MIT MFin MIT Mfin Placement Report 2014 Out!!

[Cricket Freak]

Following is the link:-
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/career-development-office/employment-reports/mfin-current-report/
Seems MIT has not done well or rather not lived up to its name considering 75000 USD as annual base salary.
Huge batch size a negative?
Or does MIT encourage only freshers in their program bcoz of which avg base salary is low.

 

[MSFHQ]

Not sure why you think $70K is low. Street IB pay just recently got bumped to around $80k. If you consider this report not factoring this in you have a bunch of people getting IB pay. Notice how it says Base Salary and not all in comp.

MIT is still probably the best pure MSF program in the US. Those placements reinforce it.

 

[CasanovaJ]

The numbers are low compared to a top MBA program (like Sloan), but the people are generally much younger in MFin (average full-time experience of only ~18 months as opposed to ~5 years for an MBA) so we're mostly looking at analyst salaries here, not associate, and it's just base salaries, not bonuses, so an average of ~$70k actually sounds about right... Successful 23 year olds generally don't make quite as much as successful 28 year olds do at banks.

 

[Cricket Freak]

Agree that MIT grads are quite young if you compare them with other schools and most of them would obviously have got analyst roles and hence salary should be justified but, @CasanovaJ, along with the fact that average work experience is 18 months, you must also consider the fact that almost 30-40% of grads are freshers without any experience every year at MIT. This means there are a good number of graduates having good amount of work-ex as well. And, the highest salary is also <$100k.
Now, my point is that while $100k is not at all bad, but it is substantially less as compared to other schools especially when you consider the fact that you have to shell out a HUGE $100k for your expenses for 1 year at MIT.

 

[mhy]

Not sure why you think $70K is low. Street IB pay just recently got bumped to around $80k. If you consider this report not factoring this in you have a bunch of people getting IB pay. Notice how it says Base Salary and not all in comp.

MIT is still probably the best pure MSF program in the US. Those placements reinforce it.

Better than Princeton MFin?

 

[MSFHQ]

1) Base salary in finance is largely irrelevant. Analyst base salary just got bumped to $80K on the street. $100K for a domestic student is pretty good also. IMO, total comp is what you want to focus on and that will be significant.

MSF programs are largely for younger students. Yeah, some might have some work experience, but it is going to most likely be something back office or not directly finance. Why would you work for 12-18 months in investment banking or something similar to go back to school for a non-MBA masters? Cause most people aren't working in banking. Hence why they will spend another year and nearly $100K in tuition to get another shot.

What is telling about MIT is the fact that the average salary is above $70K. You find most other MSF programs with a lower average because most of those students are going into F500 type roles. MIT is placing more people into top finance roles, bumping up the average.


As for MIT vs. Princeton, both are amazing. I consider Princeton to be more of a math masters in finance vs. a traditional corporate finance focused program (CFA type material). Princeton students also have more experience than most other MSF students and many have other advanced degrees. Hence why I tend to not really compare them to each other.

 

[MasterBlasterDisaster]

I agree with Anthony - average salary doesn't matter nearly as much as placement.

Most of the MIT MFin students are fresh out of undergrad and hence recruit for Analyst positions (banks would be silly to hire them as Associates, in line with +5 yrs more experienced MBA students). Also, MIT's website shows that the average work experience of 18 months includes internships and may appear high, as the program has a couple of more experienced people (30+ years old).

That said, among the best jobs people can get are the classic bulge brackets, prop-shops, MBB consulting and HF/PE. Banks and consulting firms pay $70-80k base for analyst - this salary is usually non-negotiable no matter what your background is. You will come by with $80k in New York, but it won't buy you everything. The real money comes two years later at an associate level where salaries will be $110-140k base + larger bonus. Switching to PE/HF at this point will be most profitable with an all-in comp of $250-350k (usually $125-150k base).

However, you will only have access to these top-jobs with a solid name on your resume. Mostly all PE/HF jobs go through headhunters which often exclusively recruit from top banks and top consulting firms (i.e., usually they will reach out to everybody in a BB's new analyst class). If you don't work at one of these target companies, you may reach out to headhunters yourself, but it will be much more difficult to get track. A middle market bank may lure you with a +$120k base salary upon graduation from your masters, but you will be way better off accepting the $80k offer you received from Goldman / JPM.

Think long term and hope for a $75k base starting salary. It will be your best choice - financially