The Johns Hopkins Masters in Finance program is always one of the most viewed programs on my site. Sadly, I haven’t been able to update a recent student review of the program in far too long. Well that all ends now as I have a fresh review from a recent graduate. I personally think the student reviews are some of the most helpful posts I can make for the site as they give all of you who are considering a program a first hand account of what works and what doesn’t.
There is definitely a huge misconception that if you pursue a Master’s degree in Finance, you only learn how to crunch numbers and look at spreadsheets and don’t get the chance to develop a skill set outside of pure finance. However, through my experience working on my degree at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, I have realized that earning a Master’s degree in Finance has prepared me for a lot more careers than just the traditional finance roles and has made a huge difference in the experiences I have been able to receive.
Since the Fall semester, I have been working with an investment bank where I recently was part of a team that completed a sell-side M&A deal. We sold a manufacturing company to a private equity firm and I got the experience of working directly with the management team of the manufacturing company and with the investment professionals of the private equity firm acquiring the company. I also received the opportunity to construct various financial models and create presentations. Additionally, I recently began working with a mental healthcare-focused startup that is growing through the Johns Hopkins FastForward U incubator. This startup is poised to disrupt the mental healthcare space by using AI and machine learning to match patients with therapists and augment their therapy sessions with various software tools such as proactive mood check-ins and daily journaling, all through a patient’s smartphone. As part of my work at the startup I have had the chance to work on a wide range of tasks across the business including creating pitch presentations to raise additional capital, helping to develop the firm’s business plan, and identifying the firm’s target customers, all in preparation for an angel round in the near future.
These are two experiences that I would not have undergone without the help of Johns Hopkins where I get to work closely with seasoned professionals and juggle multiple projects at once. Another great aspect I’ve experienced about Johns Hopkins’s MS Finance program is how the faculty and various programs help to facilitate these kinds of experiences for students. For example, the Career Development Office introduced me to people who were working at the investment bank that I then worked at. Hopkins also has various events where students can pitch their business ideas and receive feedback or even funding to help develop their ideas further. These pitch events are also excellent places to meet new people with interesting ideas. In fact, I met the founder of the startup I am currently working with at one of these events.
Case competitions are another big part of the experience of being a student at the JHU Carey Business School. Since September 2018, I have been working with a team of 4 other students to compete in the CFA Institute Equity Research Competition. We analyzed a specific technology company and created a full equity research report, including a buy/sell recommendation and target stock price and then presented it to a panel of judges. And because our team won the Baltimore/DC round in February, we will now be advancing to the America’s Round in April in NYC where we will be facing teams from all over the United States, Canada, and South/Central America. But this is just one case competition: there are several others every semester that students can participate in, all with different foci and different time commitments.
Being a graduate student at Johns Hopkins has opened the door to many opportunities that I would not have been able to experience otherwise. Pursuing an advanced degree in Finance has helped me develop my problem-solving and analytical thinking skills that I believe will make me a valuable asset to any future employer. I’m very fortunate to be part of this great program and recommend it to anyone thinking of pursuing a Master’s degree in Finance.
Rishi Bagga
JHU MSF 2018-2019
Hope this helps any you considering the program. Johns Hopkins continues to build their program and is always growing. It is one of the few US MSF programs with a truly international brand recognition as well. I will continue to work to get more information on JHU so keep checking back.
Here is a link to the Johns Hopkins Masters in Finance Program
