Hello all,
Looking for some sense of guidance here and any advice would be appreciated. I am currently a Senior at a non-target Midwest school. The university is know more for their graduate course work more than anything, nevertheless its a solid university. In light of graduating soon I started searching for a FLDP and actually landed a position in a F500 company. Solid pay, 75k all in. I thought it was good for a FLDP. The only issue is that the program was delayed/ pushed back due to COVID. As a result it won't start till December 2021 (6 months after graduation). The 6 months actually gives me enough time get a masters degree in finance due to the 4+1 program that is offered in my school. However the cost would be 32k and I would have to take it out in student loans. Currently I have no student loans.
I guess I am not sure if it is even worth it to pursue the master's degree. Can it really propel me forward or is it just another cost? For the future I plan on staying in Corporate finance as it is a steady 9-5 job while I start investing into real estate. Hopefully I will be able to advance as well in the corporate finance world. I was also thinking that down the line, if needed, I could pursue an MBA that could be paid or partially paid by the company I work for in the future.
Bump, any thoughts anyone ?
I'm not in the same situation but have a few friends who graduated at the same time and took FLDP positions. They're all smart/top bucket individuals and doing well and advancing within their companies now that they've completed their programs. If you aren't where you want to be a year or two after completing the program then it would probably make sense to look at an MBA. But IMO, not worth it to take on the student loans when you're currently graduating with $0 debt.
Thanks for the thoughts, I really appreciate it.
Apart from the pandemic, I was in a similar position my senior year. I graduated in December with a FT FLDP job lined up the following summer. I took 6 months off after I graduated, lived with my parents working odd jobs I enjoyed and did a lot of traveling (was great as all my friends had places in different cities).
100% would do it again - I valued the time with my family as it was the last time I lived there before moving away. Except in today's world, I'd save money then pick up and live in South America for a couple months before I start the FLDP. Even better, volunteer for an org you care about there.
Whatever you choose and if case this a consideration - more school (right now) is unlikely to really move the needle in terms of whether you will be successful when you start FT. What will move the needle is life experience, emotional intelligence and willingness to look beyond your comfort zone. Saw several kids with great degrees, backgrounds, etc. become average performers in the program, and some pushed out altogether.
Thanks for the advice, I was thinking the same in terms of traveling . I have family in Central America. Might just go stay there for a couple of months. What type of small jobs did you do if you don't mind me asking?
I was a server for a few months at a decent restaurant. For some reason I'd always wanted to try serving.. I was terrible at it and actually got fired (I think that's the only job I've ever been fired from now that I think about it). After that I spent about a month grading standardized tests for middle/high school students from the state of GA.. I actually got promoted on my first day and I ended up training classes of 30-70 year olds how to grade the tests for the rest of the job. It's not like I loved going to these jobs each day, but it was easy money, and honestly you will learn things in ANY job if you're open to it. Another thing that I would recommend which I did not do during this time, but should have and is learning a new language. You should try to do that during your time prior to travel as well. Enjoy and embrace the time off in a productive way.
MS in Finance are a mixed bag. If you plan on entering FLDP's, you would want to make sure that you do a program that has strong Corporate Finance coursework that will directly applicable to what you will be doing. Some people use MFINS to learn more, but quite often its either an additional year to get an internship in a specific finance field or non-finance undergrads trying to convert to finance.
Cost-wise, I would say avoiding taking out a loan, but all is not lost. A lot of master's programs offer pretty good tuition remission and other paid perks if you participate in an assistantship during your program, so you should try to learn more about whether that's an option at your school.
If your employer has an annual tuition reimbursement program, it could also worthwhile to wait and get a mfin or mba through them for free on a part time basis too.
I appreciate your comment. I think I'm just going to wait and see what happens. Possibly just wait for the future to get an mba instead.
I would keep in mind a lot of the f500 finance programs require a masters to move up and they pay people with masters more. Maybe reach out to hr at the company and see if they would bump up salary if you came in with a masters
I think that unless you’re going to be receiving a pay bump for the MS, it’s not worth it. If you’re still going to be making 75k with a masters it’s essentially a waste of time and money.
it would make more sense to complete the fldp and then look at getting a masters. A lot of companies do masters rotation programs as well.
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