MBA vs. MS Finance Compendium

I think the biggest question is, what are the job employment prospects between both degrees?

Personally, I am more interested in corporate financial planning and analysis, which requires an accounting/finance background. I already have a CPA with an undergraduate degree in financial economics, but find it difficult to get entry level positions in any big companies. Going for a Masters in Finance will save time and costs compared to the MBA.

Please help!


- JASON LEE

An MSF is great for F500 work. Most companies will equate it to an MBA also so you basically kill two birds with one stone. Most of the main MSF programs have strong alumni bases and a lot of F500 recruiting. I absolutely think this would benefit you if this is what you are looking for.

Hi,
Im a BTECH fresher and wanted to pursue my career in Finance and Investment.So i want to know that does admission into MSc in Finance needs Work Experience?

Hello everybody,

I am very confused in deciding the college , I am having following Offers with me right now

1- Hong Kong University
2- Chinese University of Hong Kong
3-City University Of Hong Kong
4- Micheal Smurfits -UCD dublin
5- Peking University -HSBC college of Management
5- Audencia Nantes/Mip Milan
6-Barcelona School of management
7- University of Iceland
8- NTNU Norway
9- Aalto university Finland
10- Tampere University Finland


I had applied for Masters in SUpply Chain Management.

My Profile is like: 3 years of work Experience as ERP Analyst in Manufacturing Vertical


Please help me decide which is best among them.



Regards,
Deep

Thanks for the info! I am currently doing a Double Degree with MSc Applied Economics and Finance and MSc Quantitative Finance, how would you say an MBA will add "value" to my future career..? Considering a trainee-program followed by an MBA...

The original post is spot-on about these differences. Having experienced a few programs, I can vouch for the more specialized programs taking less time and focusing more on hard (usually quantitative) skills.

That said, I've noticed a splitting of the types of programs. The old mathematical finance/financial engineering/computational finance programs have had some problems. A lot of this was caused by a few schools treating the program as a cash cow and letting in anyone who could pay. I won't point fingers, but there are a few well-known programs that went from first to worst. In general, the best and most successful programs have had some interaction with the business school -- so the hybrid programs and MSF.

The only thing I would correct, though, is the relationship to an MBA. When I've done hiring, we've always preferred a specialized masters to an MBA. Because the MBA focuses more on management and "soft" skills, that is coursework not spent learning say optimization, risk management, or valuing a contract with embedded real options. At trading shops, we tend to be less focused on managing people and more about process control since so much of trading is automated. Because of this, at the places I've worked an MBA after an MSF or MSFE would be perceived as a signal of weakness. On the other hand, I would think that at some firms it would be looked upon favorably.

Know what area of finance you want to go into and then see what people there value.

This is all very nice but is a Masters of Finance the better program for me . . .

You can think of an MBA as having two major components beyond Networking: Academic Skill Acquisition and Personal Development. The Academic Skills portion would include understanding financial products, valuation, forecasting, etc. This can easily be obtained in a quality MS Finance program. On the other hand, MS Finance programs are not intended to develop leadership or management skills. In addition, you will receive little exposure to other disciplines such as Marketing.

The value of these leadership skills is contingent on your career path after finishing the program. If you intend to take a staff position within a financial services firm, your lack of leadership skills will probably not be particularly relevant. If you wish to take a line management position in a manufacuring firm, of course, the lack of these general management skills could be very important.

Hi. I graduated in the humanities stream two years ago. I took a break for a year and worked at a corporate firm for another year. I am keen on continuing my education. I am contemplating on whether I should go ahead with the Master’s program or if I should gain some more work experience and pursue an MBA. A few words of wisdom would really help.

Hey! I would advise you to go ahead and do your MBA. The pros of having an MBA degree are higher remuneration, better career opportunities, better consolidated business network and a holistic perspective over the business world. You should work for a few more years and then pursue it.

Well, if you ask me for my opinion, I would suggest that you do your Master’s degree. An MBA degree covers a lot of cover a lot of case studies and true examples of business issues that students should explore and the traditional way of teaching is followed too. A Master’s program, on the other hand, believes that change is constant. The focus is on constantly developing the teaching methodologies and inculcating a lot of presentations in the syllabus for better learning. It is a fine mix of combined group work and individual learning (One aspect does not get more importance over the other).

Well, okay. I plan to go abroad and study, preferably the U.S.A. or Australia. Could you suggest good schools which offer a Master’s degree or an MBA, please? That would at least help me in short listing colleges.

Sure, here you go - For USA – UC – Berkeley, UCLA, Boston University, University of Texas Austin, Indiana State University, Northwest Missouri State University and City University of Seattle. About Australia, there’s SP Jain, Melbourne Business School, University of Sydney business school, Griffith University, Macquarie University and Queensland University of Technology are really good.

Thank you so much!

Hello,

I am new to this and I am trying to apply for round 1 for Fall 2016 and need some help deciding what program to do. I actually prefer MS Finance over MBA since I am pretty set on pursuing Finance. However, fewer schools offer Finance program and the number of offers they send out is less as well which makes me worry that I will have less chance to get accepted. I really want to get into USC, I was thinking about applying for both their Finance and MBA programs. But I was wondering if I apply for both is it going to negatively affect my candidacy? (for example, I say I really want to do their finance program but then they see I also applied their MBA so they doubt how much I want to do finance) Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance


Sincerely,

JJ

What are your stats? USC is a great program. You should also look at Claremont McKenna. As for your question, I would apply to one or the other. If you have more than 3 years professional work experience I would just do the MBA program and concentrate in finance.

Hi!

I would like your opinion and career advice.

Currently in 3rd year of Electrical & Electronic Engineering of my Undergrad in Singapore. I will be 25 yrs old when I graduate in June 2018. Not sure whether to do a Masters in Finance after undergrad or to do a MBA after some work experience. I want to do my MS or MBA in the top 20 schools. I have a strong passion for quant, automobiles and tech. Planning to take the GMAT this December.

Post-MBA I would like to pursue corporate finance/general management programs.

Would it be better to get my MS in Finance and then work for two to three years and then apply for an MBA after? I have also done 2 yrs of military service.

Or would it be better to pursue an MBA directly after a few years?

Best,
Manickam

Well this is an interesting topic - A lot of applicants (particularly the ones with a higher work experience) are confused between the two degrees. I have created a comprehensive post that highlights the difference between MBA and MFin, which can help applicants pick the right degree.
Check it out here: https://www.mim-essay.com/blog/masters- ... ce-vs-mba/