Meeting the Future Masters of Finance: Part I

This past Friday, November 8^th, Graduate Admissions hosted a Master of Finance (MFIN) informational campus visit for prospective students. This event provided prospective students with the opportunity to get an honest picture of the Tulane MFIN program and to interact with Tulane faculty, staff, current students and alumni. This was a great chance to get to know the people that are applying to the MFIN program and an opportunity for them to get a feel for the people and the MFIN program at Tulane.

The day began with a program overview given by Professor David Lesmond who clearly outlined the goals of the program. He explained how the Tulane MFIN program prepares students for careers in corporate finance, banking, and trading through a comprehensive approach to finance.  He stated that “In order to be able to get a view from 30,000 feet, you must first understand what is happening on the ground.” Getting this ground up understanding of finance is what is essential to becoming a good analyst, Professor Lesmond explained.

Visiting Professor, Ken Carroll, discussed Freeman Reports, a core course in equity analysis which is exclusive to Tulane MFIN students.  Freeman Reports is an experiential course where student teams are assigned to analyze an oil and gas company in the Deep South.  The course is designed to teach students how to prepare and present a sell side analyst report.

Clay Randolph, Director of the MFIN program, discussed in greater detail the curriculum for the upcoming 2014-15 academic year.  He also discussed how Tulane MFINs have the opportunity to earn a specialization in either Energy or Banking and Financial Services.  Then, your intrepid blogger shared one of his current assignments with the prospective audience.  The Tulane admissions and executive staff were very open to all questions and genuinely enjoyed the interaction with the prospective students.

After lunch, the day continued with student and alumni panels that were especially insightful; however, that will be the topic of my next blog post! Please stay tuned for comments from current students about their experience thus far and input from alumni that utilize their MFIN degree on a daily basis.

Tommy Milburn

Master of Finance Candidate 2014