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Durham, Aston, Bristol. Will I make the right choice ?

Hi !

I finished my Bsc in Economics and Management in a foreign country and I am totally uncertain about what to accept or not in UK.
My life-goal is to work in the financial sector.

I made application nearly everywhere in UK and currently I have 3 answers and still waiting some.

I have unconditionnal offers at :

Durham Business School : MA Financial Management
Bristol UWE : Msc Money, Banking and Finance

I have conditionnal offer at :

Aston Business School : Msc Investment Analysis.

I am considering taking the offer of Durham because I am not accepted at Henley (Reading) and Cranfield. I am taking the FT Business School ranking into consideration. As Durham is the best ranked in my current possibilities I think it's the best way. What do you think ?

I am still waiting Bradford (Msc: Finance, Accounting and Management) , Birmingham(Msc International Banking, Money and Finance), Southampton(Msc international Banking and financial studies), Leeds(Msc International finance) and Nottingham(MA Finance and Investment)

I would like to precise that even if I want to work in the financial sector I am not against doing a Master this year, working 2 years to discover more financial fields and retake a more specialized master after.

So do you think I should accept Durham's offer without waiting the other offers to secure an accomodation or would you wait if you were me ?

Thank's.

Nobody ?

I think that you must accept Durham's offer.From the other universities you are accepted or waiting answer ,only Nottingham is equal to Durham.In my opinion the rest of them are not of the same quality.Maybe Aston Business School is good too , but as a university Aston is not so respected.So, if you want to risk it wait for Nottingham ,but if I were you i would pick Durham indefinitely.

Reply 3

milkiway

Ok thank you very much. I accepted but I am still considering Aston as the program seems to be really interesting. It is really difficult as Aston is offering me a possible way to trading and it's a dream for me. Moreover there is no available accommodation at Durham which is a big problem for me I have to admit it.

Reply 4

AATTMM

Which college have you applied to at Durham? Ustinov has a very large international community, so it'd be a shame if they had no accommo for you

Reply 5

milkiway

I applied to Ustinov. I really would like to experiment the college life so I'm disappointed. Also as a postgrad I think that life on campus is easier to work and access all the facilities.

Reply 6

RadioElectric

milkiway

If the course interests you more at Aston I'd go for it. I always thought Aston was supposed to be quite highly regarded for business-related stuff.

Reply 7

ElemenT'

Aston Business School is good. Certainly leagues ahead of Durham in this area. Durham/Bristol have a stronger University rep, but Aston Business School is better.

Reply 8

greek

ElemenT'

Aston Business School is good. Certainly leagues ahead of Durham in this area. Durham/Bristol have a stronger University rep, but Aston Business School is better.

Leagues ahead???? :biggrin:

You can't be serious!

For the OP , the accommodation is not a very big problem.If you can't find college accommodation,leaving out is much cheaper and in such a small town you will be near colleges and university,so you won't lose the college life!

Reply 9

milkiway

Hey,

Update of today :
Unconditionnal offer for Bradford in the MSc Finance, Accounting, Management.

I think I'll stay with my offer of Durham as the FT ranks it 28th in European Business School. I don't know if it's the best way to choose but I really want to find a job after the master and as I said why not taking back my studies 2 years after and try to enter LBS or something like that. So you all say that Durham will have the best reputation all of my offers ?

Reply 10

AATTMM

I'd certainly imagine so, and yeah, don't worry about accommodation - you'll find something at least =)

Reply 11

RadioElectric

greek

Leagues ahead???? :biggrin:

There doesn't seem to be much between them.

From their websites:

Financial Times Global MBA 2009

Aston:

* 11th in England
* 12th in UK
* 21st in Europe
* 77th in World
* 20th in World for “value for money”
* 27th in World for “career progress”
* 20th in World for “international experience”
* 99% salary increase
* 100% employed at three months

Durham

* 80th in the world, 22nd in Europe and 13th in the UK
* 20th in the world for career progress and 6th in the UK
* 8th in the world for FT Research
* 12th in the UK for Weighted Salary

Financial Times European Business Schools 2008

Aston

Top 50 in Europe

(I checked and it was 47th)

Durham

* 28th in Europe
* 11th in the UK

Economist Which MBA 2008

Aston

* 12th in England
* 13th in UK
* 24th in Europe
* 61st in World
* 1st in World for Student Diversity

Durham

* 65th in the world
* 26th in Europe
* 15th in the UK
* 38th in the world for personal development and education experience

Financial Times Masters in Management 2008

Aston

* 3rd in UK
* 18th in World
* 1st in World for “careers”
* 2nd in England and 20th in World for “value for money”
* 2nd in England and 26th in World for “international course experience”
* 76% employed at three months
* Top 10 in World for International Business; Corporate Strategy; Marketing

Durham

34th in world and 5th in the UK. Ranked 3rd in the UK for Value for Money and 3rd in the world for Best in General Management

The Times Good University Guide 2008

Aston

6th for Business(Aston Business School has featured in the Times Top 10 seven times in last eight years)

(25th overall)

Durham

8th position overall

(But 19th for business)

The Complete University Guide 2009

Aston

6th for Business Studies

2010: 13th overall, 6th for business

Durham

5th position overall

2010: 5th overall, 33rd for business

That took longer than I expected. Also I obviously couldn't compare like-for-like courses so I compared the ones that were run by both and ranked.

Edit: Actually with the extra figures I've put in it seems ElemenT is absolutely right.

Reply 12

milkiway

Yeah definitely the rankings are not so different between the 2, but the thing is that in Aston the program in not relative to management so I don't think I can take into consideration the ranking in management. And in Durham the program is a mix between finance and management so can't take it either. That's why I'm taking the FT ranking of Business School, where Durham is 28th et Aston only 47.
For the MBA I don't consider the ranking as I hope to work 2 to 3 years and then try to enter a MBA in a well ranked business school.
My thought is that I need to enter a bs which has a good reput among other schools and also recruiters to offer me the best possibilities after.

Reply 13

greek

RadioElectric

There doesn't seem to be much between them.

From their websites:

Financial Times Global MBA 2009

Aston:

Durham

Financial Times European Business Schools 2008

Aston

(I checked and it was 47th)

Durham

Economist Which MBA 2008

Aston

Durham

Financial Times Masters in Management 2008

Aston

Durham

The Times Good University Guide 2008

Aston

(25th overall)

Durham

(But 19th for business)

The Complete University Guide 2009

Aston

2010: 13th overall, 6th for business

Durham

2010: 5th overall, 33rd for business

That took longer than I expected. Also I obviously couldn't compare like-for-like courses so I compared the ones that were run by both and ranked.

Edit: Actually with the extra figures I've put in it seems ElemenT is absolutely right.

The 2 last rankings are about Undergraduate studies,that in Durham are not even held in Durham,but in Stockton and are not so respected.
BUT the postgraduate studies are held in Durham and are very respected.Durham Business School is postgraduate-focused