People who say dont get an MBA...

CFA for is better for research MBA is better for IBing simple.

^Simple if the only jobs you’re considering are ER and IB. For race car driving CFA is better.

In my experience, if you attend a good school and focus your MBA on finance and don’t dilute it down with a bunch of human resources crap, the analytical skills you end up with are very similar to the CFA. If you go to a rubbish school and load up on organizational management courses, your MBA is worthless compared to a CFA. That said, the biggest advantage to doing an MBA is the networking that takes place while you’re there. If you’re even halfway social with your classmates and instructors, you won’t have any trouble finding work when you’re done.

Hayek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In my experience, if you attend a good school and > focus your MBA on finance and don’t dilute it down > with a bunch of human resources crap, the > analytical skills you end up with are very similar > to the CFA. If you go to a rubbish school and load > up on organizational management courses, your MBA > is worthless compared to a CFA. That said, the > biggest advantage to doing an MBA is the > networking that takes place while you’re there. If > you’re even halfway social with your classmates > and instructors, you won’t have any trouble > finding work when you’re done. I don’t know about that - tons of socially competent MBA’s struggling to find work the last two years (work that is more than marginally better than what they were doing)…

Hayek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In my experience, if you attend a good school and > focus your MBA on finance and don’t dilute it down > with a bunch of human resources crap, the > analytical skills you end up with are very similar > to the CFA. I don’t want to disregard value of CFA because I have learned a lot from the material especially in the area of FSA and Economics. However, in some areas I find MBA education better. For example, I had no idea that dividend yields had predictive value until I started taking Cochrane’s class. He gave a speech about it to the American Finance Association a few weeks ago. He wrote an article in WSJ about that at the end of 2008: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122645226692719401.html It was also interesting to hear in depth about Fama-French model, etc.

maratikus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hayek Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > In my experience, if you attend a good school > and > > focus your MBA on finance and don’t dilute it > down > > with a bunch of human resources crap, the > > analytical skills you end up with are very > similar > > to the CFA. > > I don’t want to disregard value of CFA because I > have learned a lot from the material especially in > the area of FSA and Economics. However, in some > areas I find MBA education better. For example, I > had no idea that dividend yields had predictive > value until I started taking Cochrane’s class. He > gave a speech about it to the American Finance > Association a few weeks ago. He wrote an article > in WSJ about that at the end of 2008: > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122645226692719401 > .html > > It was also interesting to hear in depth about > Fama-French model, etc. Agreed. Classes go more in-depth in CFA material

So far my experience has been that Core NYU stern classes = CFA Level 1. Going to waive all of em!

comp_sci_kid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So far my experience has been that Core NYU stern > classes = CFA Level 1. Going to waive all of em! Highly highly highly recommend that you turn to the most tryhard looking kid in your section and say something like, “MAN, can you believe we’re supposed to know how to discount these cashflows already!!!1111one” Keep up the facade for the semester.

comp_sci_kid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So far my experience has been that Core NYU stern > classes = CFA Level 1. Going to waive all of em! Anyone with a finance background, be it undergrad major or CFA prep, is going to find that the finance core classes are review. Remember, you have folks in the program who were English, History, Romance Languages, or Public Relations majors in undergrad and have never seen that material. If you can waive the classes, that is great. The finance electives at any reputable business school (NYU being such) are the real deal though. You’re obviously not going to come out with the same overall level of finance knowledge that someone in an MFin program will, but the finance areas you concentrate on will be well covered. MBA at a good school is really whatever you choose to make it.

higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > comp_sci_kid Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > So far my experience has been that Core NYU > stern > > classes = CFA Level 1. Going to waive all of > em! > > > Anyone with a finance background, be it undergrad > major or CFA prep, is going to find that the > finance core classes are review. Remember, you > have folks in the program who were English, > History, Romance Languages, or Public Relations > majors in undergrad and have never seen that > material. If you can waive the classes, that is > great. The finance electives at any reputable > business school (NYU being such) are the real deal > though. You’re obviously not going to come out > with the same overall level of finance knowledge > that someone in an MFin program will, but the > finance areas you concentrate on will be well > covered. MBA at a good school is really whatever > you choose to make it. Very true, that is why i am trying to wave all of the basic classes - hence reviewing L1 materail

supersadface Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > comp_sci_kid Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > So far my experience has been that Core NYU > stern > > classes = CFA Level 1. Going to waive all of > em! > > Highly highly highly recommend that you turn to > the most tryhard looking kid in your section and > say something like, “MAN, can you believe we’re > supposed to know how to discount these cashflows > already!!!1111one” Keep up the facade > for the semester. For some reason i got high props for passing CFA “like it is the hardest thing to do ever, like u know…”

wut do you want to do eventually compscikid? you know, besides see a boobie career wise

comp_sci_kid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > supersadface Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > comp_sci_kid Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > So far my experience has been that Core NYU > > stern > > > classes = CFA Level 1. Going to waive all of > > em! > > > > Highly highly highly recommend that you turn to > > the most tryhard looking kid in your section > and > > say something like, “MAN, can you believe we’re > > supposed to know how to discount these > cashflows > > already!!!1111one” Keep up the facade > > for the semester. > > For some reason i got high props for passing CFA > “like it is the hardest thing to do ever, like u > know…” CompSci you doing finance emphasis in your mba?

jcole21: if i waive enough classes i will be able to do multiple specialization… most likely finance will be one of them superiorreturn: hopefully get lucky in startup lottery

I was trying to be a little too PC when I said the skills you end up with at the and of a good MBA are similar to the CFA. The CFA will help you become a solid technician, but a good graduate program should provide you with not only the technical skills but also the theoretical/academic background. To use a crude analogy: The CFA will help you become a solid line cook, a good graduate school will set you on the path to becoming a chef. Unless of course you end up at a crap school taking HR under the guise of an MBA, in which case I wouldn’t hire you as a waiter.

Nice - the reason I ask is given the CFA, (for me personally - sitting L3 this June and MS Finance finished last year) I’m considering a different concentration than finance… Sounds like you’re thinking the same - what are you considering for your other concentration?

jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Nice - the reason I ask is given the CFA, (for me > personally - sitting L3 this June and MS Finance > finished last year) I’m considering a different > concentration than finance… Sounds like you’re > thinking the same - what are you considering for > your other concentration? Probably entrepreneurship and maybe something else. Maybe some quant - stochastic calc etc…

comp_sci I’ve looked at Stern’s program before, and I really liked the fact that you can have up to three different specializations (and they have a lot to choose from). I am assuming you haven’t started yet, but I would like know how managible it would be to do two or three. I certainly think there could be some value there.

greyhound86 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > comp_sci > > I’ve looked at Stern’s program before, and I > really liked the fact that you can have up to > three different specializations (and they have a > lot to choose from). I am assuming you haven’t > started yet, but I would like know how managible > it would be to do two or three. I certainly think > there could be some value there. I started the program. First class next thursday. I will let you know how the experience is… but so far it seems that even though i am comp_sci_kid, my CFA gave me a huge advantage in finance knowledge over majority of my classmates

Hayek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was trying to be a little too PC when I said the > skills you end up with at the and of a good MBA > are similar to the CFA. The CFA will help you > become a solid technician, but a good graduate > program should provide you with not only the > technical skills but also the theoretical/academic > background. > > To use a crude analogy: The CFA will help you > become a solid line cook, a good graduate school > will set you on the path to becoming a chef. > Unless of course you end up at a crap school > taking HR under the guise of an MBA, in which case > I wouldn’t hire you as a waiter. an MBA is not an MFin…