Admitted to 3 out of 4 MSFs, now what?

Question

Hi all,

As an international student I am slightly lost right now. I am the usual suspect: let's do a STEM-designated MSF in the US to get these 3 years OPT and land a job in finance kinda foreigner. 
Well, most of the prep-work for this journey is now over, and after applying to 4 MSFs in the country I got admitted to 3 of them: BC, IU and ND. I have been waitlisted by Vandy but still have hope I can get admitted.

In my country it is much easier to have an idea of how any given BS compares to any of its peers, but that seems much harder to do in the US, apart from MIT offering the best MSF in America. Currently my ranking would go as follow:

1. Vanderbilt
2. Notre Dame
3. Indiana University (very close to, if not on par with ND)
4. Boston College

I've based my ranking on University brand, salary at exit, MSF recognition and possibilities/services offered to land a job in the US upon graduation as a foreigner.

I think, Vandy and ND should obviously be ranked as 1-2, but Indiana has been providing me with great insights on their ability to land jobs in the US; whilst I am still waiting for ND's reply on that front. Internationally speaking, BC has by far the best brand (I mean a random Joe in my country might have heard of it, but he definitely has no idea what Vanderbilt is and where the hell to place Indiana on a US map), but after speaking with their career service, I am more and more afraid that it actually is a black hole for international students to generously give away c. 60k USD: they provide no insight regarding placement, no employment report, and forget to give you the name of any alumni you may want to be in touch with...

Based on your experience would you agree with that ranking? Am I too kind with ND/IU and too harsh with BC? Except for regional preferences in terms of job (of which I have very few), which criterion would you look at while making your own ranking?

Thanks for your help.

pintukr · Answer

placement reports for the last 2-3 years is an effective criterion towards assessing the rankings.

bb · Answer

Hm… I would be game to discuss how to rank masters programs. I could arrange them based on their cell activity, for example. If they’re being very selective or require higher scores, but likely means the more prestigious and there’s more competition. Also, if their employment reports look snazzier, I can also argue bassinet system. What are you using for your rankings?

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Posted from my mobile device

Apqmwnzz · Answer

Thanks for your replies.

I think all of these 4 schools have offered an MSF for at least the past 10-12 years if not more. In any event, even if the program is young, they should have some data to share and they should be able to explain why they might not be on par with student expectations would it be the case. Also, the pandemic in the past two years would basically offer you a free pass to explain what might look shady.

My ranking still is a rule of thumb though, based on: university brand, salary at exit, perceived MSF recognition, career services toward international students. Also compared it with some websites such as this one htt ps://tfetimes. com/best-finance-program-rankings/ (sorry for bad formatting, it appears that I cannot post links because my account is too young).
I think the number of international student into the program also plays a role. For instance BC has 80%+ international, and they mentioned to me that most of them secure a job in China, not the US. ND sits at 15% international, IU and Vandy c. 40%. More reassuring in terms of genuine connections with recruiters in the US.

Admitted to 3 out of 4 MSFs, now what?

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