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HELP!!!MSc in Finance at ICMA, Strathclyde or Durham

Hi everyone, I got offers at the following universities:

ICMA: MSc international securities and banking
Strathclyde: MSc international banking and finance
Durham: MSc international banking and finance

Give me your personal opinion on these universities and courses.
On one hand I like the way the ICMA center's portfolio of courses is structured, it seems that has good potential, but on the other, is it worth all those money??

Durham and Strathclyde have too very interesting courses and their costs are way cheaper.
What I am looking for at the end of the course is to join some investment banks, possibly in London.

Which one would you suggest me to go to and why?

Cheers
Reply 1
ICMA is the business school of Reading University. As a university is not good but as a business school you definitely can say that is one of the good one in UK. Of course is not Oxford, Cam, Imperial's Business School or Cass but it is good. Also, the location is good, near London. I am not sure if it has strong relations with the industry but I guess that some companies and organizations started recognize that is good.

About the other two I am not sure about their courses but as a universities are better than Reading, especially Durham which in my opinion is one of the good.

If you are able to pay 18000 why not studying at Cass which has its location in the business area? It is much better and has better reputation. Or why not Imperial?

Could you please share your profile? and what about your offers? are they conditionals?
Reply 2
I am Italian and I am about to finish a bachelor degree in business management with a score of 105 or 107/110. I have strong recommendations and work experiences (not in the financial field though) in Australia and in my country. Next month I will do the TOEFL and according to the mock exams I should be around the score of 107.
I would like to go at Cass but the problem is that i don't have the GMAT. What are the chances of being admitted with my profile, and what is their average GMAT score?
I got all conditional offers for the TOEFL and at least 105/110 as my graduation final score.
Reply 3
Original post by david088
I am Italian and I am about to finish a bachelor degree in business management with a score of 105 or 107/110. I have strong recommendations and work experiences (not in the financial field though) in Australia and in my country. Next month I will do the TOEFL and according to the mock exams I should be around the score of 107.
I would like to go at Cass but the problem is that i don't have the GMAT. What are the chances of being admitted with my profile, and what is their average GMAT score?
I got all conditional offers for the TOEFL and at least 105/110 as my graduation final score.


In my opinion, you have a good chances to have a place at Cass. I am not the 100% right person to answer that but it seems that you have strong undergraduate degree. I know some guys who got an offer for MSc in Finance at Cass this year and their offer is a 2.1 ,above 60%, in their degree and GMAT above 600.

In case that you don't have enough time to do GMAT apply for something else or choose ICMA only because is near London and close to the city. Good Luck!!
Reply 4
hey,
I got an offer from durham,edinburgh and cass (MSc investment Management) as well. would you also consider Cass more than Durham if it is not the MSc Finance Program?
Is it really worth to spend twice the fees of durham and have exorbitant living costs in London? (40k euros against about 22k in durham)...
Does Cass provide much better job opportunities than durham?
So far, I heard durham is a very traditional and also recognized business school whereas Cass is part of city university which has not a good reputation.
I would be glad to receive your comments.
Reply 5
Original post by cmadre
hey,
I got an offer from durham,edinburgh and cass (MSc investment Management) as well. would you also consider Cass more than Durham if it is not the MSc Finance Program?
Is it really worth to spend twice the fees of durham and have exorbitant living costs in London? (40k euros against about 22k in durham)...
Does Cass provide much better job opportunities than durham?
So far, I heard durham is a very traditional and also recognized business school whereas Cass is part of city university which has not a good reputation.
I would be glad to receive your comments.


I believe that Cass provides much better opportunities than Durham! Especially in London. The MSc in Investment Management is really good and very strong. I had some friends who have done this master last year, two of them are working in the industry, one in KPMG and the other in CItigroup (investment). Also you have the opportunity to cover materials for CFA LEVEL 1.

Yes Durham is a traditional university. My opinion is that Durham is like KCL; very good universities for academic purposes but not enough practical for the industry.
Reply 6
I also need to make that tough choice between Durham (MSc Finance and Investment) and Cass (MSc Banking and International Finance) Having checked the course specifics I do believe Cass is the better course. But the difference money wise is staggering in the other direction.. 13000 pounds difference just for the program, not to mention living expenses for london compared to durham... Are the career prospects really that different? I just cant seem to be able to decide.

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