This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

For all those going to business school - why?

I am intrigued by the number of students here going to business school, and just ask if its worth it. I spoke to a WBS careers advisor the other day who basically said that when it comes to applying for jobs your degree doesnt matter once you get to the interview and assessment centre stage. Moreover, programmes like MSc Management say they are good for people with no experience, but all this careers person told me was that work experience is better, regardless. And these degrees only help you get onto grad schemes, not higher.

Therefore, is it worth the £20,000+ for Msc Management, Finance e.t.c courses. Afterall, most people getting into LSE, Imperial, Warwick, e.t.c have first or high 2:1's from top universities anyway and could probably get onto recruitment schemes.

I am intrigued to know your views for applying?

Reply 1

trachea

6

completely agree with you, but cant get a job in fund management atm and so can either take a second year out or do a masters, so porb will do the latter. other option is to fill second year out with meaningful work experience but theres no guarantees of getting anything so in the interim before i can apply have applied to MSc courses. but yeah in principle i agree with you but market conditions complicate things.....

Reply 2

danni_bella

17

I have a friend who's going to business school and she is going there because she has had lots of work experience, and wants to one day start her own business.

Reply 3

deldongo

Don’t think that going to a business school is necessarily a waste of time. While it is true that many employers seek grads from any discipline, many other firms appreciate and require business degree. I worked for a year in the marketing and sales UK office of a major car manufacturer, and I remember that every time there was an internal job advertisement for a managerial position a business-related degree was require.

In response to the question, yes the MSc Management from WBS would be useful as it would also open the doors of those firms were business degrees are valued.

Finally, if you're only interested in the financial sector most European banks and other financial services firms prefer degrees from top business school.

Reply 4

Original?

11

AfghanistanBananistan

I am intrigued by the number of students here going to business school, and just ask if its worth it. I spoke to a WBS careers advisor the other day who basically said that when it comes to applying for jobs your degree doesnt matter once you get to the interview and assessment centre stage. Moreover, programmes like MSc Management say they are good for people with no experience, but all this careers person told me was that work experience is better, regardless. And these degrees only help you get onto grad schemes, not higher.

Therefore, is it worth the £20,000+ for Msc Management, Finance e.t.c courses. Afterall, most people getting into LSE, Imperial, Warwick, e.t.c have first or high 2:1's from top universities anyway and could probably get onto recruitment schemes.

I am intrigued to know your views for applying?

Right now, that's generally not enough.

Reply 5

AfghanistanBananistan

OP

6

It is just that the impression i got from Warwick was that even if you went to a business school for a masters and did a Management or Finance degree, you would be far from guaranteed a job over other undergrads. Therefore, is it woth £20,000 to perhaps increase your chances, because most people are getting massive loans out to pay for it. For that money i would want a certainty.

I got the impression that it was going to WBS that would help you and their careers service and contacts, not the degree that you are doing. Therfore, bearing in mind alot of people on this forum already go to places like Warwick, Imperial, LSE and the like, surely spending £20,000 on extra curriculars (which they said was really important), ie travelling loads and taking up new things, would more more worth while? especially as according to them, no degree will ever replace work experience.

Reply 6

deldongo

AfghanistanBananistan

It is just that the impression i got from Warwick was that even if you went to a business school for a masters and did a Management or Finance degree, you would be far from guaranteed a job over other undergrads. Therefore, is it woth £20,000 to perhaps increase your chances, because most people are getting massive loans out to pay for it. For that money i would want a certainty.

I got the impression that it was going to WBS that would help you and their careers service and contacts, not the degree that you are doing. Therfore, bearing in mind alot of people on this forum already go to places like Warwick, Imperial, LSE and the like, surely spending £20,000 on extra curriculars (which they said was really important), ie travelling loads and taking up new things, would more more worth while? especially as according to them, no degree will ever replace work experience.

Even if I defend business degrees, I am not in favor of spending 20k in a MSc in Management. I think It may be better to spend that money as you said on getting those extra curriculars that will enable you to hopefully get onto a grad scheme and then later do an MBA.

Reply 7

ElemenT'

13

Having a masters from Warwick without the work experience to back it up won't make you anymore employable than an undergraduate. If anything slightly less because undergraduates have access to Internship possibilities in their 2nd year, and in this climate an Internship is essential to get on any half decent grad program regardless of where you went to University. What career do you intend to go into?

If I was you I would work for 1-2 years and then go for a Masters.

Reply 8

Original?

11

ElemenT'

Having a masters from Warwick without the work experience to back it up won't make you anymore employable than an undergraduate. If anything slightly less because undergraduates have access to Internship possibilities in their 2nd year, and in this climate an Internship is essential to get on any half decent grad program regardless of where you went to University. What career do you intend to go into?

If I was you I would work for 1-2 years and then go for a Masters.

Most internship schemes will accept students in the penultimate year of study, therefore a third year student planning to do a masters can also apply. The only reason they make this stipulation is so that you are available for the graduate intake the following year if they deem you acceptable.

Reply 9

evo_edd

ill be going to IC bs for MSc finance, reason im doing so is that Im coming from an average ranking uni and on target for a first, so i need to improve my career prospects by going to a better ranked uni to stand a fighting chance in getting into a MO or FO role against all the grads from the top uni's (even though i have had 2 internships and a years placement).

Also i plan to work in Hong kong and CHina in the future and the firms over there pay alot more emphasis on university ranking etc.

I agree the fees are high, but im still young and i can always earn this back anyday, but with the MSc i can at least get into the job market being more confident and knowing that i am more on par and can compete more equally with other grads from the prestigious unis, especially in todays climate.

thats my reason for doing so,

Reply 10

ILIGAN

9

AfghanistanBananistan

I am intrigued by the number of students here going to business school, and just ask if its worth it. I spoke to a WBS careers advisor the other day who basically said that when it comes to applying for jobs your degree doesnt matter once you get to the interview and assessment centre stage. Moreover, programmes like MSc Management say they are good for people with no experience, but all this careers person told me was that work experience is better, regardless. And these degrees only help you get onto grad schemes, not higher.

Therefore, is it worth the £20,000+ for Msc Management, Finance e.t.c courses. Afterall, most people getting into LSE, Imperial, Warwick, e.t.c have first or high 2:1's from top universities anyway and could probably get onto recruitment schemes.

I am intrigued to know your views for applying?

It totally depends upon your current financial situation.

If you have the money to shell out the school fees and the related fees, which are quite high especially at elite schools like Warwick, LSE and the like, then taking an MSc Management instead of going to work would be the more preferable choice.

If you're kind of tight at the moment, I would suggest that you work right after you college degree and do good at it. After 5 years, you can pursue an MBA at the school of your choice. If you can get into a top American business school (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Haas, Kellogg, to name a few), that would be better as your horizon will expand immensely when you'll live in other countries and you'll meet many smart students coming from other parts of the world who are just as smart or even smarter than you are.

For all those going to business school - why?

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you