I received a great review of the Purdue Master in Finance program from a current student. Really gives a good overview of what goes and and the pros/cons of the program. Thanks once again and I hope it helps anyone out.
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I am impressed with the MSF program. It is a very diverse program since more than half the students are from other counties in Asia and Europe. This intense program starts in mid-July and finishes in May. So it’s a 10 month program with a summer module (6 weeks) and four (8 week) modules during the school year.
The summer module is actually the most intense session since we cover 5 classes in 6 weeks. It was equivalent to 70 – 90 hour work weeks since we had classes and exams on weekends too. The program was tough for people without a business background since the classes are so fast passed. A lot of material packed into a little time can be intimidating, but once I got through it I felt a lot better. All of my peers also feel a lot more relieved now that we have time to breath and most everyone can keep up. The summer module is mostly to get all the MSF students caught up to the second year MBA students. During the next four modules we are integrated with the 2nd year MBA’s who have concentrations in finance, accounting, and other MBA’s who wanted finance electives.
The MSF program here at Krannert has a high amount of analytical course work and it is great since Purdue is known for their engineering as well. The other great thing about the master’s program compared to the undergrad is that now the course work relies and revolves mostly on cases. So the classes are very interactive and I like the case-based studying since it gives me a more real world feel to it.
I also like the flexibility in the program in the sense that if we are really passionate about something we can talk to our professors and come up with a way to incorporate that into our curriculum. For example, I worked for a wealth manager as a research analyst this past year and had done some research. I asked two professors to look over my research and critique it so I could improve my analysis. I have gotten excellent feedback and ways of improving my research and I hope to use it in the portfolio management class next module.
The finance faculty is very friendly, I wanted organized a barbecue at the end of the summer module. One of the professors offered his house as a venue and I got to organize the BBQ at his house and invited entire finance faculty as well as the Interim Dean. I was amazed at the accessibility of the professors and their willingness to help.
I would say the only drawback is that we don’t get too many elective courses but that’s alright since people that apply to the MSF have an interest in Finance. We just get the whole spectrum of finance from investments to corporate finance
I hope this helps, I am going to attach a link that gives an outline of the courses we are taking and going to be taking as well for your reference. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions regarding the program.
Here is a link to the Purdue University Master in Finance program