CASS Business SCHOOL V KCL V Warwick V Manchester

I have a choice of
CASS - Investment Finance Risk Management
KINGS - Maths with Management and Finance
Warwick - MORSE
Manchester - Economics

Which one would be the best for IB/HF? I'm thinking Cass because of the course..help? :smile:

Reply 1

sazzabazza

12

Warwick because it's a target university and that course is actually really good.

Reply 2

theseeker

OP

17

Original post by sazzabazza

Warwick because it's a target university and that course is actually really good.

But to get into investment banks and hedge funds...hasn't Cass got a great course specific for it?

Reply 3

sazzabazza

12

It may well do... but it's reputation at the undergraduate level, since it's affiliated with City University, is what banks seem to care about more. The more prestigious the university, the higher you're chance of getting into banking. I think the consensus of what is considered a target university goes something like:
Oxbridge
LSE/ Imperial
UCL/ Warwick

Reply 4

Tokyoround

16

I don't know much about the course but just from the title I would guess that the Cass degree is too specific and may pigeonhole you to MO (risk management)? Or are you missing an ampersand there?

Reply 5

theseeker

OP

17

Original post by sazzabazza

It may well do... but it's reputation at the undergraduate level, since it's affiliated with City University, is what banks seem to care about more. The more prestigious the university, the higher you're chance of getting into banking. I think the consensus of what is considered a target university goes something like:
Oxbridge
LSE/ Imperial
UCL/ Warwick

So warwick firm and what would you put as an insurance?

Original post by Tokyoround

I don't know much about the course but just from the title I would guess that the Cass degree is too specific and may pigeonhole you to MO (risk management)? Or are you missing an ampersand there?

I see where you're coming from..

Reply 6

MAINE.

3

Warwick > Kings > Manchester > Cass.

Very rare to see Cass undergrads in FO banking.

Reply 7

Huskaris

16

I study IFRM at Cass as a 3rd year, feel free to PM me about it, I would say in here but I am aware my university is reading this.

Reply 8

P.Bateman.

2

I am a second year student at Cass studying IFRM... And I must say that I am really happy with the course... The course content might be a bit specific but I personally prefer to study IB related courses rather than plain economics.

It does definitely NOT pigeonhole you to Risk Management... Most of the courses cover Financial/Portfolio/Investment Theory and basics of Economics as well as Econometrics and Management contents... You also have a lot of electives to choose from, so you can decide which direction you want to go into... The course is however quite quantitive and challenging (much of the IFRM UG content is normally covered in PG degrees) ... If you like maths and finance, IFRM is for you.
Most of the lecturers are really good, many worked in the industry before... So you really have a real world focus and I can assure you that the course will prepare you well for a career in IB.
Cass also provides you with a really good careers service and tutoring system.

Regarding its reputation.. well Cass is a tier 1 target school for Post Grad and ranked 2nd in the UK for Business Studies at UG level it is also gaining reputation for its bachelor courses... It is obviously not Oxford, but Cass is only 10 years old and it is in London, so you have the city, networking events, speakers from the industry, etc. just outside uni. That really is an advantage and a reason I turned down other offers.

Maybe one last argument to support Cass' position for a career in IB. I think if you work hard and have a good personality you can get the job you want. And Cass is becoming a tier 1 target school and UG level as well. At least that's what I have been told at the JP Morgan Assesment Centre when I specifically asked this question.
I had to compete against LSE, UCL, King's and more european top business school students. Turns out I got the internship and my LSE, UCL fellows didn't. However, you might still get the feeling that LSE students are preferred, whatever they study (and that might be the case, but why not study what you want to work with later). But it is changing, I can tell you that for sure.

I think you have the choice between some top business schools (maybe except for manchester, sry but the people I know there are not really happy with their studies). Remember that only King's and Cass give you access to London's opportunities and student life (thats quiet different in Warwick), and that the people in Warwick are quiet different from those in London as well.
And go on the websites and check the degree contents. Studying Economics and Finance is a completely different thing. You need to become clear about what you want to study before you choose the University.

I personally would rank them as follows if you want to go into IB: Cass > Warwick > King's > Manchester

Hope this helps and you make the right choice :smile:

Reply 9

MAINE.

3

Original post by P.Bateman.

I personally would rank them as follows if you want to go into IB: Cass > Warwick > King's > Manchester

Hope this helps and you make the right choice :smile:

btw, usually I wouldnt care that someone negged me, but you are actually clearly delusional, and that worries me.

OP, you can listen to people's personal opinions all you want, but numbers dont lie. Year on year, the universities that get the most students into Front Office Investment Banking are:

Targets: Oxbridge, LSE/Imperial, Warwick/UCL
Semi-targets: Durham, Bristol, KCL, Nottingham, Manchester

Cass isnt even a blip on the radar for most banks. Not hating on Cass or anything it's just the truth, and I'm sure pretty much everyone on here who knows what they're talking about will agree.

Ps. The postgrad business school at Cass supposedly has an alright reputation for getting in to banking, but to be frank a) have yet to see any substantial evidence proving that postgrads from Cass have better prospects than undergrads, and b) of the list of unis I mentioned above, you'd be better placed to get into banking with a masters from any of those unis than you would from Cass (...though, Nottingham & Manchester are debatable).

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 10

SW1X

9

The reason why Cass is so underrepresented within IB is because the only people that go their are Asians who have nothing else to offer.

Reply 11

Londonburger

11

Original post by SW1X

The reason why Cass is so underrepresented within IB is because the only people that go their are Asians who have nothing else to offer.

Apparent Racism

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 12

SW1X

9

Original post by Londonburger

Apparent Racism

Posted from TSR Mobile

And? It's certainly not "racist" to make a factual statement.

Reply 13

Mycroft Holmes

10

Original post by MAINE.

btw, usually I wouldnt care that someone negged me, but you are actually clearly delusional, and that worries me.

OP, you can listen to people's personal opinions all you want, but numbers dont lie. Year on year, the universities that get the most students into Front Office Investment Banking are:

Targets: Oxbridge, LSE/Imperial, Warwick/UCL
Semi-targets: Durham, Bristol, KCL, Nottingham, Manchester

Cass isnt even a blip on the radar for most banks. Not hating on Cass or anything it's just the truth, and I'm sure pretty much everyone on here who knows what they're talking about will agree.

Ps. The postgrad business school at Cass supposedly has an alright reputation for getting in to banking, but to be frank a) have yet to see any substantial evidence proving that postgrads from Cass have better prospects than undergrads, and b) of the list of unis I mentioned above, you'd be better placed to get into banking with a masters from any of those unis than you would from Cass (...though, Nottingham & Manchester are debatable).

By the way, from what I've read (and I've read a lot) it's more like Cambridge/Oxford/Warwick/Imperial, LSE, UCL. This is where 'COWI' comes from. Warwick and UCL aren't on the same level, and Oxbridge is only "better" than Imperial/Warwick for banking in terms of reputation.

Reply 14

MAINE.

3

Original post by Mycroft Holmes

By the way, from what I've read (and I've read a lot) it's more like Cambridge/Oxford/Warwick/Imperial, LSE, UCL. This is where 'COWI' comes from. Warwick and UCL aren't on the same level, and Oxbridge is only "better" than Imperial/Warwick for banking in terms of reputation.

If you want to get into the granularity of it, in terms of the numbers that get in year on year it's more like:

Oxbridge
LSE
Warwick/UCL
Imperial

LSE is one of the nation's top unis and everyone there is obsessed about banking (it's nicknamed the "Nursery for Investment Banking"), so they get the most in after Oxbridge.

Imperial gets the least in, but prevailing theory is that that's because there arent as many people applying from Imperial as the other target unis because most of their students are going for medicine, chemistry, engineering , etc careers instead.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 15

Indus

5

Original post by Mycroft Holmes

By the way, from what I've read (and I've read a lot) it's more like Cambridge/Oxford/Warwick/Imperial, LSE, UCL. This is where 'COWI' comes from. Warwick and UCL aren't on the same level, and Oxbridge is only "better" than Imperial/Warwick for banking in terms of reputation.

COWI is the abbreviation for the best universities for maths in the country - Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick, Imperial. It isn't the best for entering front office investment banking. LSE is above Warwick for that.

Reply 16

Mycroft Holmes

10

Original post by Indus

COWI is the abbreviation for the best universities for maths in the country - Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick, Imperial. It isn't the best for entering front office investment banking. LSE is above Warwick for that.

Fair enough.

Reply 17

Indus

5

Original post by MAINE.

btw, usually I wouldnt care that someone negged me, but you are actually clearly delusional, and that worries me.

OP, you can listen to people's personal opinions all you want, but numbers dont lie. Year on year, the universities that get the most students into Front Office Investment Banking are:

Targets: Oxbridge, LSE/Imperial, Warwick/UCL
Semi-targets: Durham, Bristol, KCL, Nottingham, Manchester

Cass isnt even a blip on the radar for most banks. Not hating on Cass or anything it's just the truth, and I'm sure pretty much everyone on here who knows what they're talking about will agree.

Ps. The postgrad business school at Cass supposedly has an alright reputation for getting in to banking, but to be frank a) have yet to see any substantial evidence proving that postgrads from Cass have better prospects than undergrads, and b) of the list of unis I mentioned above, you'd be better placed to get into banking with a masters from any of those unis than you would from Cass (...though, Nottingham & Manchester are debatable).

Listen to this OP. Although I personally see Nottingham above KCL..

In relation to the Cass guy, the only semi-target which may become a target any time soon, is likely to be Durham; definitely won't be Cass.

Reply 18

steviewonders

Original post by MAINE.

OP, you can listen to people's personal opinions all you want, but numbers dont lie. Year on year, the universities that get the most students into Front Office Investment Banking are:

Targets: Oxbridge, LSE/Imperial, Warwick/UCL
Semi-targets: Durham, Bristol, KCL, Nottingham, Manchester

Cass isnt even a blip on the radar for most banks. Not hating on Cass or anything it's just the truth, and I'm sure pretty much everyone on here who knows what they're talking about will agree.

This.

Reply 19

student_london

8

Original post by Huskaris

I study IFRM at Cass as a 3rd year, feel free to PM me about it, I would say in here but I am aware my university is reading this.