent. H1 visa's are hard to find so networking might have opened up different jobs.

What I looked at and was pleased about was a) 100% placement (especially for a 54% international class) and b) the quality of firms and diverse placement.

2) MIT is not the least. Many programs have salary figures. The issue with the MIT stats is that they were broken up by US citizens and non citizens. Banking salary is pretty fixed so I think it would be unreasonable to expect a higher salary than 70K (or less in secondary cities).

3) MIT gets lumped into MFE programs. This is unfair. MFE sets you up for quant work. An MSF sets you up for banking/S&T/AM, etc. I would imagine that quants get a higher salary, but give up some of the bonus potential or steepness of the salary curve. I might be wrong.

All in all, I think this is a solid start for the program. Many things could be changed and improved on. I do think that 80K is too high for what you get from the program. Honestly, Villanova has stats close to this and almost a third of the price.

Good discussion so far.

I think its important to point out to that just because someone got a job 'on their own' doesn't preclude them being able to get one through OCR. It could be that a good portion of those that got jobs on their own did so through the internships they held at the start of the program and did not participate, or at least to the degree they would have otherwise, in the OCR process. Particularly in light of MIT's location, I think this probably accounts for at least a fair amount of those that got jobs on their own.

Just a thought...

Very true. Getting the job is the end result. It doesn't talk about the OCR that interviewed the students, but they didn't get an offer. The info session that put them in contact with alumni. The global network that MIT has, etc.

A more telling stats would be % interviewed through OCR. Maybe a lot of these kids sucked at interviews in the beginning.