brandeis vs purdue vs fisher

Hello Aditdoshi11


Congrats on admission to those 3 schools.

As Finance being my forte, I can tell you immediately that Fisher has strongest department in Finance among those 3 schools and is best choice for you.

Purdue comes second and Brandeis is relatively new school/university, with not such strong brand in US as institution overall.


Fisher finance faculty are ranked 9th worldwide in terms of publications in the top three finance journals.

As a CFA Institute partner, the Specialized Master in Finance (SMF) at Fisher program covers 70% of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK).


Here are most important figures for Fisher :

Starting Salary Average $63,840

Starting Salary Median $65,000

U.S. Citizens/Permanent Residents with Job Offers (6 Months Past Graduation) 95%

International Students with Job Offers (6 Months Past Graduation) 85%


Fisher SMF is officially STEM degree.

Purdue Master’s in Finance is also STEM officially.


Now, to my surprise Brandeis is ranked high, it is a STEM, and has some modern curriculum options (FinTech).

https://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolra ... ience-2018

https://tfetimes.com/best-finance-program-rankings/


FT also corrects some previous info regarding Fisher graduates salary :

Fisher $81,262

Brandeis $88,063

Purdue $61,238


There are also some rankings that will place Brandeis very much behind Fisher and Purdue :

https://www.topuniversities.com/univers ... nance/2019


Seems like it comes down to Fisher vs. Brandeis.

Fisher is stronger overall as business school or as university (Ohio State) and better know, however seems like that even though Brandeis is not that strong as institution in comparison, this particular MSF program ranks high.

I would say it also depends on specialization you want to pursue, if you are interested in more traditional Finance specializations Fisher has academically stronger and more serious curriculum (don't forget the strength of department), however Brandeis does offer modern FinTech specialization.

Whatever you choose between Brandeis and Fisher you will not go wrong, except if you are into FinTech, then you should def go with Brandeis


I personally would go with Brandeis FinTech or Risk Management or Fisher's Risk Management specialization, but that is just me



Good Luck

There is a lot of good information in Billionaire's post above regarding school factors, but something I want to mention is the cost of living difference. Waltham is an incredibly expensive place to live during your MBA and beyond. According to the COL calculator below, you would need to earn 125,000 in Waltham to match a salary of 65,000 in Columbus.

https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/columbus-oh/waltham-ma/65000

Pulling directly from their web pages and not FT reports
Fisher SMF average salary - 65,000 international students placed 85%
Brandeis MSF average salary - 60,000 international students placed 55%

https://fisher.osu.edu/graduate/smf/smf-career-outcomes
https://www.brandeis.edu/global/careers/msf.html

To me, its a very straightforward decision to go to Fisher unless there is scholarship money involved.