What will I need for MSF? Is it for me?
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06 Dec 2009, 22:37
I am currently an undergrad, and I am studying Industrial Engineering, and Financial Mathematics (maybe Economics/Econometrics too) as an undergraduate. Assume at the end of undergrad I have something like a 3.3 GPA, at a top Engineering school.
I am looking to take many classes that relate to finance, however the school reserves actual "Finance" classes to only students enrolled at the Business school (I am in the Engineering school). The classes I am thinking are at core, math, with financial applications. Industrial engineering at my school also has a few finance type options, and I am planning on taking those. I plan on a couple of summer internships, and I'll try to see if I can get ones related to finance, but I feel that that's unrealistic.
Originally I was thinking something like an MFE but doing more research into it, it seems more technical than I was looking for. I don't want to have my job being about programming which is what it seems MFE grads do. I want to be in the finance industry, however I don't quite know what yet. I also want a degree which shows that I have strong math abilities, and thus is substantially quantitative. Perhaps not as quantitative as an MFE though, I want Finance to be the focus of the degree, not math and programming. As well, I can get a strong math base in undergrad. I want to get into this as quickly as possible out of undergrad, not work for 6 years and go back to school like people generally do for MBAs.
So...
1. What will I need to do to get into a good MSF program out of undergrad? Is that realistic? If it's not realistic, how should I position myself to get into a top MSF program after a short period of work, what do I need to do? (I'm guessing a CFA would be good, but anything else?)
2. Is the MSF a good degree for what I'm thinking? Specifically, I am looking to do this as soon as possible out of undergrad.
Thank you