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Talo · 04-30-2008, 07:50 PM

Hey All,

I am graduating from NYU in a few weeks and trying to make a decision.

My career interests lie in Finance, especially mathematical finance and trading. The job market for finance jobs right now is terrible as there have been a tremendous amount of lay offs and I have not been able to get a job offer in that field.

I did however just receive a job offer from an interesting firm.

I would be working under 2 professors of marketings at Columbia. They have their own consulting firm, and I would be helping them do work on customer incentives and a few other business projects.

The pay is low , especially by NYC standards and it would be difficult, but possible for me to live on that salary. The main benefit is that after 2 years I would be able to get into a great grad school for my MBA.

My other option is to not work for this company and continue with schooling. It is too late for me to apply directly to a grad school program, but I am able to take coursework part-time and then apply for admission into some programs for the next year. I would like to do a masters in Mathematical Finance which I believe is more desired for these finance positions. At the same time while going part-time I would also be completing my CFA exam which is necessary in the finance field. I would be living at home while doing this so saving money on rent and other living expenses.

So, I am looking for some input. Should I go for a somewhat interesting job with low pay for the tradeoff of a very high probability of acceptance into an MBA program, or should I take some courses and do my CFA which is more applicable to the field.

Also, I should note that my undergrad GPA and coursework is pretty good, so getting into a top MBA program is a possibility even while working at a different company, while Math Fin programs care more about your math courses and nothing about your work experience. Taking these additional math courses in ODE, PDE, and Probability Theory would greatly help my admission shot.

Thank you all for your time and help.

04-30-2008, 07:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
Talo Insane	Job vs Grad School Hey All, I am graduating from NYU in a few weeks and trying to make a decision. My career interests lie in Finance, especially mathematical finance and trading. The job market for finance jobs right now is terrible as there have been a tremendous amount of lay offs and I have not been able to get a job offer in that field. I did however just receive a job offer from an interesting firm. I would be working under 2 professors of marketings at Columbia. They have their own consulting firm, and I would be helping them do work on customer incentives and a few other business projects. The pay is low , especially by NYC standards and it would be difficult, but possible for me to live on that salary. The main benefit is that after 2 years I would be able to get into a great grad school for my MBA. My other option is to not work for this company and continue with schooling. It is too late for me to apply directly to a grad school program, but I am able to take coursework part-time and then apply for admission into some programs for the next year. I would like to do a masters in Mathematical Finance which I believe is more desired for these finance positions. At the same time while going part-time I would also be completing my CFA exam which is necessary in the finance field. I would be living at home while doing this so saving money on rent and other living expenses. So, I am looking for some input. Should I go for a somewhat interesting job with low pay for the tradeoff of a very high probability of acceptance into an MBA program, or should I take some courses and do my CFA which is more applicable to the field. Also, I should note that my undergrad GPA and coursework is pretty good, so getting into a top MBA program is a possibility even while working at a different company, while Math Fin programs care more about your math courses and nothing about your work experience. Taking these additional math courses in ODE, PDE, and Probability Theory would greatly help my admission shot. Thank you all for your time and help.