The Villanova University Master in Finance program is continually one of the more popular MSF programs out there and I answer many questions as a 2010 alumnus. I always think it is nice to have other views of the program other than my own so I present to you a recent review of a Villanova grad. Hope this helps you guys and provides another opinion on the program.
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1) Why a Master in Finance degree? Why a Villanova MSF in particular?
The MSF was an easy decision for me. It fit into my “story” very well. I had prior internships at boutique investment banks and wanted to go through recruiting for banks with structured analyst programs. The MSF would give me another year to network, a new alumni base and a years worth of graduate level courses in finance. Villanova especially appealed to me because of its location, alumni presence on Wall Street, and class schedule.
Being close to the Philadelphia, D.C. and of course NYC metropolitan area was useful in the case of networking. I, for one, knew I wanted to work in NYC and Villanova’s location gave me the opportunity to go up to the city on the weekends to network. The alumni at Villanova were helpful from day one. It truly is remarkable to what extent the alumni were willing to help students from fielding calls to helping prepare for interviews.
Another reason why I chose Villanova was the schedule. It is a one year program and classes start in the summer. To me it was important to have a strong graduate G.P.A to present by recruiting season in the fall.
- Location
- Alumni
- Class Schedule
- Professors- Villanova has top notch professors who are very highly respected in their fields. The professors build a genuine relationship with the students and will actively help them with their career goals.
- Lack of OCR- Villanova has a ton of OCR in regards to certain fields in finance, such as corporate finance. However, when it comes to certain other jobs such as investment banking or private equity, there are only a few employers who come on campus. The best way around this is by using the Villanova network. Although there aren’t too many employers who come on campus, the alumni will definitely go out of their way to help get you into the interview process.
Here is a link to the Villanova University Master in Finance Program
