COMPARE MIT M.Fin vs Stanford MS&E

[Talleyrand]

Hi everyone,

I got admitted to both MIT M.Fin and Stanford MSc in MS&E and I am struggling to make a decision between the two. My aim is to work in investment banking (Mergers and Acquisitions) or consulting and I am not that interested in pursuing a career in global markets or quantitative finance. However, I find courses in asset pricing interesting from a cultural standpoint.
I am a French student and I am considering working in the US after graduation. Which would be most helpful to land a job in NYC or elsewhere? MIT seems to provide the whole MBA career service, but after speaking with a few international alumni, it seems hard to get hired in the US afterwards due to the lack of internship. Stanford's program is older, and therefore might be better known in the industry.
Any thoughts?

 

[mfegrad]

I find courses in asset pricing interesting from a cultural standpoint.

...how is asset pricing interesting from a cultural standpoint?

My aim is to work in investment banking (Mergers and Acquisitions) or consulting and I am not that interested in pursuing a career in global markets or quantitative finance.

you probably want to do an mba.

if you're set on choosing between the two, mit, i guess?

 

[Chris Carmen]

I actually was in the same situation last year and I chose Stanford MS&E. My reasoning was that Stanford is the top school on the West Coast and so all the Bulge Brackets and top consulting firms like MBB come to campus with open arms. MIT is literally in that northeast pocket where you are competing with the likes of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton etc. and from my understanding most of the M.Fins actually compete against likes of other schools undergrads (most M.Fin students have students were definitely not as outgoing.... MIT M.Fin scared me a little bit since it didn't have as strong of a reputation (it's a relatively young program as you probably know) and it was around $100K+ vs $75k for Stanford (relatively same duration of program- the discrepancy is not all cost of living). Also IMO, I thought they weren't the most honest when releasing their employment statistics esp. for International students.... I've actually landed an offer for next year working at a MBB firm and my goal is to do PE down the road (think Bain Capital)... Feel free to message me either way i think you can't go wrong.