is it worth anything? I just graduated with a finance B.A. , and I'm already feeling burned because of my massive debts, and my school's inability to get me any kind of contacts. Would it be worth to throw on another 20 grand of debt and invest another year? To be specific: what would make it worth it is being able to get into trading afterwords without having to jump through hoops with a horseshoe up your ass AND family connects. Also, can anyone suggest any other similar options that are just as economical?
The key question is going to be 'will it help me make money?' Trading and the street are as meritocratic a society as you'll find.
yes, but a meritocracy is no help if you cant get in the first place. To rephrase my question, how will an MBA in Finc. Eng. from a city college be viewed by employers?
Why don't you look at their statistics on employment of their graduates? http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/math/EmploymentStatistics.html Of course it is worth it - ten times over. There are similar programs over the country and probably over the world. nitro
I don't know about Finance in Baruch. Actually, I do, it SUCKS. Baruch is famous for Accounting. If you going to Baruch to get an master, go for accounting. To answer your question, people I know who major in Accounting in Baruch all get hired right after graudation. Many has very good pay as well, over 70k for first job.
In general, Masters in Financial Enginnering is a fad. It's worth very little. The actual quantitative trading jobs usually require a PhD or masters from folks who were in the PhD program. In no way does a Masters in Fin Eng prepare you for the level of knowledge required (I would know; I've interviewed quite a few of them. M FinEng grads tend to think they know a whole lot more than they actually do about finance; and their math sucks). Moreoever, a city college degree is worth even less, especially in anything quant. Quant trading can be a very elitist and pedegree based world. (At the end of the day, you don't get into a top level phd program unless you are actually good. You can't really fake it.)
hmm - another student who gets into heavy debt and spends years of hard labor to get a degree. THEN, they start asking whether this was something they should do and whether it is marketable. I knew a student at college who got a degree in Mech Eng, got a job, and then after 4 months, decided it wasn't for him and went back to school to pursue another degree!!! For heaven sakes, why don't students do any REAL research? Like asking 3-4 people in their intended field about what they do/don't like about their field and job, what the employment and advancement prospects are, REALLY... What are the counseling departments in the high schools and universities doing for students? Besides having them take aptitude tests and giving them a copy of "Government projections of employment in the year 2018"?
It's not easy to get in. Have you taken cal 1 and 2 in undergrad? Or some other advanced math class? I think their acceptance rate is 15%, which is almost as hard as getting into Yale or Harvard
The discipline and effort alone will be worth something to you. A lot of things in life are done on personal intiative ... don't expect a college degree to open the pearly gates for you. While it might, don't rely on it to do so, make sure you're ready to do what it takes to succeed as well. P.S. Baruch was one of the first institutions of higher learning to even have a Trading Program ... so that should count for something.