MA econ? MBA? PhD? or just get to work?! I need advice!

[trendycafe]

Hello! I have recently discovered this forum and everyone seems very helpful. Now, hopefully I can gain some insights.

I am trying to decide what to do beyond undergrad. PhD in Econ? MA in econ? or enter the work force and hopefully obtain a MBA? The following is my predicament.

I am a rising junior at Saint Louis University persuing a B.S.B.A. degree with majors in finance, economics, international business and international studies. My interest is to eventually persue a career in one of the major international banking firms. Recently, I have realized that I enjoy research immensely. I think equities research may suit me well, but I am still exploring.

The idea of continuing education in economics occured to me in recent months as I began working closely with my economics professor on a research project. However, since my ultimate goal is not to become a professor, I don't find the opportunity cost of obtaining a PhD to be very beneficial. I had been researching on terminal MA econ programs but as I read many comments in this forum, MA econ programs don't seem to hold very high esteem. My target schools are NYU, BU, Georgetown(MA/MSFS), Columbia (QMSS), and John Hopkins.

Since I did not discover my interest in econ until recently, I have not taken much or any math classes at all. I took Calc I/Analytical Geomoetry during senior year of high school and haven't taken another real math classes since. I do have a lot of quantitative courses being a finance major. I do plan on rearrange my classes to fit in one or two more calc classes before graudating.

I don't think I would have a problem finding a job with the majors I have and the internship experiences. My cum GPA is currently 3.57 (I am trying to bring the GPA up to a 3.7) and internships as follow: semester at Merrill Lynch, a year at Moneta Group (Wealth Mgmt firm), a summer at Colliers Turley Martin Tucker (commercial real-estate) and I am goind to London this fall to intern at US Commercial Service in the Embassy.

The thing is, I don't want just any job. I want a solid start to my professional career. Since I did not attend a top undergrad school, I feel a MA in econ would be a good boost. Will a PhD be that much more beneficial? I have been advised that MBA's are a dime a dozen, and unless I got to a Top 10, it doesn't make a huge dent. Will this be true of a MA econ program too? What alternatives do I have? What should I do?!

Thank you so much!

Wendy

[user_name]

Princeton has a Master's in Finance program: http://www.princeton.edu/~bcf/master.htm

It looks more research-intensive than an MBA, yet seems fit for those who want to work in the private sector.

[nasshi]

from what i understand, there is quite a big difference between the pay that an ms/phd in finance gets compared to an ms/phd in economics, even at the academic level. if money is on your mind, i suggest looking into a finance route.