MBA/MFE for any of you?

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propanol

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Oh, and you'll be lucky to have a cubicle to work in these days (even better if it is big and with a nice window view). At least you have some privacy when you needed it. Traders sits on a chair staring on 5 screens all day openly on the floor. If cramping on a seat doing stuff is not your cup of tea, consider being a cab driver; you'll work in a different place every second.
 
I think most people simply want to be wealthy and they're searching for the shortest path.

Personally, I decided on changing careers after visiting Morgan Keegan and the bond trading fascinated me. It still does. The money the made also fascinated me as well. But as I started preparing for the CFA exam, which I was told would be a good place to start, much of the material was a little bland until I hit the Don Chance text.

That's what I want to do, hedging....pricing derivatives...much more interesting than anything else. Even the MSF curriculum is much more interesting than the MBA curriculum which basically seems like two years of networking. At this point I haven't taken CFA LI yet because I'm leaning more towards the FRM because there's more quant than the CFA. Anything that lets me do that all day long I'd be happy with.
 
FRM's good only if you are into risk mgmt. If so, you may want to consider PRM (www.prmia.org) too. But take the CFA, it simply has more market value.
 
Hi Tenshi, sorry I did not reply to your message until now.

Regarding your questions about me getting into U of T:

GPA was so-so (3.2 I think at best, I slacked off in undergrad and I regret it now)
GMAT was 740 (went better than I expected)
Work experience about 2 yrs in engineering (aerospace and oil/gas). Nothing really impressive about my work experience at all, just typical low-responsibility junior engineering to be honest.
 
Intersesting points. The main disadvantage I see to an MFE program at this point, is a lack of an alumni network as established as the really good business programs. And the Networking oppurtunities one gets at a really good business school is why one goes there.

I talked to the folks at GSB at U of Chicago and according to them a lot of my courses at the MFE program could be used towards an MBA too, If I decided to get an MBA down the line. One would expect that more and more business programs would allow their students specialising in finance to pick up the skill sets MFE graduates have if they desired to do so. Am not sure if many joint programs are offered at this time?

I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what kind of jobs are actually common to an MBA graduate and MFE graduate. Would there be any reason for an MFE graduate to get an MBA degree down the line? Is it common fro MBA graduates with reasonable quant skills to come back to school for a MFE degree?
 
aw78 : out of curiousity, what kind of material are you learning at the MBA program that is very different from the CFA curriculum......( I am not very familiar with either).

thanks
 
Really insightful propanol,

I was not very accurate about a trader�s job. As you said, it is not as easy as merely click & proceed, but more about the ability to take risks when and how it is worth. Because they
face a daily P&L, they may make lot of money and, in some sense, all the rest of Front Office people (research, research-quant, sales) are or should be devoted to them. Obviously, the more abilities you get in others functions the better, but I think we are too obsessed (I regret I am pretty much also) with working in the most complex business and being the best paid to feel good enough.

In this article http://www.global-derivatives.com/forum/index.php?topic=2361.0 it looks like nobody will be smart enough to trade without a PhD. However, I think that with a decent finance background, some estochastic undertanking and VBA, anybody should be more than fine on the floor. Am I right?

Back to the original thread, I�m more leaned towards a MBA+CFA combo, given that you take some hard courses in the MBA and have a look to extra stuff on you desk. IMHO, it could be more flexible and have more potential to climb the ladder. However, if you have still to break into the field, probably a MFE could be more compelling in a CV.

"Luck does not exist, but merely likelihoods"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, July 14, 2006 at 04:59PM by AAA.
 
Hey guys, sorry for the late reply

Ghetto:
======

Berkshire (which is NOT Berkshire Hathaway)
Investors group
Some small and sleazy company in mtl whose name I can�t remember

Wubbus:
=======

No $hit! It�s like looking into a mirror
My gpa 3.2+
Gmat 750
A little under 2 yrs of low-responsibility experience

Did u have trouble getting into places? Where else did u apply?

Everyone:
=======

someone here said that without defining your goals, the MFE/MBA argument is moot. is it not true that the MBA may be a smarter starting point if one isn't sure of where one wants to go? i know embarassingly little of finance right now, aside from the CFAexam and some friends in the field, so it seems like the MBA is:

1. general enough to keep my options open
2. poignant enough to help me find a direction in the real world of finance
3. valuable enough to help me break in

am i making too much of it? am i setting myself up for a fall?
 
i am willing to go for an MFE. i am an engineer and MBA from among the top ranked univs in my place. I had no post-engineering work but am working as a buy side research analyst. cud anyone suggest the decent places to go for such a program?
 
you might wanna check out this forum
http://www.global-derivatives.com/forum/index.php

financiallynumb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i am willing to go for an MFE. i am an engineer
> and MBA from among the top ranked univs in my
> place. I had no post-engineering work but am
> working as a buy side research analyst. cud anyone
> suggest the decent places to go for such a
> program?
 
The Wilmott forum has over a half dozen very interesting discussions on the MBA/MFE topic.

http://www.wilmott.com/categories.cfm?catid=16.

Just search for the keyword MBA.

best of luck
 
I personally like the idea of getting an MFE to get my foot in the door and getting an MBA down the line..... would work especially well if you could use your MFE credits towards the MBA program.
 
Vanderbilt allows such a move. I think Purdue does also.

USC and Rochester have programs that enhance the MBA or MS you already earned. For example, if you have an MBA and you want a concentration in Finance you can earn an MSM in Finance. Or if you have a Masters in Accounting, Finance, or Accounting then all you'll have to do are the core requirements for an MBA.
 
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