Before finishing his college education, Connor Hamilton knew he wanted to pursue a career in investment banking. He also was convinced that his degree in finance and marketing wouldn’t get him there.

“Coming out of my undergrad, I did not have the opportunities that Vanderbilt has given me,” says the native of Burnham, England. “There were no alumni in banking, nor were the career services staff [at my school] capable of walking me through the IB recruitment process.”

Connor says he chose Vanderbilt’s MS Finance program for five reasons: its employment record, its ranking, the Vanderbilt name, the fact that “it was less quantitative than other programs,” and its location in Nashville. (Perhaps the last criterion is especially meaningful, given that Connor has visited approximately 50 countries all over the world.)

Upon completing the MSF program, Connor looks forward to joining Deutsche Bank’s Houston office as an investment banker specializing in the oil and gas industry. “I am a thousand times more prepared for being successful in my career than before,” he says. “I am now a much more accomplished and polished individual.

“[Coming to Vanderbilt] was the best decision of my life. I knew the program would get me the job I wanted. But I didn’t realize how much fun I would have and also how many great friends and contacts I would make.”

Fun Fact: Connor played four years on the golf team at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“I knew the program would get me the job I wanted. But I didn’t realize how much fun I would have.”