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Bocconi or UCL for UG?

Can I please get some advice from you guys on choosing undergraduate courses between Bocconi's International Economics, Management and Finance, and UCL's Economics and Statistics?

What's your experience with both regarding getting into BB's FO roles, particularly in London, and then in Europe/US in general?

Which one's more recognised, respected, employable, prestigious, targeted?

Which will open more doors in the US or Asia (HK or Singapore for example)?

Does Bocconi have something like an Investment Society that is as good as the UCL's?

Things to note: I can't speak Italian (yet). Getting into Bocconi was relatively easy. Prefer London to Milano. Bocconi will cost considerably less (Bocconi 4.5k euros to max of 10k euros compared with UCL's 13.5k pounds)

In this ranking table about Employer's review, Bocconi is ranked better, is it reliable though? http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010/indicator-rankings/employer-review

Bocconi (BIEMF course specifically) offers an exchange opportunity at the following unis: ESADE, Rotterdam, St Gallen, Erasmus, Tilburg, UBC, BU, all the Unis of Cali (including Berkeley, UCLA, etc), Columbia, Dartmouth, NYU (including Stern), UPenn (not Wharton), Purdue, Princeton, HKU, Tsinghua, and many other unis in Asia/Ocenia/Africa and it is not competitive to get.

Whereas UCL has a few very competitive exchange places at Toronto, UPenn, Columbia, UCLA, Chicago and Purdue.

Any opinions appreciated. (will give rep if possible:wink:)

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Reply 1
Who told you exchanges at Stern/columbia/princeton are not competitive at Bocconi?
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Reply 3
Are you sure that UCL offers those particular exchanges for economics and statistics? I think they are available for pure economics, but maybe not for economics and statistics
Original post by ametista616
Who told you exchanges at Stern/columbia/princeton are not competitive at Bocconi?


Well ok, those schools in particular are fairly competitive due to the tiny number of acceptances. However, the fact that it is not too hard to score high on the BIEM course makes it slightly easier. When I said it's not competitive, I meant it's definitely very possible to get into one of the listed schools for exchange.


Original post by gunmetalpanda
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Sorry, what do you mean?

Original post by anon1212
Are you sure that UCL offers those particular exchanges for economics and statistics? I think they are available for pure economics, but maybe not for economics and statistics


Considering if one is good enough to be accepted by one of those schools for the exchange programme, he's likely to be good enough to be qualified to switch to pure economics in the 2nd year I supppose. I do think it's still very competitive, nonetheless.


So which do you guys think will be better?

Cheers.
Reply 5
From an Academic point of view, the BIEMF is not a good course. As you said there it is quite easy to score high and, even if this could lead you to an easier university experience, it's not that good for you future studies or interviews.
Plus, I've been told from Bocconi bachelor students, that Economics at UCL at the bachelor lever is very good and way better that at Bocconi.
Then, even if you get fluent in italian, to work in Italy you are usually required to get also a 2 years master and this obv would ask you further energies that you may not be required to use if you stay in London.
You are right about exchanges. Since at the BIEMF is not that difficult to score high and since there are a lot of slots for a lot of good universities, you may easily get an exchange in the USA.

The pros are that you will pay less, learn another language and graduate from a target university. But from a pure academic point of view the BSc at UCL in better.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by cruel3a
Then, even if you get fluent in italian, to work in Italy you are usually required to get also a 2 years master and this obv would ask you further energies that you may not be required to use if you stay in London.


So having a BSc from Bocconi on its own is not enough to work in Italy, right? What about elsewhere? Would it be enough for London for example?


Original post by cruel3a
The pros are that you will pay less, learn another language and graduate from a target university. But from a pure academic point of view the BSc at UCL in better.


So are both courses from these universities equally targeted?

Thanks!
Reply 7
Usually in Italy everyone has also a 2 years Master. That's why to get in BB in Italy (Milan Office) or to get in companies such as McKinsey, BGC, P&G, Unilever you are expected to have also the MSc.
Obv you can find some good jobs in Italy just with the BSc but it is way more difficult.

Sometimes it happens that Bocconi BSc students get summer internship in BB in London and then get full time offer but the numbers are very small.
Last year I was at BarCap and there were something like 12 people from Bocconi, only 2 of them were studying at the BSc.
One of them was from the BIEMF and he was in Operations, the other was studying pure economics and was in credit risk.
I meet some others that had internship offers (IBD) after their last year of BSc but after exchanges at Wharton or Stern.

I don't know that much about UCL. I am pretty sure that the MSc in Finance at Bocconi places better in London than every MSc at UCL.
At the BSc, on the other hand, UCL places way better than Bocconi.
The fact is that if you apply from an italian univerisity, your CV in scan by the local office in Milan and there they know that there is a huge difference between the BSc and the MSc, and this is way just top notch students pass that scan and go further.

If you want to get in a BB in London after your bachelor, you should probably choose UCL.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by little_economist:D
Can I please get some advice from you guys on choosing undergraduate courses between Bocconi's International Economics, Management and Finance, and UCL's Economics and Statistics?

What's your experience with both regarding getting into BB's FO roles, particularly in London, and then in Europe/US in general?

Which one's more recognised, respected, employable, prestigious, targeted?

Which will open more doors in the US or Asia (HK or Singapore for example)?

Does Bocconi have something like an Investment Society that is as good as the UCL's?

Things to note: I can't speak Italian (yet). Getting into Bocconi was relatively easy. Prefer London to Milano. Bocconi will cost considerably less (Bocconi 4.5k euros to max of 10k euros compared with UCL's 13.5k pounds)

In this ranking table about Employer's review, Bocconi is ranked better, is it reliable though? http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010/indicator-rankings/employer-review

Bocconi (BIEMF course specifically) offers an exchange opportunity at the following unis: ESADE, Rotterdam, St Gallen, Erasmus, Tilburg, UBC, BU, all the Unis of Cali (including Berkeley, UCLA, etc), Columbia, Dartmouth, NYU (including Stern), UPenn (not Wharton), Purdue, Princeton, HKU, Tsinghua, and many other unis in Asia/Ocenia/Africa and it is not competitive to get.

Whereas UCL has a few very competitive exchange places at Toronto, UPenn, Columbia, UCLA, Chicago and Purdue.

Any opinions appreciated. (will give rep if possible:wink:)


my point of view:

course quality: ucl >> bocconi

exchange: bocconi >>>> ucl

costs: bocconi >>>> ucl

career: ucl >> bocconi

i'd say that ucl gives you better changes to get a FO position at the end of the bachelor, but is very expensive and exchange destinations suck.
bocconi is still an "interesting" option in the sense that it's easier, you get an amazing exchange, and it's cheaper.

about career prospects, if you're not italian (as i guess given that you dont speak italian) bocconi still gives you good chances. you have the brand name, then it's up to you.

as for what said by cruel3a, my view is that there are very few undergrad italians in FO positions simply because they are not motivated enough. most of undergrad italians dont have the will, the energy, and the determination to apply for BBs cos it's not part of the "culture".
Original post by cruel3a
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I see. So Bocconi BIEMF students tend to be less attractive to the BB in Europe than the UCL ones. I'm not planning to do an MSc right after undergrad, and if yes, it wouldn't be at UCL, anyway. Moreover, considering it's tough to get accepted onto the exchange programmes at Stern, Columbia, Princeton, Dartmouth (correct me if I'm wrong about any of these) from Bocconi's BIEMF, I should be heading to UCL, perhaps.

Thanks again for your input. :smile:
Reply 10
Yes, the cultural things is also one of the reasons for the small number of people in FO from BSc.
Dartmouth should not be to difficult. Also UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Cornell, UMichigan, Darren should not be that much hard.
But yes, Stern, Wharton, Princeton and Columbia are hard to get in. Not impossible but you have to work you ass off.
Original post by little_economist:D

Considering if one is good enough to be accepted by one of those schools for the exchange programme, he's likely to be good enough to be qualified to switch to pure economics in the 2nd year I supppose. I do think it's still very competitive, nonetheless.


Nobody is allowed to switch to pure Econ at UCL.
Original post by TomFord
as for what said by cruel3a, my view is that there are very few undergrad italians in FO positions simply because they are not motivated enough. most of undergrad italians dont have the will, the energy, and the determination to apply for BBs cos it's not part of the "culture".


So the BSc students there are not auto-filtered straight away and ignored by the Milan offices? Does the brand name help them get an interview? Like in a similar way that UCL/Warwick in the UK do?


Original post by cruel3a
.


Would you say that having one of those exchange schools on CV significantly boosts one's employment prospects when they only have a BSc from Bocconi?


Original post by PorcineAviation
Nobody is allowed to switch to pure Econ at UCL.


Yes, that's what they say because they don't want to encourage it. But I've come across people who were allowed to do so (and told not to spread the information :biggrin:). As long as you're averaging a first after the first year, and have a first in the required modules, they won't stop you from switching since they don't want you to be doing something you're not enjoying, or lose the pennies as a result of you wanting to leave. At the end of the day, they are economists and they do know the opportunity cost involved :tongue: I know it's not a popular thing. Not many Econ&Stats students would like to make their lives harder for no good reason :tongue:
Reply 13
I would say that it helps you to get interviews and that it gives you something to talk during them if you don't have previous working experience.
It is not that the Milan office ignore them straight away but, to pass that scan at the BSc you must be extremely good while at the MSc it is enough to be above average.
Ucl all the way!
Reply 15
Original post by little_economist:D
So the BSc students there are not auto-filtered straight away and ignored by the Milan offices? Does the brand name help them get an interview? Like in a similar way that UCL/Warwick in the UK do?




Would you say that having one of those exchange schools on CV significantly boosts one's employment prospects when they only have a BSc from Bocconi?


no. they do get interviews, which they usually do not pass more for a lack of motivation than of preparation

yes, it helps a lot.

again let me stress that those (bocconi and good exchange) are sort of prerequisites, but on top of that you need to be very very motivated (which applies to whatever uni you do)
Reply 16
Hi,

I'm a first year BIEMF student.

Well first of all I'd like to say that there is this thing about saying BIEMF is "easy". Well, either I am stupid or it's not that easy.
Of course it's not impossible, but I've compared what we do to English unis and apart LSE and clearly Oxbridge let me say that what we do is not easy at all.
However, consider that at UCL the course would be pure Econ/Econ + statistics. That makes it harder of course. So from an "economic academic" point of view, I'm sure UCL is harder.
However I'd like to remind you that Bocconi is a Business School.The degree in itself isn't pure economics, however it's very mathematical in my opinion. In your second year you will choose between Econ, Mgmt and Finance.

The pure economic degree at Bocconi (CLES) is known to be one of the hardest in Europe, and gets places in Phds in the USA.
The finance degree (CLEF) and from 2010 BIEMF are recognized and partners of the CFA. Anyone that works in Finance will tell you the value of a CFA, it's useless to even discuss it.

Overall I'm glad I've chosen BIEMF, and I would say that I would compared as a UCL degree. It's useless to to talk about opportunities, you make your own opportunities.
If you"re bad, you will be bad either attending UCL or Bocconi. I know some people that have gone very very far with DIEM and now BIEMF, and they are young.

Clearly it's a brand name and will give you opportunities, you just have to look at all of this with an objective view.

Milan is a great city, London is London, up to you!
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 17
Original post by robbiee
Hi,

I'm a first year BIEMF student.

Well first of all I'd like to say that there is this thing about saying BIEMF is "easy". Well, either I am stupid or it's not that easy.
Of course it's not impossible, but I've compared what we do to English unis and apart LSE and clearly Oxbridge let me say that what we do is not easy at all.
However, consider that at UCL the course would be pure Econ/Econ + statistics. That makes it harder of course. So from an "economic academic" point of view, I'm sure UCL is harder.


it's easier compared to other bocconi undergrad courses, might be on par with lse / oxbridge / etc
Reply 18
Original post by TomFord
it's easier compared to other bocconi undergrad courses, might be on par with lse / oxbridge / etc


that's another thing I've noticed in Bocconi; people saying BIEMF is easier.

I live with other 3 Bocconi students, two of them do CLEAM (italian mgmt) and we're doing the same exact things, we even study together, I just do it in English.

For all degrees (apart Law and the Mgmt for Arts and Culture) the first year and a half is the same exact curriculum.
The only exception is Private Law, which BIEMF has half the book; however, if you think about, it makes sense. Why would an international class need to study in depth the Italian Legal System? Thus I understand the reduced amount for that (and btw the exam I believe is the same, but I don't want to say silly things)
For all the other courses (apart the Management course in first semester) the books are exactly the same, just translated differently.

In Third year you get to choose the electives, which can be chosen by all degrees (if coherent with the degree I suppose). And so fare we have had the same exams too.

Hence I don't understand why people say it's easier.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 19
Because it's said that there the marks tend to be a little bit higher than in the italian classes.

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