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MSc Finance Ranking 2011

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Reply 40
Original post by prospectivEEconomist
Compare the career prospects after an MBA and a Masters...need I say more?

Every university offers a Masters in Finance and any dick and tom can get into a top university like LSE/Imperial for a Masters provided they have a decent 2.1. For a top MBA you need excellent work experience at a top company, in addition to a high GMAT/academic grades. Not to mention the MBA interviews/application is much more tougher and rigorous.


Experienced people also do an MFIN and in top universities in US is as difficult to get in as if u were applying for an MBA. Is a matter of preference and career spin. And by the way, I doubt if just kind having a 2.1 can finish quant MFIN like Imperial, Princton or MIT. Going for an msc finance doesn't mean that you don't have the qualifications do go for an MBA. That was in the defense of people you have experience and qualifications and still prefare to an MFIN. :smile:
Original post by DrPhs
Experienced people also do an MFIN and in top universities in US is as difficult to get in as if u were applying for an MBA. Is a matter of preference and career spin. And by the way, I doubt if just kind having a 2.1 can finish quant MFIN like Imperial, Princton or MIT. Going for an msc finance doesn't mean that you don't have the qualifications do go for an MBA. That was in the defense of people you have experience and qualifications and still prefare to an MFIN. :smile:


MSc finance is NO WAY equivalent to the MFin programmes at Berkley and so forth. MSc Finance at Imperial will NOT prepare you for a quant role; Berkeley MFin will! And yes I am on a borderline 2.1/1 and I got into Imperial MSc Finance. LBS MFin is the best Finance programme in UK by far, and is a league above LSE and Imperial.
Reply 42
Original post by prospectivEEconomist
MSc finance is NO WAY equivalent to the MFin programmes at Berkley and so forth. MSc Finance at Imperial will NOT prepare you for a quant role; Berkeley MFin will! And yes I am on a borderline 2.1/1 and I got into Imperial MSc Finance. LBS MFin is the best Finance programme in UK by far, and is a league above LSE and Imperial.


Good for you m8. Yes, they take a lot of those kids with 1st class bachelor degree. U should maybe work for 3 of years and then go for an MBA. But oops I don't know ur career plan so I can't give advice like that! :smile:
Reply 43
and by the way Berkley doen't have a master in finance only master in financial engineering which is by far the best in the world.
Original post by DrPhs
Good for you m8. Yes, they take a lot of those kids with 1st class bachelor degree. U should maybe work for 3 of years and then go for an MBA. But oops I don't know ur career plan so I can't give advice like that! :smile:


You do realise the MSc Finance class will be 99% recent graduates, right? I've decided to work in management consulting at Hewitt for a few years before I embark on an MBA.
Original post by prospectivEEconomist
MSc finance is NO WAY equivalent to the MFin programmes at Berkley and so forth. MSc Finance at Imperial will NOT prepare you for a quant role; Berkeley MFin will! And yes I am on a borderline 2.1/1 and I got into Imperial MSc Finance. LBS MFin is the best Finance programme in UK by far, and is a league above LSE and Imperial.


Not exactly true. 95% of all the quants at i-banks usually have PhDs, however you have some with MSc only.
It will depend on your grounding in Maths. If you're a theoretical physics/maths undergraduate + MSc in Finance, it is possible to be a quant in an i-bank. BSc in Economics/ Finance + MSc in Finance won't cut it I'm afraid.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 46
Original post by student_london
Not exactly true. 95% of all the quants at i-banks usually have PhDs, however you have some with MSc only.
It will depend on your grounding in Maths. If you're a theoretical physics/maths undergraduate + MSc in Finance, it is possible to be a quant in an i-bank. BSc in Economics/ Finance + MSc in Finance won't cut it I'm afraid.


That's true. It is amazing how all these quant jobs ask for a PhD in the fields you already mentioned. You need high qualifications to make the 200k top IBs pay for a quant position. You just need to get the right background with a good MSc to support your candidacy+any relevant job experience.
yes but MSc Finance will give alot more grounding to those who are actually interested in finance. To be honest the reason i am doing it is to:

1) enjoy the experience+ network

2) get a shot at bulge bracket recruitment again.

3) everyone has a masters so it becomes more competitive to get onto top MBA programs, or good positions to do so.

4) many other things. + I always have my job to fall back on.

Basically if you can afford the money, you can't really go wrong taking 1 year after a 3 year undergraduate to complete masters. Afterall in America the study period is 4 years anyhow!!!.
Original post by prospectivEEconomist
Hey why go for a MSc Finance if you've done a finance bachelors? Surely the modules taught in MSc Finance will be the same as its a course designed for anyone? you should really think about an MBA like I am at the moment (got a job at hewitt consulting which should prepare me well for an mba)


Thats true about the modules. I think thats why I got the scholarship from warwick, they give it to people who they think will graduate in the top 20%. Part of the reason is was because I liked the idea of me doing a PhD. However, after thinking about it i dont think I'll be doing that just cos I'm not too sure about the dissertation component. The masters is gonna allow to me to go further with my study.
I'm not a fan of the course content of an MBA, it doesnt excite me. My first career goal is to become a trader. Now I know a masters my not be the best route in, but cos I wanna work for a BB (idealy) going to a top 5 school is gonna at the very least help, obviously its still gonna be hard. MBAs are better for corpfin roles, not for trading/strucuring roles cos they can be more tehcnical positions.
I've got a couple of possible asset management positions in the pipe line (probably will not come to any thing, but you never know), so if Iget a bit of work exp in FO then I'll do my masters and then avoid any more full/part time education. I dont fully agree with doing an MBA and a masters cos I do feel working your way up is the best way to go.
Hello guys.
Just looking for a bit of advice on the MSc in mathematical trading & finance at Cass. I have been working in the City in trading and trading type roles for ten years but took redundancy recently. I have been seriously looking at this course since then, thinking that its technical content, and Cass's connections with the City would make me well placed to get back into a bank/fund in a trading role. Is it true though that this course does NOT successfully get people into this type of role though? It's a lot of money to end up no better placed than you were beforehand!
Thoughts appreciated . . .
Marcus
If you're already a trader, you probably won't learn much on the course.
Thanks PE. This may come as a shock to you, but:
1) there are a lot of different types of traders out there;
and
2) there are plenty of traders out there who don't know the first thing about financial econometrics, quantitative analysis and so forth. I have worked with lots of them.
Just so you're aware!
Marcus
If you're on it or have done it though, please drop me a PM if you get a chance . . . thanks
Reply 53
Hi
Im italian..i got an offer for an MSc Finance at Bocconi and Cass! My goal is to reach a s&t position in an IB so what do you think has a better reputation and good chance to get a job? I was looking for the mathematical and trading course at cass as well!
Gertar, the more research I do the more it seems that the Cass course certainly doesn't guarantee that sort of a role. Not sure if you've seen anything to suggest otherwise?
Reply 55
Do i need GRE or GMAT for MSC Finance or Supply chain Management in LSE ?

PLUS .. i dont need any work experience or do i ?

ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME ... !!
Reply 56
hey guys.

I have a question. I get my masters now from University of Westminster with a distinction in a Msc Investment & Risk Finance.

I am struggling to find a job in an investment bank or in an asset management firm. That's I was thinking to pursue a second master in Finance from a more recognisable university.

Cranfield accepted me for a MSc Finance & Management. What is your opinion for doing a second master at this uni. I have only 1 year work experience and not in UK.

Thanks
Reply 57
Original post by prospectivEEconomist
Compare the career prospects after an MBA and a Masters...need I say more?

Every university offers a Masters in Finance and any dick and tom can get into a top university like LSE/Imperial for a Masters provided they have a decent 2.1. For a top MBA you need excellent work experience at a top company, in addition to a high GMAT/academic grades. Not to mention the MBA interviews/application is much more tougher and rigorous.


I think you are seriously misguided.

For a start, check Said's average GMAT scores for admitted MFE students vs MBA. They are significantly lower for MBA students. This is common. An MBA is a lot of work, but it is just not as academically rigorous as a Masters in Finance (or Economics). This is also why no reputable university will accept an MBA as being a "masters" for the purposes of entry into a PhD program (obviously if you want to do a DBA it's different).

Second, it is very unusual to actually get into say the LSE MSc without a first. It is far easier to get into just about any MBA than the comparable MSc from an academic perspective. Work experience does not need to be at a "top company" either, even for the top MBAs globally (which are all in the US by the way - Harvard, Wharton, Stern, etc).

Third, and most importantly, the degrees are designed for very different things. An MBA is designed for people who want to be in general management, whereas finance degrees are designed for specialists. If you want to spend your time doing the compulsory modules like organisation strategy and marketing that MBAs have, go for it, but in my opinion these are just a waste of time.

Finally, I presume your intentions have changed since you chose your "prospective economist" username. No-one is seriously going to consider you for a job like that with an MBA rather than an economics or even finance masters.

Your "career prospects" are clearly different, though actually I think you are again misguided if you think an MBA is superior. It opens different doors. Also if you compare placement salaries afterwards you are comparing those with people who already have experience (MBAs) to those who probably don't (MSc); you need to go another 10 or 15 years down the line to do a proper comparison. Do you have those numbers?

I know a lot of people earning an incredible amount of money in IB. Those who have MBAs are in the minority. At the end of the day what you earn is about you, not which three letters you have behind your name.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 58
I think tha cass has better course in finance than lse ,imperial, warwick and cranfield. But lse, imperial, Warwick have better name as universities. My opinion!:smile:
Reply 59
How many chances do I have to do a master degree with a BSc in business management?? They told me tha is necessary to have a bachelor in finance. Is that true?

Thx

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