UT Dallas MSF
Looking into several MSF programs. I want to end up in Dallas, so naturally UT-Dallas is appealing. Does anyone have any info as far as placement records or know if many Dallas HFs or Bulge Brackets recruit from this program? The info on their website is very limited. Any help would be much appreciated. I am sure to get in to Vandy and Nova, but would consider UT if recruiting was great, even if a lower tier school.
How strong is the UT Dallas MS in Finance?
UT Dallas does not have the best placement amongMSF programs in the south or in general. Vanderbilt, UVA, and UTA have arguably the best placement for schools below the Mason Dixon line. If you're looking for opportunities in Texas, UTA would be ideal since you can network face to face with ease.
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I don't agree that we can't have meaningful MSF rankings. It's simply not true based on my experiences. I've interacted with a lot of MSFs and I can tell you that schools are objectively better than others.
Quick ranking:
- MIT
- Vandy
- UVA
- UTA
- WUSTL (2 years ago I would have had WUSTL above UTA)
- USC
- Villanova
- Rochester
- BC
- SMU
- Others (JHU/Baruch/Fordham)
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Call them and ask for their recruiting info.
I would say they do not do too hot in recruiting. UT, Rice, SMU, A&M, and TCU's MBA programs (in that order) probably out place UTD MSF
Ut Austin also has a Dallas campus I believe
Texas AM has something close to an MSF. I think UTD is a part time, night program. More of a working professional gig.
I have it listed on my site. Couldn't find much info on them.
McCombs doesnt have a Dallas campus. They have a weekend program at a hotel.
There are very few bulge bracket banks in Dallas and even if there were more, HFFBallfan is correct with respect to recruiting pecking order. There are a fair number of hedge funds but that's going have to be purely network driven.
This is incorrect: McCombs DOES have an MBA program in Dallas. http://new.mccombs.utexas.edu/mba/dallas
Texas A&M's MSF is only for students who get into one of 2 different programs(one for accounting and the other for trading) during their undergrad at A&M.
You can get a finance gig from UT's MPA program. Quite a few kids go into banking
their class is literally like 10 people and they come from all different backgrounds so its hard to paint a cohesive picture. UTD has some okay regional and lower tiered companies recruit on campus (think JP Morgan Operations or Ernst and Young).
Also because the class is so small, professors help a lot with networking. This is what I was told by their career office at least.
Hate to bring up a two month bump, but I'm about to finish my MSF at UTD.
No, there's really no major recruiting here - JP Morgan recruits somewhat for back office, but there's very little that most people here would actually desire, recruited -directly-. The FLA (Financial Leadership Association) is an excellent resource for networking and establishing yourself in competitions, and I know multiple people who have made it into IB/PWM internships with both boutiques and BB's here in Dallas through networking within the school and this organization.
However, UTD is an -amazingly- under-perceived school. The faculty are excellent (most of my profs have been Ivy PhD's with strong credibility - studied under Nobel prize winners, one of them had Bernanke on his dissertation committee). The school is on an absolutely meteoric rise, and I firmly believe it will be on par with UT Austin within the next 5-10 years. Admission standards are on par with UT Austin and higher than any other public university in the state. We just ranked #40 in the US News MBA rankings, tied with UC Irvine, Penn State, Iowa, and Tulane. But tuition is about 1/3rd what those schools are.
I'm not sure where the assumption comes from that the MSF class is small, in fact, for such a new degree at the school, it's HUGE. I'm fairly certain there are currently over 200 MSF students here. I have elective classes with nothing but MSF's in it with 40 - 50 students in it, in fact.
One reason that recruiting may be weak is that the graduate business school is absolutely -loaded- with students from India/China. I know that's a common trend in all business schools today, but it's more so here - I'd say 80% of the graduate students were born somewhere east of Pakistan and west of Japan (and never set foot in the US prior to admission). Nothing personal against them, but it can impact the networking opportunities for an American planning to make ties to the region.
You won't network yourself into one of the Dallas hedge funds straight out of school, simply because the Asset Management industry in Dallas is structured such that (without networking), they're really only interested in those who have done the 2-year gig already, and those opportunities don't exist much outside of New York / Chicago / California. SMU is a far better choice if you want to network your way out of those 'requirements', but it's an equivalent/weaker education at a much higher price. Hell, the former Dean of Finance at SMU teaches at UTD.
The UTD MSF is about one thing - an excellent finance education, and all the access to competitions/professors/etc that you want, and a degree that will command a much higher degree of respect several years from now (an appreciating asset) at an extremely low price... I have all the knowledge I could want for starting on Wall Street, but few connections. So just know that you'll have to do your own legwork, but it's a good leg to stand on once you've done the legwork. Just don't expect to waltz out with a BB IB gig without working for it first, like you would at HPY.
Also, to the guy who compiles the MSF website data, there's actually a lot you can find here: http://somweb.utdallas.edu/graduate/masters/msFinance/
Key point.
Many students do the MSF programs primarily because they want to position themselves for better OCR and gain a better network. Regardless of the UTD MSF's educational integrity, it simply can't hope to compete with UTAustin undergrad or MPA business majors (esp. plan II). I hate to say it, but the same goes for A&M... to a certain degree.
Based on my experience here in Texas, the best shot at I-banking jobs in Houston are students who a) have excellent grades and extracurricular activities (nothing new here), b) managed to display an interest in banking/finance (relevant work experience), and c) went to one of the more reputable schools in the state (i.e. UT, A&M, SMU, Rice, and TCU). I think UT places better than all, and A&M next, and I have heard the other three place a few every occasionally.
Also, Texas has very few BB analyst opportunities. Does anyone know the size of usual hiring classes at each bank in Houston? One bank told me they were only hiring 1-2 analysts, something ridiculously low (it was BB in Dallas, Houston office wanted ~6).
Clearly attention to detail is not your strong suit.
Oh haha sorry I just realized you were implying that they had a program but not a specific campus.
To be clear, that statement that I made is a few years old and was based on the information available at that time.
My current position on MSFs is that they're effectively useless in this economy. Any top 50 MBA program (maybe top 100) will outperform that vast majority of MSFs. The MBA is the premier graduate business degree in the U.S.
I almost never recommend MSFs anymore.
Surely USC comes above WUSTL at this time, like look at the placement?
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