Very confused in life. Have an undergrad in finance and about 2 years of work ex in consulting projects, project management and somewhat corporate finance

Most of my internship as been in different functions ranging from market analytics in an insurance and luxury firm to 3 external consulting projects in luxury, IT and 2 internships at fortune 500 firms. I have offers to study the MSF at SMU Dallas, Cass, University college dublin, etc and till now i was leaning towards SMU. However, as an international idk if i would be able to secure a job upon graduation. Additionally, no one in my country has heard about SMU so i doubt anyone will take me seriously after the program in my country. 

What do you guys think about SDA Bocconi / EDHEC / Durham masters in corporate finance? Are these schools respected? I will be aiming for corp fin roles in any of the fortune 500s. 

 

Tubby Burnham

School is good!

SMU Cox? Can it place me well in any of the ft500 firms in corp finance? A lot of people on wso have mixed reviews about it and some of them say that it isn't even a semi target. What about the rep of the school in the US? 

 

It really depends on your individual drive and ability to put yourself out there. In theory, any school can get you where you want to go, you just have to have the ability to put yourself into a position for success. Being able to get involved and stand out is just as important as the school's reputation imo. I think you'll place decently well out of SMU but it might be more skewed to companies located in the South/Midwest.

 

It really depends on your individual drive and ability to put yourself out there. In theory, any school can get you where you want to go, you just have to have the ability to put yourself into a position for success. Being able to get involved and stand out is just as important as the school's reputation imo. I think you'll place decently well out of SMU but it might be more skewed to companies located in the South/Midwest.

Thank you for your reply. How well respected/ known is SMU in the US?

 

I think it's a decently well respected business school and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I believe its usually ranked around the 50's in Business school rankings but again (I'm not sure) I think the reach is more regional and you might have a harder time connecting to firms in the Upper East Coast or along the West Coast. I guess it really depends on some alumni connections but a lot of the big firms my buddies work at in NYC and the like... I can't say that I've heard much about SMU grads. You wouldn't hear much about employees from my school either though, so that's not to say those connections aren't there.

A good, somewhat antidotal, thing to do is to check LinkedIn like someone else said. You can also look at SMU's alumni association website or contact a worker there and see if they would get you a list that breaks down the number of alumni in various cities and regions across the world. My school compiles a list and we had/have access to it as students and as alumni. 

 

Intl tuition is more expensive, and I am assuming you are doing all of this to gain permanent residency in the US.
Attend the best school you can afford and which is a target in your field.

I you want to land a front office IBD job in NYC it will be a lot easier if you attend a better school.
Can non target schools lead to the same job? Maybe? But why risk your only shot of living and working in the US to find out?

If you don't want to live and work in the US, pick a decent school in the EU.

 
Most Helpful

cyberpunk

Intl tuition is more expensive, and I am assuming you are doing all of this to gain permanent residency in the US.
Attend the best school you can afford and which is a target in your field.

I you want to land a front office IBD job in NYC it will be a lot easier if you attend a better school.
Can non target schools lead to the same job? Maybe? But why risk your only shot of living and working in the US to find out?

If you don't want to live and work in the US, pick a decent school in the EU.

I'm not really interested in IBD tbh. I am more geared towards corporate finance and consulting. I am wondering if SMU is a decent school and if that can get me into decent roles. 

 

Check with the school how many domestic students are placed within 90 days of graduation, then check through LinkedIn or the college itself how many foreign born students are placed. If the rate is low, assume it is worse because of the pandemic and general economic issues. From reading WSO, mostly top firms are able to sponsor H1bs. It is expensive, time consuming and requires a certain process skill set.

It would be a shame to waste tuition and time for a US degree and then go back to the EU where almost nobody has ever heard of SMU.

 

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