Anyone applying for MSF programs starting in 2008?

I am applying this year as well.
3.8 cumulative gpa, 4.0 economics major~top 30 USA university
numerous math classes including calc sequence, time series, probability, stochastic processes, linear algebra, regression analysis, econometrics
gre 800 (94%) Q/ 550 V (73%)/ 5.0 A (73%)
worked at the federal reserve past 2 years
solid recs from phds from harvard, columbia, and maryland

at the moment i am only applying to 3 schools:
vanderbilt, washington university, princeton

anyone have any other school suggestions?

I am looking at the following:
Vanderbilt - MSF, Uni Florida - MSF, Boston College - MSF, Rochester - M.S. Management, Finance Spec., UI - Urbana Champaign - MSF

Students at Boston and Rochester have an average of 3-4 years of full-time experience so that might be an issue (I will have only 1).

Also, as far as recruiting is concerned, it seems that the best opportunities are local.

It sounds like you guys have great admissions profiles, hopefully all of the competition won't be that steep. I'm a bit worried about how competetive I may be now.

Raptr - I've heard great things about Rochester's placement in finance, so I took a look at their site. The last full-time class had an average of 1.9 years of work exp. (https://www.simon.rochester.edu/ms/fast_facts.aspx) Not to mention, the GMAT and GPA isn't that high. So, it might not be that much of an issue for you.

I'll probably consider this school as well. I'm also looking into Illinois Institute of Technology and Case Western Reserve MSF programs as back ups.

[quote="iokita"]It sounds like you guys have great admissions profiles, hopefully all of the competition won't be that steep. I'm a bit worried about how competetive I may be now.

Raptr - I've heard great things about Rochester's placement in finance, so I took a look at their site. The last full-time class had an average of 1.9 years of work exp. (https://www.simon.rochester.edu/ms/fast_facts.aspx) Not to mention, the GMAT and GPA isn't that high. So, it might not be that much of an issue for you.

I'll probably consider this school as well. I'm also looking into Illinois Institute of Technology and Case Western Reserve MSF programs as back ups.[/quote]

I just took a look at the Fast Facts page. 65% female, not bad :DD

Now seriously, Rochester looks very good as far as finance is concerned. Their MBA in Finance program is ranked 13th in the country by USNews. I have also heard good things about recruiting. The only thing that I kinda bothers me is the fact that it is a management program. Meaning, schools generally won't let you get a second MBA and I am not sure whether an M.S. in Management won't preclude you from going for an MBA afterwards. And I certainly plan to...

LOL I noticed the male:female ratio too. But I understand what you mean about a MS in management. I'd like to leave the option of an MBA open, so that would be a problem.

Also, I was wondering if you considered Villanova's MSF. There was a post on this school earlier; although the poster wasn't too happy with the recruiting. But they seem to do pretty well with I-banks and have a good reputation in the area.

I've visited the Villanova info session a few weeks ago. It seemed like a nice school. The class size is fairly small (around 25). They emphasis that the school wants all of its graduates to get a job in the front office and that most major i-banks come to the school to recruit.

A question for you guys. Any idea on what kind of jobs are available for someone who graduates from Univ of Ill MSF program? My goal is to get an i-banking job. I was wondering what the placements are like for a graduate of Univ of Ill mSF program.

Also, from doing my research, it seems like if you want a career in Finance, MSF is not a bad way to go compared to an MBA, which is more of a general management program.

MSF is way more technical than an MBA but honestly, in terms of career prospects, I don;t think that the two can be compared. If I-banking is your thing I would think that (assuming you don't have another advanced degree) you should be shooting for an analyst position.

Also, I haven't considered Villanova because I am applying to UK schools too and I can handle only a certain number of applications at time.

I agree with you on career prospects.. MBA is better than MSF... And, you are also right... I am looking for an analyst position after getting my MSF, although I have 2 yrs work experience and am I CPA.

Good luck with your school search!

I don't know if you guys would be interested to hear this but I just got rejected by Oxford. Not unexpected, but a rejection is never a good thing:)

Maybe it's my score of 710 which is lower than last year's average (730), maybe it's something else. Who knows. It is what it is, life goes on.

Sorry to hear that..guess Oxford MS is very competitive.

but were you invited to interview?? ...i emailed the univ. They said 710 is good provided that your quant percentile is 90% up . Can you share with us what you think impeded you from being accepted? I wil probably apply in R2 ...so looking forwards to your advice

No, I was not invited for an interview. I can only guess what the reason is, they do not provide specific feedback, so I don’t want to speculate because I will only confuse you.

My biggest concern was my not-so-solid math background. Oxford’s program is a “Master of Financial Economics” program, and as far as I am informed it is very quantitative. I hold a B.Sc. in Economics & Accounting with a minor in Bus. Law but my school just doesn’t place enough emphasis on math courses. I hoped that I can make up for that through a high score on the Quant section (I got 50) and through my membership in MENSA.

At the same time, the reason could lie somewhere else. Maybe my goal (IB in emerging markets) didn't fit, maybe my personality as a whole didn’t fit. As I said, I just don’t want to make random suggestions.

I wanted to apply in R1 because, as per Oxford's MFE website, if you are admitted in R1 you will be given access to Oxford's career services. This is done so that successful applicants in R1 can try to secure a summer internship prior to the beginning of the course. In this regard, I won't be surprised in R1 attracts more candidates than R2.

Again, I may be wrong:) Best of luck with your application

Hi guys I am Pepe from Greece, 22, male. I just got accepted to the MSF of Brandeis starting in January (Full time). Should I wait for the responses of other universities that i've applied (Syracuse, illinois at urbana, vanderbilt, GW, Temple) or just accept Brandeis?If I wait for the other univ, I probably miss the deadline deposit for Brandeis + won't have much time for the student visa....Finally is it good?

BS in Economics
600 Gmat, Q47 (81%)

Thank you beforehand.

Pepe, congratulations on your acceptance. I don;t know that much about Brandeis, but it was my impression that they had a decent MSF program. From all the schools that you mentioned, I am only familiar with Vanderbilt's and Urbana Champaign's programs. Correct me if I am wrong, both school's average GMAT is way above 600. In this regard, you may wanna consider accepting Brandeis' offer. Again, I am not familiar with the remaining 3 programs that you indicated. It is really your call.

Think about what you want to do with your career after graduation and take a look at the classes each program offers. Also, look for post-graduate placement statistics.

raptr, thank you so much for your response

Good to see more people visiting the forum .

Brandeis is pretty well known in the Massachusetts area and I've heard some good things about the school. If you are depending on a student Visa Brandeis sounds like a good bet. Also, Illinois and GW seem partial to candidates with work exp.

Thank you for telling your opinions.

I am Pavan from India. I have pursued my Bachelor of Commerce degree & PGDBM(MBA equivalent) in finance and marketing.

I have currently 2 years of work exp and looking forward to pursue MS in finance from US university.
I am taking up my GMAT in DEC 2007 and willing to apply for Aug 2008 admissions.

Kindly suggest me with below questions:

1. How are the career prospects in I-banking after MS finance (i.e Salaries, positions etc)?

2. will my MBA degree add some value along with MS finance?