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Maastricht university or Paris dauphine for master in Finance?

Hellow guys...

Im trying to choose the right master for me.. A bit of backgroung... Im Spanish male..studied in London, got a First class from a non top uk uni... got some summer internships in middle office departments and got 1 year experience in banking as fund policy controller...

I took bloody GMAT and got 600 so even though was meeting the minimum req from Rotterdam I got rejected... So since I didnt wanted to pay such a high master prices/study in uk again... I applied to other options... I applied and got accepted to Maastricht master in financial economics and to Paris Dauphine master 203...

I have been doing some research about Maastricht and seems a good option, just one year and positioned well in some rankings... cheap and mix of economics and finance that can make it appealing.. but perhaps not such a good name and im afraid of ending up working in the netherlands in a basic finance department position. On the other hand I have also seen that a Paris dauphine has a really good curriculum for trading and internship is mandatory which nowadays can be very helpful... but total time is 2 years plus living in Paris is m expensive and perhaps not as nice as living in cute bicycle holland.

So guys... trying to get my careers options high... and couting that ill be willing to leave my good life in Spain but for a good top job... and that I do speak french and I do speak basic dutch since I have lived there for couple of years.... What u think will be best choice for me in terms of reputation... conections... internationality... If ill be willing to get a job in banking?

Thanks a lot
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 1
well given the popularity of the replies... maybe i should even consider wether either of them are good enough :smile:
Reply 2
Paris dauphine isn't really known for finance.
Maastricht is definitely not a target school,at all.
Why can't you just get an MBA at a Business school in france?
All the top tier are target schools in France and would open up doors in England as well.
Reply 3
resit your gmat get 650+ and reapply next year to better schools? I got into RMS with 680
Reply 4
Don't know about London but Maastricht is well regarded in IB in Germany and probably also Holland
Reply 5
Original post by facdroit
Paris dauphine isn't really known for finance.
Maastricht is definitely not a target school,at all.
Why can't you just get an MBA at a Business school in france?
All the top tier are target schools in France and would open up doors in England as well.


Sorry, first statement is arguably not true.
Paris dauphine is well known for finance...
Obviously HEC, ESCP, ESSEC, EMLyon are on a different tier but Dauphine is very close if not on par with some of them and definitely the best public school for finance with regard to finance.

I'd suggest dauphine hands down because of the city, school and because you speak the language better than dutch.
Reply 6
Original post by Euribor
Sorry, first statement is arguably not true.
Paris dauphine is well known for finance...
Obviously HEC, ESCP, ESSEC, EMLyon are on a different tier but Dauphine is very close if not on par with some of them and definitely the best public school for finance with regard to finance.

I'd suggest dauphine hands down because of the city, school and because you speak the language better than dutch.


Oh yeah great city as long as you don't mind living in a cupboard for 500 euros a month and have to take a 1 hour train ride each day to the uni.

Dauphine is the equivalent of Nottingham in the UK.
Finance; go to a business school. Your CV might get looked at but only if you graduate in the top 5 in your class otherways you still have chances but they are the same as if you went to any other non target.

Maastricht is an english university as is Bocconi.
Oh yeah OP look at Bocconi; its a target in Italy and if you get an analyst stint in Italy you can do the transition to London much easier.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 7
Maastricht isn't cheap either (w.r.t to rent) and is a sleepy student town. Besides, I wasn't only referencing the night life but also internship opportunities in Paris.
I'm aware that graduate (and undergraduate) classes are held in English but it obviously helps nonetheless if you speak the local language. Most of the expat students in Maastricht are German and the Dutch keep to themselves obviously more if you don't speak the language.
Whatever...those were my reasons and this is obviously a personal choice...hence why I brought up my points.

(and I've seen more Dauphine graduates in IB than Nottingham tbh but that's absolutely subjective and irrelevant)
Reply 8
Well the thing is that is not Paris dauphine but Master203 of Paris dauphine... it has really good modules and its really focused on trading... whereas Maastricht is more general based. (monetary policy etc)

I supposed dauphine will be on the lowest part of first tier... and maastricht would be on the top of the second tier... What was making me concern aswell is the length of the study 2 years versus 1... also in holland u can get student finance and in paris just the accomodation support as far as i am concern.

Maastricht does have some banks visiting but mainly dutch german or benelux banks.... Who knows, perhaps is an option to enter in Ib through a less competitive country compared to UK ...

Dauphine on the other hand has a mandatory internship as part of the program and they claim that 80% of the students got internships in top banks.

To be honest guys... what i really wud like to do is to get a job in an asian country and from there move to London NY HK etc... I have been living in Thailand and im planning a trip this summer to Philipines and is really hard to come back to somehow boring Europe afterwards... I did look at some business schools in Asia but were too expensive and was unsure of wether this countries prefer graduates with a master in europe or in asia...
So... Internationality wud be a point to consider for me given that I wanna keep my chances open to maybe enter in asian market...
Reply 9
Dauphine (Master 203) is right up there with HEC, ESSEC, ESCP if you want a trading job in France. There is preference in financial engineering roles for people from the likes of Dauphine, ENSAE, Mines de Nancy over those from business schools.

For trading jobs in the UK, the HEC / ESSEC brand will probably get you further at a non-French bank, though there are invariably many people who start out on long-term internships from Dauphine at BNP, SG, Credit Agricole etc. who then transfer to London.
Reply 10
Original post by effofex
Dauphine (Master 203) is right up there with HEC, ESSEC, ESCP if you want a trading job in France. There is preference in financial engineering roles for people from the likes of Dauphine, ENSAE, Mines de Nancy over those from business schools.

For trading jobs in the UK, the HEC / ESSEC brand will probably get you further at a non-French bank, though there are invariably many people who start out on long-term internships from Dauphine at BNP, SG, Credit Agricole etc. who then transfer to London.


Stats do look pretty good
http://www.master203.com/news.html#actu_147

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