The MBA Thread

[MSchapiro]

I do realize this is the MBA thread, but does anyone have any insight on the MFE (masters in financial engineering) degree? Seems to be gaining some popularity.

Depends on the school and the location. I am a big fan of MSc/MFE level degrees, although they don't have the salary bump you find with an MBA.

 

[venividivicibj]

Depends on the school and the location. I am a big fan of MSc/MFE level degrees, although they don't have the salary bump you find with an MBA.

I guess what I meant is - Do jobs value this degree?

(Because obviously you would learn more in depth, while an MBA is more of a general overview)

 

[fuji]



I guess what I meant is -  Do jobs value this degree?

(Because obviously you would learn more in depth, while an MBA is more of a general overview)

Depends on the field you want to go into I suppose. I doubt anyone would care if your applying for IBD or MC other then maybe getting you the interview as it shows intelligence. It's not like you're going to use martingales in excel. They might value it more in trading, but again for most roles your never going to need that high level math. I mainly hear about people with Phds in math or statistics taking it so they know how to apply what they know in a finance setting. On that subject have you learned math to a high enough level to do an MFE? The imperial MFE requires a fairly high level of maths mainly analysis, probability theory and they prefer you can code as these are kind of the basis of starting stochastic calculus/analysis, which is how you price options, which is what MFE programs seem to be about. I wouldn't really do an MFE if you didnt want to be a quant.

Your not going to get the kind of recruitment possibilities people with MBAs have. I did a BB SA internship with someone with an imperial MFE.

 

[MSchapiro]

I guess what I meant is - Do jobs value this degree?

(Because obviously you would learn more in depth, while an MBA is more of a general overview)

Some specialty jobs will. You stand the chance to make good connections as well. I know a handful of people who went to a hedge fund after getting their Imperial MFE.

That said, does your average corporate care? Not really. Maybe you can argue it in place of needing an MBA in the future, maybe not. On a personal level I think my masters has given me a huge edge over a lot of my peers when it comes to domain knowledge, but that doesn't really translate into much tangible gain.

 

[fuji]



Some specialty jobs will. You stand the chance to make good connections as well. I know a handful of people who went to a hedge fund after getting their Imperial MFE.

That said, does your average corporate care? Not really. Maybe you can argue it in place of needing an MBA in the future, maybe not. On a personal level I think my masters has given me a huge edge over a lot of my peers when it comes to domain knowledge, but that doesn't really translate into much tangible gain. 

Do you find this has helped you at all in UK interviews? I've never been asked any technicals. Most technical question I've had is to write buy/sell recommendations on british super markets. I've heard in the US they actually ask you questions about models in interviews, but in the UK everything always seemed fit based and motivational.

 

[venividivicibj]

Depends on the field you want to go into I suppose. I doubt anyone would care if your applying for IBD or MC other then maybe getting you the interview as it shows intelligence. It's not like you're going to use martingales in excel. They might value it more in trading, but again for most roles your never going to need that high level math. I mainly hear about people with Phds in math or statistics taking it so they know how to apply what they know in a finance setting. On that subject have you learned math to a high enough level to do an MFE? The imperial MFE requires a fairly high level of maths mainly analysis, probability theory and they prefer you can code as these are kind of the basis of starting stochastic calculus/analysis, which is how you price options, which is what MFE programs seem to be about. I wouldn't really do an MFE if you didnt want to be a quant.

Your not going to get the kind of recruitment possibilities people with MBAs have. I did a BB SA internship with someone with an imperial MFE.

I have the math background, I currently do Credit Risk, but wanted to go into the Buy side (analyst)/ or be a portfolio manager. Currently doing the CFA curriculum, but was thinking about a MBA/MFE afterwards.

 

[fuji]

For most buyside roles I would think an MBA would be better just because of the stronger recruitment. Unless you want to do something specifically quant at a hedgefund I don't think you'd have much benefit from an MFE.

 

[MSchapiro]

Do you find this has helped you at all in UK interviews? I've never been asked any technicals. Most technical question I've had is to write buy/sell recommendations on british super markets. I've heard in the US they actually ask you questions about models in interviews, but in the UK everything always seemed fit based and motivational.

No. UK interviews are honestly weird. It was a massive help at US interviews where even if they don't ask purely technical questions deep market knowledge is a must. Also the cultural understanding and experience one gets from truly studying at an international school has been very helpful dealing with international teams.

But really, you will never have another time in your life that you can just live in another part of the world and interact the way you do at B-School. With the GBP down a UK masters is very fairly priced.

For most buyside roles I would think an MBA would be better just because of the stronger recruitment. Unless you want to do something specifically quant at a hedgefund I don't think you'd have much benefit from an MFE.

You may know this better than me or it may be different in the UK so I'm more than open to correction, but I don't think that would be the case.
I'm not sure an MBA would be useful to a large chunk of the buy-side unless they had prior finance experience. Analysts with an MFE or similar can come in at cheaper and do a considerable amount of the same work. Credit Risk background + MFE from a good school does sound like a potential buy-side career in the making.

 

[OmniscientCause]

shameless plug...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-24/the-10-business-schools-most-endorsed-by-students

 

[venividivicibj]

Dat spam

 

[zerostyle]

Anyone know how difficult it would be to get into a top part-time MBA program (kellogg, chicago, nyu stern) with a poor GPA but good GMAT?

I'm turning 35 soon. Graduated from a good school with an engineering degree, but a terrible 2.8 GPA. I've always tested well, and imagine I could hit 700ish on the GMAT as needed.

Background is a little non traditional - software product management and internet marketing. Not the typical banker/etc.

Do I have any chance at getting in? I figure the part time programs might be a bit easier. It's just frustrating to think that a GPA from 13 years ago could still screw me over.

 

[venividivicibj]

Anyone know how difficult it would be to get into a top part-time MBA program (kellogg, chicago, nyu stern) with a poor GPA but good GMAT?

I'm turning 35 soon. Graduated from a good school with an engineering degree, but a terrible 2.8 GPA. I've always tested well, and imagine I could hit 700ish on the GMAT as needed.

Background is a little non traditional - software product management and internet marketing. Not the typical banker/etc.

Do I have any chance at getting in? I figure the part time programs might be a bit easier. It's just frustrating to think that a GPA from 13 years ago could still screw me over.

This.

I have good work experience, and will have good GMAT, but GPA sucks (to be fair, it was at a top schol though).

 

[JohnGalt]

I'm actually doing gmat prep right now for emba programs. from what I understand, u/g gpa is far less important than accomplishments since.

 

[kasper007]



Anyone know how difficult it would be to get into a top part-time MBA program (kellogg, chicago, nyu stern) with a poor GPA but good GMAT?

I'm turning 35 soon. Graduated from a good school with an engineering degree, but a terrible 2.8 GPA. I've always tested well, and imagine I could hit 700ish on the GMAT as needed.

Background is a little non traditional - software product management and internet marketing. Not the typical banker/etc.

Do I have any chance at getting in? I figure the part time programs might be a bit easier. It's just frustrating to think that a GPA from 13 years ago could still screw me over.

I wouldn't think a low gpa would be a barrier if you have stellar experience, recommendations, essays and GMAT,especially for EMBA, where the gpa lose some of its relevance. But it is still an important data point showing how you performed in an academic environment so for competitive programs I really think it's crucial to have 720+ on the GMAT.

I don't think coming from product management is really that non traditional though, lots of interest in tech recently and schools are trying hard to attract people from tech background. Plus bankers / consultants almost never do EMBA.

 

[JohnGalt]

If all else is in line 700+ gmat is fine for emba