As a proud member of BC MSF community, I would like to share some of my first hand BC MSF experience to help you make an informed decision.
Following is an email from a spring-term Chinese student I ran into last year (slightly modified for privacy purpose), hopefully you can get a feeling of 06 Spring Chinese MSF pool.
Congratulations on your admission to the MSF program and we look forward to having you join the gangs of Eagles here at Boston
College.
(Pardon me for speaking in the tone of an admission officer since I always feel obligated to greet any new member of the BC community as part of my life in the admission office. It is very likely that you will take on the same role this fall so please be aware of such syndrome which I'm currently suffering)
Enough B/S. I find it extremely difficult to mimic Jean's style :-)
With regard to your question on the job placement for Chinese students, I regret to say that so far I still do not have a clear picture on where they are heading to and how many stayed in the U.S. in the last few years. With a smaller sample size of Chinese students this year, I'm afraid that my observation may not be as desirable as you've expected:
#1 One of my friends (Chinese) just nailed an actuarial position with an insurance firm just because she had previously worked in the same industry in Germany and is currently passing exams for the actuarial certification.
#2 A guy who worked for CICC in Beijing for two years as an IB analyst is still struggling to work his way to a prestigious financial company. But I have faith in him just because with his background and CFA level III candidacy it should just be a matter of time.
#3 I also knew a pair of Chinese MSF alumni who went on to work for the Citigroup at NY (job function unknown) and the State Street Global Markets (quant. discipline).
Again, H1B visa could potentially be an issue for some of the smaller employers out there, but I would say it all depends on your qualification and ability to B/S in English during the interview /OR ability to work on complex financial modeling.
Although I've heard prior to my own arrival here that several BC MSF graduates returned to China, I believe that most of them chose that way on their will and probably got better offers and growth opportunities back home. I would also say that most of the graduates here including Americans have had hard times locating jobs either due to their lack (if at all) of relevant work experiences or unwillingness to accept offers from minor firms. Besides, the workload of the program is somewhat burdensome so that people usually need to juggle between class projects and interviews.
All I can suggest about this program's career prospects is that it is imperative for us to NETWORK, NETWORK and NETWORK!!!
Being a small but exclusive community, BC has its advantage of facilitating mutually beneficial relationships between alums and current students. Based on my first-hand experience, I feel BC alums are prepared to help out thereby serve as much-needed tonics in your job searching ordeal. I would also recommend that you talk to professors, career advisors, and graduating students on a regular basis as most of them are always more than happy to provide you with invaluable info and advices on your career as well as academic developments.
Since you are destined to become a BC Eagle, please enjoy your time at home as much as you can in the next few months as you may not find your life at Boston as pleasant as you've hoped. (just kidding, it's definitely a rewarding and fulfilling experience. BC is highly recommended - I almost forgot my marketing job for the admission office)
The writer of the above email is now working in one premier investment banking house in Beijing, and the #2 guy mentioned above also ended up with an in-house M&A job here in States.
As for our 06 Fall Chinese MSF pool, we have 3 ppl from Mainland, one already accepted a full time offer from Citigroup NY (finance function), another received but turned down a full time offer from PwC NY (auditing) for a banking internship in HK(institutional sales function).
Again, H1b could be the biggest risk for those studying in States and want to work here right after. 08’s H1b quota ran out on the first day of accepting applications, and its impact is still being analyzed. However, I believe this issue should not be a factor in deciding your offers, since no matter which school in U.S. you attend, you have to face it in the same manner. And compared to those European countries, U.S. immigration policy can still be viewed as a loose one.
From my standing point, BC's finance academic vigor is solid. Alan Marcus, the guy who wrote the most commonly used investment textbook serves as the chair of MSF program. At the same time, you are going to find tons of practitioners in teaching role, lots of them are big time Wall Street veterans. Boston, as the hub for investment management industry, gives BC a traditional strength in this business (Peter Lynch is actually a BC alumni). In the MSF program, some of you can expect to manage around half a million real dollars from BC endowment fund through a course called “Center for Investment Research and Management”. Also, as a city full of universities, Boston offers you chances to interact with people from the most prominent universities in the world (BC MSF actually offers a joint class with MIT Sloan every year, but keep in mind it’s hard to get into).
The school is considered to be one of the top private education institutions in the east coast. Alumni network is strong even in some of the bulge bracket firms in NY. Every year those firms recruit in BC for their front office jobs. You may get some interviews from them, but keep in mind the selection process is still very competitive. Being just an average BC alumni can never get your feet into those firms.
To finish up, I want to use JZ's tone a little bit. For those of you who managed through the bloody application process and feel destined to become a BC Eagle, Welcome to Chestnut Hill!
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发表于 2007-4-14 04:09:00
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