What’s good, folk. You’ve got to love the weekends, right? And, they’re especially good when the NBA playoffs start up. Four games yesterday and four games today make for a sports fan’s dream weekend 
Plus, the weather is making a turn for the better here in Chicago, so I can’t complain at all. Man, I’m glad I pulled up stakes and moved up here.
This entry’s email is from a reader who has an engineering background and wants to transition to a client-centric role like consulting or I-banking. She’s chosen to pursue graduate Finance programs to rebrand herself and had some questions for me around that. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about the type of programs she’s targeting, so I don’t think I was very helpful to her. I always feel a little bad when I don’t have the background to truly deliver the insight that people are seeking…
——-
KC wrote:
“Dear Marquis,
I’ve been reading your blog for a few months and I must say you are doing a wonderful job of putting information up on the Net for people. I’ve found your blog an incredibly useful resource, and I’d really appreciate if you could find a few moments to give me your perspective on post-graduate studies.
I’m an international student with a BE in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley, and have been working for 2 years in science research. I’ve realized, though, that academia isn’t really the path I want to take; I would much prefer to work in a fast-paced, client-centric role that still leverages somewhat on analytical/quantitative skills, such as consultancy or investment banking.
I applied to several schools’ Masters programs to rebrand myself, and currently have admits at Columbia (M Financial Engineering), Cornell (M ORIE- Financial Engineering), Stanford (M MS&E), and Oxford (M Financial Economics). I was wondering if you would be so kind to give me your perspective on the following:
1. I believe that Oxford’s curriculum, being the least mathematical in nature, is closest to what I would like to actually do — I don’t really want to end up in a quant research position. However, in your experience, is there a significant disadvantage in coming from a non-USA or non-New York school during the recruiting process?
2. Would any of the schools above have a certain “reputation” among people currently in the field? For example, would there be a widespread perception that students from school X are pigeonholed as purely quants, while students from school Y are seen as more versatile?
Thank you so much in advance for your time and trouble! I really appreciate what you are doing and do look forward to your response.
Best regards and have a great weekend ahead,
KC”
——-
My response:
KC,
Thanks for checking out my blog and sending in your questions. I know it’s taken me a while to respond, but I’m sure you understand the number of emails that I receive from readers. It often takes me a while to get to people’s messages, but I always get back to them. In your case, I hope I’m not getting back to you too late to be helpful given the decision that you’ve got to make. By the way, I’m not sure if you’ve been admitted to any of the schools where you’ve applied yet, but, if you have, I’d like to congratulate you on the accomplishment. Given the current state of the economy, many people are retreating into grad programs, so I’d imagine that the competition for spots in these program is incredibly fierce.
As I read your email, I couldn’t help but think that I might not be able to be incredibly helpful to you because I don’t know much about the programs you’re targeting. I know people who’ve been in programs like them and I’ve heard folks talk about the programs, but I haven’t been exposed to enough details to “KNOW” what’s up in that space. That said, I’ll try my best to answer your questions:
1. “However, in your experience, is there a significant disadvantage in coming from a non-USA or non-New York school during the recruiting process?” –> From what i’ve seen, I wouldn’t say that there’s a significant disadvantage in coming from a non-USA or non-NYC school. I’ve seen plenty of people from both categories of schools do well in the recruiting process…at least for MBA candidates, that is. I’m not 100% sure how it would be for the programs you’re looking at though. A lot of that may depend on the geographic location where you’d like to work. If you want to work in internationally, there MAY be an advantage in coming from a non-USA school. I’d assume that sort of thing would be company-specific. One roadblock that you may face is gaining access to the employers that interest you because they may not recruit directly from your program. Your program may be targeted as a part of a general push toward Master’s candidates at your school overall, so you’ll want to make sure that you distinguish yourself from the pack. Attending as many of the general information sessions held by your target firms will be a must-do to place yourself in the memories of the recruiting staff. Your resume and cover letter should also be SPARKLING such that your qualifications jump off the page. Finally, if you are invited to interview, you’ll have to present yourself as not being purely quant and having some softer skills to bring to the job. If you need more information on any of these suggestions, you can check my archived entries for advice I’ve given other readers in these areas.
2. “Would any of the schools above have a certain “reputation” among people currently in the field? For example, would there be a widespread perception that students from school X are pigeonholed as purely quants, while students from school Y are seen as more versatile?” –> Wow, I wish I could help you with this question, but I don’t know enough about these programs in general or their reputations to make any kind of statement about how they would be perceived in the field. My guess is that all of them would be viewed positively because they’re from top-notch institutions, but you’ve got me in an area that I don’t know much about and I don’t want to tell you anything that could turn out to be way offbase. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific.
By the way, BusinessWeek.com recently posted an article that might interest you. It describes the growing popularity of M.S. in Finance programs and how graduates of those programs might be able to leverage them in the current economic downturn. You can find the article at THIS LINK. As I was writing everything above, this article kept on jumping into my head, so I thought I’d share it with you. Hope you enjoy it.
Take care and good luck with your choice of graduate program. It sounds like you’ve got some great options in front of you and I’m excited for the learning experience you’re about to have.
Marquis
Plus, the weather is making a turn for the better here in Chicago, so I can’t complain at all. Man, I’m glad I pulled up stakes and moved up here.This entry’s email is from a reader who has an engineering background and wants to transition to a client-centric role like consulting or I-banking. She’s chosen to pursue graduate Finance programs to rebrand herself and had some questions for me around that. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about the type of programs she’s targeting, so I don’t think I was very helpful to her. I always feel a little bad when I don’t have the background to truly deliver the insight that people are seeking…
——-
KC wrote:
“Dear Marquis,
I’ve been reading your blog for a few months and I must say you are doing a wonderful job of putting information up on the Net for people. I’ve found your blog an incredibly useful resource, and I’d really appreciate if you could find a few moments to give me your perspective on post-graduate studies.
I’m an international student with a BE in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley, and have been working for 2 years in science research. I’ve realized, though, that academia isn’t really the path I want to take; I would much prefer to work in a fast-paced, client-centric role that still leverages somewhat on analytical/quantitative skills, such as consultancy or investment banking.
I applied to several schools’ Masters programs to rebrand myself, and currently have admits at Columbia (M Financial Engineering), Cornell (M ORIE- Financial Engineering), Stanford (M MS&E), and Oxford (M Financial Economics). I was wondering if you would be so kind to give me your perspective on the following:
1. I believe that Oxford’s curriculum, being the least mathematical in nature, is closest to what I would like to actually do — I don’t really want to end up in a quant research position. However, in your experience, is there a significant disadvantage in coming from a non-USA or non-New York school during the recruiting process?
2. Would any of the schools above have a certain “reputation” among people currently in the field? For example, would there be a widespread perception that students from school X are pigeonholed as purely quants, while students from school Y are seen as more versatile?
Thank you so much in advance for your time and trouble! I really appreciate what you are doing and do look forward to your response.
Best regards and have a great weekend ahead,
KC”
——-
My response:
KC,
Thanks for checking out my blog and sending in your questions. I know it’s taken me a while to respond, but I’m sure you understand the number of emails that I receive from readers. It often takes me a while to get to people’s messages, but I always get back to them. In your case, I hope I’m not getting back to you too late to be helpful given the decision that you’ve got to make. By the way, I’m not sure if you’ve been admitted to any of the schools where you’ve applied yet, but, if you have, I’d like to congratulate you on the accomplishment. Given the current state of the economy, many people are retreating into grad programs, so I’d imagine that the competition for spots in these program is incredibly fierce.
As I read your email, I couldn’t help but think that I might not be able to be incredibly helpful to you because I don’t know much about the programs you’re targeting. I know people who’ve been in programs like them and I’ve heard folks talk about the programs, but I haven’t been exposed to enough details to “KNOW” what’s up in that space. That said, I’ll try my best to answer your questions:
1. “However, in your experience, is there a significant disadvantage in coming from a non-USA or non-New York school during the recruiting process?” –> From what i’ve seen, I wouldn’t say that there’s a significant disadvantage in coming from a non-USA or non-NYC school. I’ve seen plenty of people from both categories of schools do well in the recruiting process…at least for MBA candidates, that is. I’m not 100% sure how it would be for the programs you’re looking at though. A lot of that may depend on the geographic location where you’d like to work. If you want to work in internationally, there MAY be an advantage in coming from a non-USA school. I’d assume that sort of thing would be company-specific. One roadblock that you may face is gaining access to the employers that interest you because they may not recruit directly from your program. Your program may be targeted as a part of a general push toward Master’s candidates at your school overall, so you’ll want to make sure that you distinguish yourself from the pack. Attending as many of the general information sessions held by your target firms will be a must-do to place yourself in the memories of the recruiting staff. Your resume and cover letter should also be SPARKLING such that your qualifications jump off the page. Finally, if you are invited to interview, you’ll have to present yourself as not being purely quant and having some softer skills to bring to the job. If you need more information on any of these suggestions, you can check my archived entries for advice I’ve given other readers in these areas.
2. “Would any of the schools above have a certain “reputation” among people currently in the field? For example, would there be a widespread perception that students from school X are pigeonholed as purely quants, while students from school Y are seen as more versatile?” –> Wow, I wish I could help you with this question, but I don’t know enough about these programs in general or their reputations to make any kind of statement about how they would be perceived in the field. My guess is that all of them would be viewed positively because they’re from top-notch institutions, but you’ve got me in an area that I don’t know much about and I don’t want to tell you anything that could turn out to be way offbase. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific.
By the way, BusinessWeek.com recently posted an article that might interest you. It describes the growing popularity of M.S. in Finance programs and how graduates of those programs might be able to leverage them in the current economic downturn. You can find the article at THIS LINK. As I was writing everything above, this article kept on jumping into my head, so I thought I’d share it with you. Hope you enjoy it.
Take care and good luck with your choice of graduate program. It sounds like you’ve got some great options in front of you and I’m excited for the learning experience you’re about to have.
Marquis
UC Berkeley has a one-year Master of Financial Engineering program. From what I’ve heard, the Berkeley program is very rigorous (and probably “tougher” than most finance curriculum in MBA programs.) It’s good for people who know for sure that they want to work in high finance, and are capable of handling the math. I heard they’ve developed a good reputation among large investment banks, although I don’t have any specific recruiting data on that program.