MSF - SIMON vs OHIO FISHER School vs UCSD Rady school

Question

Hi,

I have received admits from Simon, OHIO - Fisher and Rady school for the MSF program starting Fall 2020.

I am an Indian applicant with 4+ years of experience in an investment bank and insurance company in India.
I have also cleared all levels of CFA and I am a Chartered Accountant.

Can someone share views as to which school is better in terms of employment, Alumni base, Fintech inclusion, etc?

Fisher and Rady have a very modern curriculum and Simon is ranked better.

Also, I have scholarship from Simon - 30% of the tuition fees.

gremioimortal · Answer

Hi Vinita.
From what I know I believe that UCSD has the better program.
Though, OSU Fisher is a great program and have great placements (around 85%).
It will all depend on where do you eventually want to work.
As UCSD will place around California and Ohio ST will place in NY and Chicago.
While Simon will place in NY.
I am not a big fan of Simon though, but if money is an issue would consider going there due to the scholarship.

If I were to rank the programs I would say
1: UCSD
2: Ohio ST
3: Rochester

Best,

MSFHQ · Answer

Dont bother with UCSD. No where even close to OSU and Rochester.

IMO. Rochester has a better global brand, OSU is the more affordable program.

Posted from my mobile device

VINI22 · Answer

Hi,

Thanks for the response!

What do you think about other areas such as employability, course structure, etc. at Simon and OSU?

MiMEssay · Answer

Hi  VINI22 ,
Before everything else, I am delighted to congratulate you on having successfully received admits from Simon, OHIO - Fisher and Rady school for the MSF program.
It’s quite impressive to know that you’re a Charted accountant and a CFA charter holder. Also, your 4+ years of work experience is a strong point of your profile.
Without a doubt, University of Rochester: Simon not just ranks above the OHIO Fisher and Rady school, but it also has a better placement record, wherein 61% of graduates (2019 batch) were placed in the financial services industry. Moreover, Simon has 30+ student-led clubs and associations which would surely enable you to build extensively on your knowledge and skills.
Also, putting all the three schools in perspective and the average salaries bagged in by their graduates, Simon Business School has an upper hand. 
It’s worth noting that the Rochester Alumni Exchange (RAX) is known to have 18,000+ graduates in more than 80 countries which marks them as having a strong alumni network. Thus, at Simon, you will have access to numerous opportunities to leverage your business acumen toward crucial business issues.
I have dug out some stats that might help you in making a decision:
Average salaries corresponding to each of the schools-
Simon- $84,115
Ohio Fisher- $81,262
Rady- $52,250
Ranking & Placement (%):
Simon- 42- (90% employment rate after 4 months of graduation)
OHIO Fisher- 51 (78% international; students accepted a job offer within 6 months after graduating)
Rady school- 65 (no employment stats posted so far)

Lastly, you seem to be a little skeptical about Simon's Curriculum, is it?
The Curriculum is robust for both the Internship and Non-Internship Tracks.
However as the applicant's interests are subjective so unless there is any particular elective/track that you have in mind which is not available in Simon, I would say that it is a pretty solid school.
In case you have more questions about the schools and the degree, you can join our closed Face book group and directly connect with top B-School alumni over there.
 
Here's the link:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/268376350245100/?gcf

Hope this helped!

VINI22 · Answer

Hi Abhyank,

Thanks for the detailed reply. It's very helpful.

I will keep these points in my mind while making a decision.

zanderj · Answer

I graduated from the Simon MSF program in 2017. When I learned about the program, I was quite excited about it and especially excited when I received a scholarship after scholarship weekend, but now I can honestly say it was one of the worst decisions I have made in my life and that the program is borderline scam in my opinion. I am a domestic student and moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to that program. I received an 80% scholarship, but still graduated with a decent amount of student loan debt (I was debt free before starting). There were some people in the program that didn't receive a scholarship and they took out big loans to pay for the tuition of over $70k per year for that useless degree. Very sad for them indeed.

The advertised starting salary was around $60,000 at that time. I received a good GPA in the program, above the median, and even had a 4.0 and 710 GMAT from undergrad and am a CFA Charterholder now. While attending, financial employers really weren't that interested in hiring MSF graduates from the Simon MSF program so I ended up having to take a non-ideal job doing accounting/auditing type work for the government that only paid $42K per year. I worked there for two years and ended up quitting that job and moving back with my parents because I couldn't afford the lower than expected salary in the location it was in based on living costs.

Now, 4 years out, I have been unable to find another job in that field and have been unemployed for the last two years and literally have needed to look into other fields of work and potentially start over again from scratch in something such as nursing or even just working at a warehouse at this point. The two years of work for the government just paid off the cost of the program itself and now I believe the skills developed in that program are pretty much useless, so I have a very strong negative opinion about the Simon business school MSF program and its career outcomes.

I believe that I was somewhat misled or at least way too overly optimistic about that program and kind of wish someone would have warned me before I chose that path. In the employment report for those people considering the program, if it says 85 percent employment within 3 or 6 months of graduating, just realize that this means there will be 15 percent of people that can honestly not find a job and will still be stuck with the cost of the program, one year wasted, and needing to figure something else out. There are people like me that find jobs initially, but lose it after a couple of years and struggle to find another. Not a good situation. If you take a loan out for it, the pressure and stress can be very overwhelming and intense. It is not a fun experience to go through if you are struggling to find a job you are looking for or if you lose a job in that field and can't find another or one that you like, so you should be aware of that before deciding to do the Simon program.

Honestly, it is better to not go to the school than to go and end up unemployed in an very saturated field like finance where good jobs are scarce. You can use that time to find a better field to pursue now, rather than having to face that problem after graduating. I think if you are smart enough to get into a program like the Simon MSF, you should use your talents in a better way and pursue a better profession like doctor, nurse, plumber, pilot, teacher so many others that are probably better than the Simon MSF path. In terms of jobs and my personal experience and opinion, the Simon MSF program degree has been quite useless and just a very sad outcome given that I always excelled in school and feel that Simon was such a large setback that it is hard to recover from. Don't let the admissions officers mislead you or convince you that it is better than it actually is. Employment situation isn't great for Simon MSF graduate if you can't tell.

MSFHQ · Answer

Honestly, this sounds like your individual experience and not necessarily the programs. You are domestic so there is no issues with a visa, you got a good GPA and Rochester has a very respectable brand name. This is one of the hottest job markets in the US as well.

How did you approach networking? On campus interviews? Other jobs you applied to once you had the lower paying government job?

No one specifically hires MSF students. You would recruit with undergraduates and your additional education will benefit you as you progress in your career. Your compensation was on the low end, yes, but not horrible for the position you were in. You still have a graduate degree and the Rochester brand. With 80% scholarship this sounds like an incredible deal.

MSF - SIMON vs OHIO FISHER School vs UCSD Rady school

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