MBA Admissions: NYU Stern & Finance

A quick glance at NYU Stern currently ranks in 11th place as one of the best business schools, according to US News & World Report (March 2012). It is ranked in third place for finance.  

Stern’s Class of 2014 and Finance

3907 people applied to NYU Stern in 2012; the entering class size was 389. The average GMAT score was 720 and the class has an average undergraduate GPA of 3.51. The average number of years of work experience for the class of 2014 is 4.8 years.

26% of class of 2014 students have undergraduate degrees in business and commerce; 22% in economics; 21% in engineering, math, and science; 17% in social sciences; and 14% in humanities, arts, or other areas.

In terms of pre-MBA work experience, the largest group of students came from the financial services industry (at 23% of the class). This is followed by 11% in consulting and 10% in banking.

NYU Academics Related to Finance

There are four phases to the Stern curriculum:

Phase 1: A 2-week orientation program called LAUNCH that introduces students to New York City and to b-school with tours, panel discussions, speakers, and other activities.

Phase 2: First year core classes. All students must take 2 required courses (Financial Accounting & Reporting and Statistics & Data Analysis) and choose 5 courses from the Menu Core (Firms & Markets, Foundations of Finance, The Global Economy, Leadership in Organizations, Marketing, Operations Management, and Strategy). Students can take electives in their first year. Students can obtain waivers for core classes if they have proficiency in the subject matter.

Phase 3: Summer Internship.

Phase 4: Second year core and elective courses. The core course for second year students is Professional Responsibility. Other than that, students take elective courses. Up to 5 of these courses may be taken at another NYU grad school.

Finance Electives at Other NYU Grad Schools
Electives at NYU School of Law: 

• Corporations
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Survey of Securities Regulation

Electives at NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences:

• Development of Economics
• Economics/Financial History of Europe
• Math for Economists
• Seminar in Econometrics
• Theory of Economic Development

Electives at NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences: 

• Derivative Securities
• Financial Engineering Models for Corporate Finance
• Case Studies in Financial Modeling

Students graduate with an MBA in General Management and between 0-3 specializations. It is within these specializations that students will choose their elective courses. Relevant specializations for those interested in finance are Finance, Banking, Corporate Finance, Financial Instruments and Markets, Accounting, Financial Systems and Analytics, and Quantitative Finance. (Click on the links to see sample courses from each of the categories.)

You can view the complete list of NYU Stern courses here.

Between semesters, students may study abroad by participating in the Doing Business in…(DBi) Program. There are also semester abroad programs, global courses (that include trips overseas), and International Club Treks. (More details on these global programs and others can be found here.)

There is also a dual degree offering of an MBA/MS in Mathematics in Finance.

Finance Research Centers at NYU Stern

• Center for Real Estate Finance Research
• Glucksman Institute for Research in Securities Markets
• Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions
• Vincent C. Ross Institute of Accounting Research
• The Volatility Institute

NYU Stern Finance-Related Clubs

• Graduate Finance Association (GFA)
• Real Estate Club (REC)
• Sales and Trading Club 
• Stern Hedge Fund Association (SHFA)
• Stern Investment Management and Research (SIMR)
• Stern Private Equity Club (SPEC)

Financial Services Hiring Stats at NYU Stern

The charts below indicates the hiring stats for 2011 finance careers: 

Function	Percent	Base Salary Range ($)
Investment Banking	18	80,000 – 175,000
General/Corporate Finance	7	70,000 – 135,000
Sales/Trading	5	100,000 – 105,000
Investment Management	2	75,000 – 115,000
Private Banking/Private Client Services	2	100,000 – 125,000
Private Equity	2	N/A
Structured/Project Finance	1	N/A