A lot of posts here seem to be very narrow minded...
I know plenty of people with BSc degrees in physics, maths, biology, chemistry etc. that have walked straight into investment banking jobs in The City. The idea that one MUST have an MBA is pretty ridiculous and the thought that some can study MAFN or FE and be seen as unattractive to the IB recruiter is just plain stupid...
Sure you might not use a lot of what you have learnt but you will certainly be an attractive employee for any IB...
As an investment banker, your work would involve advising companies on capital formation, mergers, acquisitions, investments and managing capital assets. You will have to liaison with businesses, governments, non-profit institutions and individuals. You will look into the financial aspects like advising a company or a client on financial transaction, selling and trading the securities, researching the company's background and the market before making any investments, etc. You also have to analyse and make recommendations to the company, based on the market and competitors. This is some of the work you will be doing as an Investment Banker.
Do you really learn much of that in an MFE program? If you have an undergrad in Finance/Economics etc then maybe. That is why undergrads from the top schools get into the IBD of companies as investment banking "ANALYSTS".
The top investment banks
almost strictly recruit out of the top ivy league MBA's basically. Do you really think coming out of an MFE degree you can compete with them even if do your MFE degree at an ivy league? They usually recruit out of Harvard, Wharton, Dartmouth, etc. These are the top banks recruiting I am talking about. The MBA recruiting system is specialised and very well established whereas MFE is not. How do you plan to even score an interview for an Investment Banking position? Positions in IBD are strictly through connections almost always and internal alumni reference's etc. Investment bankers are over-represented in the MBA applicant pool. How are you going to compete with people who already are investment banking analysts and have top school MBA?
Now, if you're VERY outgoing, are willing to do an extreme amount of leg work, are willing to get some way to get into the MBA recruiting of Columbia, are willing to take some of the general management courses, have the general investment banking charisma that recruiters look from the top school MBA's, have relevant previous experience, then YES you might have a chance of going into investment banking at one of the BB.
If there are students who became investment bankers without any of the above; A) It might be a lie. B) It might be some for of investment banking at a very small firm if at all. C) etc
Anything is possible, some things a bit harder than others. If you want to go through MFE/MAFN route to become an investment banker, or whatever, please feel free to do so. I am just stating my OPINION.
You have to realise that many people on this forum are possible recruiters and work in the BB, etc. Do you really want to be calling them stupid?
---------- Post added at 09:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 AM ----------
Just a small additional thing:
The other guy mentioned in another thread he won't get into a MBA because you don't have Finance experience. That is not true. You can apply to top MBA schools with any kind of experience and possibly get in. It is all about how you prepare your application and how you distinguish yourself from the rest. This is assuming you have competitive GPA, GMAT, etc.
Even if you get into investment banking without the general knowledge of the area you won't be able to succeed as well as your colleagues. Do you really want to be handicapped in terms of knowledge in the field?
A long route would be... get MAFN, work in finance, then apply to top school MBA and then enter IBD. You will start of at a higher position. This is a long way to do things, but just a suggestion although not something I would do necessarily.