Cambridge MPhil in Finance and Economics 2014 Entry

Hi,

I have not seen a thread for Cambridge MFE 2014 Entry so I hope we can start one together. I think, last year thread for this program was very useful reading.

Good luck with your application to all of you :smile:

PS! Have anyone received an offer yet?

(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1

Manau

Hi Guys,

I have also applied in late November, same status as for casusa. I have been checking the portal every day hoping for an update, no luck so far. Looks like the course is getting really competitive..

Would you mind sharing your profiles?

Reply 2

Manau

Original post by casusa

Nice to see that I'm not the only one waiting. According to last year thread, it I looks like we have to wait another 1-2 weeks before any updates :s-smilie:

PS! I saw your profile, it should be more than strong enough :smile:

I don't think they will look at specific courses, unless it is one of the ones they listed in their requirements.

Hi casusa! Have you applied anywhere else? I have not, and I know that this is simply stupid but I cannot find a similar course which I would like as much as the one in Cambridge.. :smile:

Reply 3

Manau

Good luck with your applications!

I find LSE too expensive and living in London with a tight student budget does not sound fun, so I will not be applying.

Would you mind sharing your profile? I am also thinking about some European schools like Rotterdam and St Gallen :smile:

Reply 4

Sampsy

I was wondering if anybody could offer me some advice. I made my application back in November (around the 22nd) and its current status is "Under Consideration by Degree Committee" just like everybody else it seems. However I have come to realise that my response to section "Section A(12): Research Title or Reason for Applying" was pretty poor in my application. I hadn't applied to any masters programs before and had no guidance at the time of writing it. I was confused about whether I needed to include a research proposal or not so in the end I just went with my reasons for applying. Now I realise a research proposal should make up at least part of the response to the section and I do have a great topic that I am really interested in. Right now I am fairly confident that if I could modify this section it would help my application. However because I have submitted the application already I can't modify the section, so I have no way to convey that I do indeed have a good research proposal.

I emailed grad admissions about it, thinking that nobody would have seen the application yet so perhaps I could modify it I and got a response saying "It is not possible to amend /delete your application or supporting documents after you have submitted them." I wasn't particularly surprised by this as it probably is a bit unfair to allow one applicant to modify their application when it isn't normally possible to do so. I then asked if they thought it was worth withdrawing my application and applying again, hoping to get some advice from somebody in the know and got this response: "It is not possible to amend /delete your application or supporting documents after you have submitted them.If you wish you may upload a document via the self-service account under category “Correspondence (Pre-decision)” stating any subsequent corrections".

So right now I am trying to decide whether I should upload a "Correspondence (Pre-decision)" document or to withdraw my application and reapply. I'm unsure why they said "It is not possible to amend /delete your application..." as you can withdraw your application within the self service page. I'm also unsure whether the degree committee would even look at an extra document, let alone take it into account in their decision process. Does anybody have any suggestions? The deadline is 31st Jan so if I am reapplying I need to do it soon.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

Manau

Original post by Sampsy

Hi there, I also have submitted the reason for applying for the course and not the research proposal, I would think that many people do the same as if grads want to do PhD in Econ, they do pure Masters in Econ and same applies to Finance. I hope this is not going to decrease the chances of my application.

If I were you I would just leave it how it is indeed.

Would you mind sharing your profile just out of interest? Would like to have an understanding of what type of people typically apply.

Good luck!

Reply 6

Sampsy

Original post by Manau

Would you mind sharing your profile just out of interest? Would like to have an understanding of what type of people typically apply.Good luck!

I graduated last year from UEA with a first in Economics & 70.9% in my final year. I took optional modules in Mathematical Economics and did very well in Industrial Organisation in my final year (I think the best in the year) where I got 85.15% while the average mark was something around 40%. I don't know what percentile of my class I am in however.

Reply 7

Manau

By the way, I have got this feeling that they will start sending offers and rejections to people after the deadline of application only. What do you think? I want to get the reply ASAP, as I have been very silly and have not applied anywhere else so far.

Reply 8

DreamingWL

Hi Sampsy,

if I recall correctly, the status "Under Consideration by Degree Committee" means that you are almost certainly in.

Good luck!

Reply 9

Sampsy

Hopefully we hear something soonish yeah. It seems that I was wrong and that you don't need to mention anything about a research proposal.

Reply 10

teddyyuan

Original post by casusa

A few offers for MPhil Economic Research so hopefully we will hear somethng soon :smile:

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

Any good news today?

Reply 11

Sampsy

Original post by teddyyuan

Any good news today?

Doesn't look like it. Interesting that there is less activity here than last year. The first post on the 25th January last year was the 37th post in the thread, while mine is the 21st. I wonder if that means they are getting less applications this year or if it is merely coincidence.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 12

Sampsy

Original post by casusa

No news

When did you apply?

It is a committee meeting on Monday, maybe that will speed up the process.

Well last year around now is when offers / messages started going out.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2204991&page=3

Reply 13

Sampsy

Original post by casusa

That is why I had hoped to see some changes in camSIS today...hopefully next week :smile:

Yeah hopefully although I imagine that it is after the 31st when everything really starts moving.

Reply 14

teddyyuan

Original post by casusa

No news

When did you apply?

It is a committee meeting on Monday, maybe that will speed up the process.

what is the meeting for? I submitted my application in November. Did any one of you apply for LSE MSc finance? I have heard that this is a really good programme; and I not sure whether it is better than the Cambridge Mphil finance and Mphil Econ finance. Any suggestion?

Reply 15

violinist93

Original post by teddyyuan

the cambridge mphil finance requires at least 2 years work experience. as for which better, neither appear in the league tables so it's difficult to tell...

Reply 16

sj27

Original post by casusa

It depends on what you want to do after, they are all great programmes. If you want to continue to do a PhD after you may want to try to get into Cambridge MPhil Finance. If you are seeking a career in Finance you may find LSE more helpful as they arrange a lot of events and career fairs that will make it easier for you to get in touch with potential employers. At Cambridge you would have to do this work yourself.

.

Who told you that? That's nonsense. LSE probably has more, but it's untrue to say Cam have none.

Edit: indeed, you may find this of interest:

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/10/20/education/20iht-SReducEmploy20-graphic.html?ref=education

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 17

sj27

Original post by casusa

Sorry for my English, I didn't mean none. I know students both at Cambridge and LSE, and I prefer Cambridge myself. I have studied and lived in London for 3 years and I know that LSE has very strong relation with city and the financial industry.

This is from the LSE MSc Finance:

"Throughout the programme, students are given access to a range of practitioners; in class, via the programme’s vibrant alumni network and more widely through the LSE Careers Service and events programme.

Many of our graduates look to join Analyst programmes at major investment banks. Other students have joined consultancies, boutique firms, hedge funds, asset management firms, start-ups or have gone on to further study. This programme is not a suitable preparation for the PhD Finance at LSE (see MSc Finance and Economics)."

This is from Cambrige MPhil n Finance:
"The programme provides research-led teaching and is particularly suitable for those intending to continue to a PhD. "

If it is "particularly suitable for those intending to continue to a PhD", there is obviosly no reason for spending a lot of time on career related activities.

I am not arguing that Cambridge as a world leading university is less attractive to the industry than LSE, but that the two finance programmes have sligtly different focus when it comes to graduate destinations.

On the other hand...

Those students who have gone into industry have secured an impressive range of position in organisations such as:

Bain & Co.
Barclays Capital
Cazenove
CIBC World Markets
CitiGroup
Credit Suisse
Deloitte
Deutsche Bank
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
Enbridge Inc.
Ernst & Young
Gartmore Investment Management
Goldman Sachs
IBM
JP Morgan
KPMG
LEK Consulting
Lehman Brothers
McKinseys
Merrill Lynch
Morgan Stanley
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
PSG Group
Rothschild
Royal Bank of Scotland
UBS
Warburg
Watson Wyatt
The World Bank

....from another bit of the MPhil finance website...

In any case whether either university you should be careful relying on their own publicity. That was why that link, showing Cambridge is the fourth most popular uni in the world for companies to recruit from, was useful. The point was the way you phrased it originally made it sound like they did nothing to help their graduates find jobs, which is far from the case. Someone here who did a masters in a relatively tangential field (not a classic entry route into finance at all) still had access to an impressive range of City firms during Cam careers fairs and has landed a job there.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 18

sj27

Original post by casusa

PS! LSE has a large alumni network of Finance graduates, including exchange and executive participants. I work in finance in Europe and my experience is that I am more likely to meet some who have studied finance at LSE rather than Cambridge outside of the UK....just sharing my own experience, still hoping for Cambridge :smile:

Interesting, as the majority of people from IBs I know from the top 3 are Oxbridge graduates. Maybe they just have the LSE guys doing the hard work and send the Oxbridge grads out to do marketing :biggrin:

Of course that is not just finance grads and not just postgrad degree holders either that I have met. It goes without saying for finance masters degree holders in particular that if the LSE class is so much bigger you'll meet more, especially as they have the part-time option too.

As to your other question, I'm an economist who got a bit bored with the field/more interested in political economy angles and am currently studying IR at Cam. But with a previous masters in financial economics I like to keep abreast of what's happening in these threads anyway :smile:

Reply 19

violinist93