The Villanova MSF program was kind enough to arrange an interview with Shea McCormick, the Associate Director of Admissions. I was incredibly excited when this was proposed and think many of you will find the insights helpful in your MSF decision making process.
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An Inside Look at the Villanova MSF Program
Shea McCormick, Associate Director of MSF Admissions at Villanova School of Business talks with prospective MSF students every day. He shares his insider perspective on questions he gets asked most frequently, who the typical applicants are, what they’re looking for, and what the program experience is like.
Who should consider a Master of Science in Finance?
McCormick: Students who are looking to gain advanced technical and quantitative skills in finance and who want to join a robust alumni network are ideal candidates for our MSF program. If you are seeking an 11-month program with high job placement and salary outcomes and one-on-one attention from faculty, staff, and our career professional development team, then this is the program for you. With our small class sizes, I tell students that everyone is going to know you on a first-name basis: your classmates, the faculty and the program staff. It’s a close-knit program with a unique cohort experience and high attention to personal detail.
Where are typical Villanova MSF students in their educational and career journeys? Are they fresh out of school? Have they worked for a few years?
McCormick: Our MSF class profile changes from year to year, but most of our students are entering the program right out of college. However, we do have students with a year or two of professional work experience and are either looking for a career change or want to get connected with a better career network. The average student is between 22-24 years old.
Do you need a background in finance or business to apply? If you don’t have a finance background, how might that impact your experience in the program?
McCormick: No, you do not need a background in finance or business to apply. Most of our students have an educational background in finance, accounting, economics or other business disciplines but we also have students from liberal arts and other areas. About two years ago, we revised our curriculum to include a mandatory summer pre-session that provides fundamentals in finance and accounting, so everyone begins the program at the same baseline. If you do not have a business background, this session will cover the basics that you will need. And if you did major in finance or business, the MSF program builds on the foundational skills you learned as an undergraduate.
Does work experience enhance one’s application?
McCormick: Work experience is not required for the program, and as I mentioned, most students come right from undergraduate programs. However, work/internship experience does enhance one’s MSF application as we believe the real-world experience improves a student’s experience in the program.
What opportunities exist for students to network and socialize with each other outside the classroom?
McCormick: Students have access to all the resources and activities that our undergraduate students do: student organizations and clubs on campus, intramurals, club sports, and campus gym and athletic facilities. We offer a range of professional development opportunities for students, including site visits to employers in the Philadelphia and New York areas and opportunities to meet with alumni at the companies we visit. Our team also provides networking opportunities such as happy hours and one-on-one mentoring with an alum through our Mentorship Program, as well as social opportunities such as trips to professional sports games in Philadelphia.
What is the student experience on campus like for program participants?
McCormick: In a typical week, our classes run Monday to Thursday. Our most successful students say they treat the program like a job, so that might mean arriving to campus around 8 or 9, maybe getting coffee or breakfast, and then attending two or three classes and frequently staying on campus and working on homework or projects until the end of the day. All the classes will be in one building in our business school, and we also have a new Graduate Center on campus where students sometimes meet and hang out. Many students utilize Fridays for homework, group projects, catching up on their work from the week and preparing for the following week, while still having a full weekend. We are 13 miles outside of Philadelphia so there are plenty of opportunities for students to explore the city or to enjoy the restaurants and nightlife closer to campus.
Is there anything else prospective applicants should know?
The Villanova MSF application opens in August, and the program does rolling admissions so in terms of both admission and opportunities for scholarships and fellowships, it is best to apply earlier rather than later in the year, ideally by the January 15 deadline in Round 2 of applications.
Finally, students who have been through the program have said that time management is the biggest key to success. There are a lot of resources and tools available to be successful, but it is up to the student to take advantage of them.
You can connect with Shea here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheajmccormick/
Learn more about the Villanova Master of Science in Finance here.
