Msc Quant. Finance at CASS or Financial Mathematics at KCL

Hi,

I have offers from both unis but i'm really not sure which one to go for
Msc Quantitative Finance at CASS
or
Msc Financial Mathematics at King's

which would be better in terms of career prospects after graduating? The only thing I know is Cass has good links within the field, but i'm not entirely sure on KCL's position.

Also which is likely to be ranked higher in terms of the courses?

If it helps I did Mathematics and Finance at City.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks.

Reply 1

student_london

Depends what you want in terms of your career. If you're thinking of becoming a hardcore quant and get a Phd afterwards, KCL might be the better option. It's a more rigorous, theoretical program and a better preparation for quant finance.
However, if you're looking to become a trader, structurer, etc... then CASS should be sufficient. The point I'm trying to make is that CASS is more 'applied'.

Reply 2

abs35

Thanks, for the quick reply.
I'm not really aiming towards a Phd. I would ideally like an analyst role
For job offers would the lack of applied knowledge from king's be much of a hinderence?

Looking at the course content from both they seem quite similar, and job prospects (as seen on their websites) seem to be in the same fields too. though kcl doesn't go into as much detail as Cass does.

How ever another issue is from what i can see of the Cass course it looks like I have covered about half of it already in my undergrad and i'm not entirely sure if that would be a benefit or not.

Thanks again.

Reply 3

ntaoussanis

You cannot compare KCL and CASS! KCL is in a different league and you would be silly to go elsewhere. The theoretical vs. applied argument misses a very key point. Companies want to see that you have the brains to do the job and universities act like a screening process. Whatever 'practical' skills you learn at CASS, you will learn in 3-6 months on the job after KCL.

I argue that Universities are for Theory, your Job will be for Practical.

Reply 4

student_london

OK, but let's face for hardcore quant, KCL is just not good enough regardless of its reputation. I hardly know any quant, who's been to KCL. It's a good program, but let's not get carried away.