Four years ago, I made a fateful decision to get an MSF degree. I badly wanted to break into Wall Street, live the lifestyle of a big swinging dick with models and bottles, and not have to study a buttload of stuff like a doctor or engineer. I was successful at it, but I did see several people fall short, even Americans, who should've had an easier time than international students who comprise much of the programs.
If you want to get this degree, here are some things you need to know.
1. You are not going to escape a bad UG school name and major
If you went to Southern North Dakota State with a major in history, getting an MSF from Vanderbilt or Claremont McKenna will not excuse you from questions like "Why Southern Missouri? Why history?"
2. Your GPA is everything!
Many schools with OCR have filters that do not let you apply to certain jobs (as in have an "apply" click button) without meeting that GPA requirement. Don't let anyone tell you "no one cares about your grades in grad school." They will try.
3. Most professors will not give you less than a B
This happens even if your total points are below 83% of points offered. This may seem like a good deal, but in reality, employers sadly know it. As 3.0 is the min to keep in good standing most places, a 3.1 is a huge red flag.
4. If you're a domestic, you're not going to get slack from employers
This does not happen just because you have to compete in the class with mainly Indian and Chinese dynamos.
5. The international students studied tons of math
Most of those Indians studied engineering, and even the kids from China, who mainly studied finance, were forced to take as much math as American engineering students do (Calc I-III, LinAlg and DiffEQ) per their core curricula (see http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/portalweb/appmanage...). American finance students almost never go past Calc I and Stats I. Hence why number 3 can feel unfair at times.
6. Past experience of finance majors at non-target UGs
If you went to an ultra non-target, it may seem like finance as a major at non-target UGs attracts party guys who aren't terribly bright. Do not let that fool you about how smart the former finance majors in your cohort will be, or the other Americans who are in your program.
7. Undergrads are more sought after than you as an MSF student
They're seen as "having got it right the first time," or more "competitive (aka good at what they do)," and the culture, arbitrarily and unfairly, does think its better to be younger than older when starting, so they can feel less bad about churning you. Finance is the most shallow, superficial industry out there. An M7 MBA or target UG, where your classes may overall be less quantitative with fewer STEM background kids, is viewed as better because other people know it more, just because.
8. People will ask you "why not an MBA?"
Be prepared.