CFA or Masters in Finance for Science Grad

CFA General
#1

Alright, so seeing the other posts, I think I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this. But if even one person helps me out, you’re AWESOME!!

Okay so, I’m a third year student in college studying Psychology Neuroscience & Behaviour. When I started I thought I wanted to go to med school, hence why I’m in a BSc program. Anyways! Now I’m switching to pursue finance (my long lost love). Sure investment banking is the dream, but honestly I just like asset management, handling portfolios, participating in financial markets etc.

Here’s the situation, as you know I’m not in Bachelor of Commerce. To gain some background in finance, I’m doing a minor in Finance but that’s about it. If I want to enter the finance industry is it smarter to do CFA after the undergraduate degree or go for a Masters in Finance? Currently, I’m considering writing the CFA I exam in my fourth year. I know CFA I doesn’t mean much, but it is a starting point. I’m thinking of writing the Level I because I don’t have a formal background in business or finance. Also, do you guys think that companies will even consider me as a competitive candidate? I know there’s a ton of people who are like yea I was in basket weaving, applied for an analyst position, now I’m a hedge fund manager. But (I think, correct me if I am) those are exception cases.

Summary

  • Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour undergrad with Minor in Finance
  • 3.95 GPA at top university in country
  • Huge interest and passion for finance

Questions

  • CFA or Masters in Finance after undergrad?
  • What do you think are my chances of getting an entry level job after undergrad in the finance industry?
    • How would I go about doing that?
#2
  • CFA or Masters in Finance after undergrad? CFA, as you said, you love asset management, CFA is better for that path
  • What do you think are my chances of getting an entry level job after undergrad in the finance industry? Don’t worry so much about your undergraduate degree, won’t mean much for any entry level finance job, heck, I will hire a English major if that person has good excel skill and is fast at data entry.
    • How would I go about doing that? Begin to prepare CFA level 1, go to your local CFA chapter networking event and talk to as many people as you can.
#3

Image result for why not both meme

#4

Hey!

Thanks for the reply. Good excel skills are key (obviously). Can you name some other skills that I can develop that will be important in the workplace? Just trying to figure out where to spend my resources.

Also, on this forum, many people are doing a CFA after several years of working. Like as a way to upgrade their resume. Is it useful to do it before getting your first job in the industry?

#5

You cannot become a charterholder beforehand, one of the requirements is to have 4 years of industry experience.

#6

Instead of CFA or MSiF just start to learn programming and you will be fine :slight_smile:

#7

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-29/human-bankers-are-losing-to-robots-as-nordea-sets-a-new-standard

#8

Key question: you said you’re in your 3rd year…since it’s July, does that mean you’re about to START your 3rd year or just finished your 3rd year?

Anyways, I ask because the #1 best way to get a job at one of the banks is via internship. Right now my company literally does 90% of its hiring via the intern pool. So if you’re about to start your 3rd year, I’d target getting an internship above all else because that’s what will land you a job.

Assuming you’re about to start your 4th year, I’d actually probably suggest doing both the CFA program and a masters. The masters will give you a summer to do the internship and many good programs come with job placement benefits (which themselves aren’t super great but can be leveraged) in addition to the educational benefits. And the CFA program will give you much stronger product knowledge than any masters program so the combination will let you hit the ground running.

Anyways, seems there are many paths open to you. Best of luck!