Hi there,
I would like to have some feedback from people who did both. What are the main differences? do you find the msc in finance to be too abstract and the cfa more applicable?
Thank you,
I found the MS Finance program I did to be much more quantitative, more theoretical, and more in-depth than the CFA program (at least through the first two levels-- I’m delaying L3, so I can only comment on L1/L2).
That being said, the CFA program (especially L2 in comparison to L1) was pretty interesting, because, as you mentioned, the CFA program was more applied than the MS in Finance. Although, each course of study had aspects of theory and application.
thank you !
$50k is the difference!
Unless you’ve got some combination of an assistantship and scholarships 
It’s a good point, though. Cost should definitely be considered after you evaluate your goals and the paths to those goals.
With MS you get a degree, new friends/network, career services, debt
you just nailed it
Except for the fact that one is essentially an applied “track” and the other is more theoretical and quantitative
I have personally seen people with MS in finance or financial engineering degree change their careers over to FO and land jobs at HFs upon graduation. Yet to see one happen for CFA charter. CFA cheaper? Yes. You get what you pay for? Maybe.
Thanks for sharing. I think this is more helpful for the OP, because it helps show that each course of study has a different purpose, for the most part. You’re more likely to be viewed as a quant-type with the MSF/MFE in comparison to the CFA Charter, in my opinion.
This should tell people that the CFA is not a break in tool, and is really a supplemental tool
Grad program is about placement and network, CFA is about education and incremental benefit to your career.
I think it’s fair to say that an actual masters program (aside from most MBA programs) is also about education. As far as I’ve heard, it’s the MBA programs that are a little education with a lot of networking.
I’ve done a masters program, trust me you won’t learn anything new or useful in a masters program compared to a mba program or the cfa. Only advantage is the cost, everything else MBA hands down.
models and bottles vs the opportunity to be a John Doe, MBA douche.
It seems that we like to compare CFA to MS or MBA. Saying that the CFA is better than say top20 or equivalent to top20 MBA…blah blah blah.
One pattern i have noticed is that people tend to compare things they own or have with something that they believe is better (deep in their mind). Maybe some truly believe CFA > MBA
Example, when I had an Audi S4, their forum, Audizine was full of threads of how stage 1 could beat or come close to M4 and how the S4 is $20k cheaper and AWD blah blah. But on the bimmerpost, you rarely see m4 drivers compare themselves to S4. They compare to Porsche Cayman or lower level 911.
I rarely (very strong on rarely) hear UCLA students compare the UCLA’s academic prowess to that of USC. Instead they try to justfy that they are in the same league as UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley students howerver never compare themselves to UCLA…They compare themselves to Stanford or MIT or Yale etc.
Just my observation… What biases did Infinity exhibit in his observation? Level 3 question
I had to read that post twice but yes I think you’re right infinitybenzo
This is why most people are unhappy with their situation, key to happiness is to be content with what you have, most people can’t do that, me included.
Wrong. I honestly believe the CFA is much more powerful than most MBAs in the finance field. MBAs are a dime a dozen and once you get in, it’s a cake walk. CFA actually takes 3+ years of hard work. When I hear someone has an MBA from a shitty school, it’s a negative in my book. Makes me question their decision-making ability. Now, a top school MBA is a different story, but nobody is arguing that…
wrong about what lol. You said “top school MBA is a different story, but nobody is arguing that…” Now let’s look at what I wrote. My opening paragraph is about people comparing top20 MBA to CFA.
Also if you read again I never said anything about which is better or who is right or wrong. Kind of just observation scribble for the lack of better desription of my post.