Information Session Spring 2010 Masters of Science in Finance Program Overview

36 Graduate Credits (12 Courses), comprised of: 4 Foundation Courses (required) + 8 FINA Electives Program Summary

ACCT 6331 FINA 6387 STAT 6360 FINA 6335 Foundation Courses

ACCT 6331, STAT 6360 & FINA 6387 are pre-requisites for FINA 6335 MSF Students will be allowed to take these concurrently (for students who wish to take more than 2 courses in the first semester) FINA 6335 is the pre-requisite for all 7000-level courses Comments on Foundation Courses

Students with extensive and strong preparation in finance (e.g., prior MBA, BBA with a high GPA and GMAT) can petition a pre-requisite waiver for STAT 6360, FINA 6387, and FINA ACCT 6331 will not be waived except under exceptional circumstances; you can take ACCT 6331 concurrently with 7000-level courses. Macroeconomics or Financial Systems type of courses are not equivalent to FINA Taking 7000-level courses pre-maturely is self- defeating: many electives are very challenging and it is difficult to get a high grade. Comments on Foundation Courses

Generally, it is a good idea to take FINA 7330 (advanced corporate finance) and FINA 7320 (Investments) prior to taking other electives; However, there is more flexibility in the sequence of electives than foundation courses; You can take as many FINA 7397 Selected Topics courses as desired, as long as they have different titles; Advanced Courses & Electives

Selected New 7397 courses: Private Equity and Investment Banking Strategy of International Project Finance Techniques and Tactics of Project Finance Financial Engineering Financial Risk Management Competitive Strategy and Real Options in Energy Finance Electives

New 7397 courses: Financial Statement Analysis and Competitive Analysis Energy Insurance & Risk Management Mergers, Acquisitions & Joint Ventures Applied Projects in Finance Economics of the Energy Value Chain Upstream Economics Downstream Economics Electives

Cougar Fund Program Numerous specializations in Finance are available (typically require 3 electives in a designated area) Special Programs & Focus Areas

Waivers It is important to understand the difference between a waiver with substitution and a waiver without substitution Waiver with substitution: If you waive a course but have to substitute another course in its place Example: You use an undergraduate course to waive a foundation course; in this case, you waive the pre-req but have to substitute an elective for it

Waivers Waiver without substitution: If you use prior graduate work in finance or statistics or economics to waive a foundation course, then you can get up to 3 waivers without substitution; i.e., up to 9 graduate credits from an earlier graduate degree can be recognized toward the MSF Example: If you have an MBA, you can get a waiver without substitution for STAT 6360, FINA 6387, and FINA For the MSF, you then have to take ACCT 6331 and 8 electives

Ranked #8 in the US in an authoritative new ranking based on the research productivity and impact of faculty; Top-ranked (based on research output) finance department in the Gulf coast; Faculty have doctorates from Chicago, Stanford, Michigan, Princeton, Cornell, UCLA, UC-Berkeley, NYU, Univ. of British Columbia, Purdue, Michigan State; Most of the senior faculty have previously taught at top-10 business schools. Finance Department Facts

The first general admission MSF class entered in the Fall of 2005; In the past two years, the average class size has been 45 Average GMAT was 650; Average GPA was 3.5 Significant number of the entering class had 700+ GMAT or 750+ quantitative GRE scores Stats on Recent MS Finance Classes

Admission Process 1.Online application 2.$75 application fee required for all students, $150 for international students 3.GMAT Test 4.TOEFL for International Students 5.Official Transcripts 6.Professional Resume 7.Goal Statement 8.2 letters of recommendation *International Applicants are required to submit additional paperwork which can be found at: Application Deadline: April 1 for International Students May 1 for Domestic Students

Dr. Praveen Kumar, Chair, Department of Finance Dr. Ramon Rabinovitch, MSF Director Annice Butler, Academic Advisor Marian Newman, Academic Advisor Dalia Pineda, Director of Student Services Adeline Garduno, MSF Admissions assistant Patricia Garza, MSF Admissions assistant Michelle Poullard, Director of Operations Significant People

Questions?? Thank you for attending our M.S. Finance Information Session