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Importance of Location of a School

mfe_applicant

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How important is the location of school you have been admitted to? Is it the most important thing in terms of networking and finding internships, full time jobs?

I'm an International Applicant and have been admitted to two programs: - Rutgers MQF and Michigan MFE.
I'm more inclined towards Michigan MFE as the overall reputation of the school is good, academic environment is nice and there is some support from Ross School of Business (job postings etc.).

But going through previous threads on this forum, there is a lot of emphasis on the location of the school.

Please share your thoughts.
 
mfe_applicant said:
How important is the location of school you have been admitted to? Is it the most important thing in terms of networking and finding internships, full time jobs?

I'm an International Applicant and have been admitted to two programs: - Rutgers MQF and Michigan MFE.
I'm more inclined towards Michigan MFE as the overall reputation of the school is good, academic environment is nice and there is some support from Ross School of Business (job postings etc.).

But going through previous threads on this forum, there is a lot of emphasis on the location of the school.
Click to expand...

With regard to an MFE, ignore the overall reputation of the school -- or at least don't make it a primary factor. There are many second-rate MFE programs that have tried to piggyback on the overall strength of their universities. Conversely, Baruch is a very strong MFE program -- but as an institution Baruch is not in the league of Princeton.

Proximity to a financial hub is key. Which should also include faculty with contacts, people in the industry coming and talking at seminars, and having an alumni base. This means that even if there is a very strong program out in the sticks (though I have not heard of any), give it a pass as the contacts won't be there.

It's interesting to me how many international applicants pay attention to the reputation of a university at the expense of the reputation and placement success of a program.
 
Keep in mind that the advantage of location is nullified by many students' unwillingness to go out there and network. I witness many students in NYC area programs who gone through their programs without ever reaching beyond their small circle.
I also know students from outside of NYC travel to the big Apple to meet people, attend events and network.
It's not what you don't have but it's how you use what you have.
 
Andy is 100% right, I'm currently sitting literally next door to JP Morgan and directly above a prop FX shop, but don't expect today to have any contact with either of them at all. Effective networking is a function of you, not your location unless you're in Hawaii or Byelorussia.
A bit of googling will turn up more events than you can possibly attend and in a tough market, where you are at the start of your career and therefore uncertain about what direction to go, I doubt if any MFE students are doing as much networking as I'd see as optimal.

I don't teach networking on the CQF, maybe I should, I confess that I have little talent in this direction which means I've had to learn what works, rather than rely upon my good looks and charm....

It's a skill, you can get better at it and unless & until you reach the point where you are well known enough that people come up to you, then you're going to be using it for the next 30 years, start practising now whilst the costs are low and the consequences of not getting it right are small.
 
Location really is big, but as echoed above, most people won't take the effort to network. Little things like sending out an email, asking for help, going to networking events, etc, yet people simply make no effort. Location is nice if you are the kind of person who will take advantage of it, but if you are not it doesn't matter.
 
bigbadwolf Andy Nguyen DominiConnor Anthony DeAngelis

Thanks to all of you.

However, after carefully weighing all pros and cons from both programs, I've finalized on Michigan MFE. It was indeed difficult for me to take this decision.

As far as networking, attending events etc. are concerned, I have no choice but to take it head on and follow an aggressive approach. I sincerely hope I would be successful at it.
 
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