Stevens MFE vs BU MSBA

[Leo Lin]

I am an international student, and I am interested in business-related areas like finance. But I also know that it is essential that I need to find a master's program that help me to find a job. I hope to continue my Ph.D. in the business area if I can do so. Which school should I choose? Could you please leave some comments and provide me with some information about the SIT MFE program? Thanks for your help!

 

[Lukee]

It would depend on your background and what you want to pursue as a career. BU's business analytics seems to have a far less mathematically rigorous curriculum than SIT's mfe. If your plans for the future are to pursue a Ph.D. then I am not sure if either of these will help a whole lot as they both seem to be more career-oriented. I recommend that you go on linkedin and search for alumni so you can see what career paths each program will open up

 

[Leo Lin]

It would depend on your background and what you want to pursue as a career. BU's business analytics seems to have a far less mathematically rigorous curriculum than SIT's mfe. If your plans for the future are to pursue a Ph.D. then I am not sure if either of these will help a whole lot as they both seem to be more career-oriented. I recommend that you go on linkedin and search for alumni so you can see what career paths each program will open up

Thank you for your response. From my point of view, compared to the financial engineering program, the business analytics program seems more job-oriented. If I choose business analytics, I might lose the opportunity to apply for the Ph.D. program. But if I choose Stevens, there is no way back for me, which seems risky. I must guarantee that I can be admitted to the Ph.D. program or find a job in the US. Otherwise, I must return to China, and companies in China highly value qs ranking and USnews ranking, whereas Stevens does not meet their requirements on ranking.

 

[Lukee]

Thank you for your response. From my point of view, compared to the financial engineering program, the business analytics program seems more job-oriented. If I choose business analytics, I might lose the opportunity to apply for the Ph.D. program. But if I choose Stevens, there is no way back for me, which seems risky. I must guarantee that I can be admitted to the Ph.D. program or find a job in the US. Otherwise, I must return to China, and companies in China highly value qs ranking and USnews ranking, whereas Stevens does not meet their requirements on ranking.

One other thing to consider if your goal is to eventually get your Ph.D. is that Steven's Institute of Technology offers a financial engineering Ph.D. program that some of their students go on to do after their mfe. An mfe from SIT certainly isn't a guaranteed acceptance into their Ph.D. program, you will need to stand out among many other applicants with strong backgrounds. It is worth noting though that I have been strongly advised against doing a Ph.D. just for the sake of getting a job, 5 years of research will be grueling if you aren't truly interested in it.

As for job placement from their MFE program, I couldn't find much information beyond what Quantnet provides. Perhaps try emailing them and maybe they will shed some more light on career outcomes from alumni