re: MS in Finance?

I enjoyed the MS program but would suggest a target MBA over it. Then again, you're generally needing experience for good target admittance, so that may not be an option. If your GPA is mediocre you might benefit from the additional body of work. Have you networked well? IB ops are only so numerous, we don't have nearly enough alumni in it.

Different firms look at MS programs differently. I don't think the ROI would be high at a Tulane. That's a lot of money that's not going to automatically put you over the top over a sharp undergrad from a mid-target up. The LSU MS is fairly inexpensive, it does have that going for it. If you didn't find a job that would also give you some extra time to network and pass L1. I would splurge for a target MBA, but not any MS program, anywhere.

I lucked into an IB that thought highly of the MS. Coupled with having done IA in undergrad, quality experience, and being personable, I won over some Ivy talent. Things depend. I don't want to give you block advice. If your primary question is "is it worth the student debt to go to a Tulane/Vandy/WashU," though I would say no. That just has more to do with the fact that the MS only means so much to people. This trend may change in time, but prospective employers would rather see something like L1 going on 2 in the bank. Those are more uniform benchmarks.