mfe & mba

[stava]

Hi, I am going to attend Columbia's MFE this year. After graduation, I would like to work in the field of Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities, or in the field of IB, although IB is not my first priority.

The problem is that I am an international student, from Europe, without any working experience in a prestigious firm, rather than just an internship in a small financial firm in my country and I think that it is really hard to land a job in wall street with just Columbia's MFE.

Although I understand that I will not learn many more things from an MBA, do you think that if I complete a Columbia's MBA, I will increase greatly my chances of being offered a really good job? I think that MBAs are considered the best degrees in the financial industry and Columbia's MBA has an outstanding reputation in the street. Of course, it will cost me a great deal of money, and this is an important issue to take into consideration....

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Columbia MBA is not for people without work experience. It's a very competitive program to get in so you may look into it a few years later after you finish your MFE, get a job and with few years on Wall Street under your belt.
Even then, you may not want to do MBA at that point of your career. Your #1 priority now is to get your foot into the industry. Many Columbia MFE students from China/India with no prior work experience and they were able to get a job, and so should you.

And can you add your timelines to the Tracker?

 

[Tsotne]

Neither MBA nor MFE can get you an advanced job without a working experience I think. As for chances, both can increase you chance to get an entry level job since you don't have practice of working at IB (or other WS firms). As for the point:

I think that MBAs are considered the best degrees in the financial industry and Columbia's MBA ...

This has been asked many times and response always has been vise. No, MBA is no better than MFE and MFE is not better than MBA. It depends what your intention is. Review both programs and suit in objectives. For example, if you more concentrate on programming - select MFE. If math is your priority then select MBA. Good Luck

 

[stava]

Thank you both for your answers

Andy, of course my first priority is to get my foot into the industry. I just want to increase my chances. Columbia offers a possibility for a joint degree , MFE/MBA, and I think I could get into if I prove my academic quality in the MFE. The question is if it is worth the money. Business schools have extended alumni and better connections with the industry, and this is the reason why I am considering it.
(I will add my timelines in a minute)

Tsotne, I really want to study MFE. However, an MBA is a great add-on in your resume. I am wondering if completing both those degrees will give me a significant advantage in finding an entry level job.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I notice you got admitted to NYU, CMU and Columbia. Congrats. That's quite an impressive feat.
Do you know that all three of these programs offer MBA/MFE dual degree?
You will have to apply to this dual degree because in addition to your admission to MFE program, you need admission to the business school as well.

 

[stava]

Thanks Andy. I hope that the industry will also find my resume appealing.... Columbia was always my dream, and therefore I will attend this program.

Yes, I know that all those programs offer dual degrees. And more specifically CMU seems very enthusiastic about that degree. They even claim that those guys with dual degrees are the first to be interviewed. Top universities, including among them Berkeley, promote dual degrees. That's why I am considering such an option, however I really cannot find anywhere any information.

I believe that admission to the Business School will not be such a big issue, since I would have already proved my potential in the first year in the MFE.

 

[ankitgadodia]

Regarding the dual degree; do you need to apply for a dual degree or just apply for mfe and later on consider the possibility of doing a dual degree( say after 1 year at the program)

Also, is it really worth(money as well as time) taking the dual degree programs?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You have to apply separately to both the business school and the school that offers the MFE degree. There are lot of work in doing that so the number of dual degree applicants are very small compared to either MBA or MFE pool.
A degree worthy is a personal decision but it's often something people consider if they can get the funding from the govt or firm.

 

[UclaColumbia]

A problem for dual degree application is that you may have to take BOTH GRE and GMAT tests since most (but not all) B schools accept GMAT only, while most MFE programs accept GRE only.

 

[Uncle Max]

Not true. For example, Baruch MFE accepts GMAT or GRE.