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Msc Finance CASS VS LSE VS MANCHESTER

Dear all,

I have been reading in this forum for quite a while, and I am getting all confused. I recently applied to a masters in finance in Cass, LSE, Manchester and Imperial. I got already rejected by Imperial and accepted in Cass. I am waiting for the answers from LSE and Manchester. My question is, how good is Cass in terms of jobs prospects? Can I get an IB job at Morgan Stanley and the likes? And do I still stand a chance of getting in LSE?

My profile:
Finishing my bachelor degree in Finance at Concordia University (Montreal), member of the Finance Honors Program (it's a class of 18 students where we have to write a thesis), 3.3 GPA, CFA level 1 passed, Gmat 620 (45 Quantitative, 30 Verbal, 6 writing) and I am a part-time math tutor.

Thanks all for your inputs!

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Reply 1
In all honesty you'll probably struggle to get onto LSE Finance. It's seriously oversubscribed with some very good candidates but that's not to say you don't have a chance at all.

Cass isn't bad at all and I'd go for that over Manchester every time. From what I gather they have a pretty good record of getting graduates into BO and MO roles, though they can't quite match the top 6 unis for landing FO roles.
Reply 2
Thank you for your input. I was wondering though, is it my GMAT or my GPA? I might wait for next year, probably work harder on my GMAT, and do CFA level 2, does that give me more chance of getting in?
Your GPA isn't strong for the LSE as they usually look for 3.5 or better even for courses that are less oversubscribed than finance and your GMAT is low - the people I know who have got in for finance all cleared 700.
Reply 4
Original post by b_alam
Thank you for your input. I was wondering though, is it my GMAT or my GPA? I might wait for next year, probably work harder on my GMAT, and do CFA level 2, does that give me more chance of getting in?


For the LSE:

I would say it's both your GMAT and GPA.

GMAT 620 is low, and you have a low GPA. Get these up, and you would have a more realistic shot.

I wouldn't have thought that LSE would care about whether you have a CFA or not. The only way I can conceive that it would help is if yourself and another applicant have identical academic credentials, except you've done a CFA and he hasn't - which shows that you are more motivated to go into finance.

As for Manchester and CASS, I haven't a clue. If you meet their minimum requirements, you at least have a realistic shot I suppose.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 5
If you were rejected by Imperial there is no hope to be accepted by LSE, maybe Warwick could give you an offer as I know people who had been rejected by Imperial but accepted by Warwick, I think that your GPA is slightly below the requirements, I know very well John molson, it is a weak BS compared to HEC Montréal or Mcgill so you need at least a GPA of 3.5 for LSE and Imperial...My advice is to accept Cass offer as it is your best option given your GPA,....If I were you I would definitely go for Cass since it is good for finance even if it is below the Top tier : oxbridge/Imperial/Warwick/LSE

Try to apply to Warwick

Good Luck
Reply 6
I am not too sure where you heard that John Molson is not better than HEC montreal or Mcgill, but look at the Economist ranking for top mba, you will definitely see John Molson ranked higher than both of them. As for my GPA, they ask for a B+, however they also mention 3.6 GPA, which makes an A- in my university. I am sure that they are aware of that. I might postpone my masters for next year, to take more time to have a GMAT of 700+, will I still have a shot?
Reply 7
it is just the economist ranking and it is for one program so you could not draw any conclusion from that lol, Financial times, Business Week and co are more reliable and they place both HEC Montréal (triple crown accredited schools : Equis, AACSB, AMBA) and Mcgill better than John Molson. For example, for Undergrad, John Molson asks for a low Cote R compared to the others that is why you have a lot of Middle eastern people who could not even speak properly in english. We could not compare french speaking schools with english speaking courses, for the French in Québec HEC Montréal is the best of the best but for the english speaking world John Molson is far away from UBC, Rotman, Queens, Mcgill, Dalhousie...

check this BS ranking : http://www.eduniversal-ranking.com/study-abroad-in-canada.html

1st in canada : Mcgill (8th Worldwide)
2nd in Canada : HEC Montreal (27th worldwide)
.
.
10th in Canada : John Molson (153th Worldwide)


Check the BusinessWeek ranking for international MBA (outside the US) :
http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/bs_2010_INTL_FTMBA_TAB_1111.html

Mcgill is 11th in the world
HEC Montréal is 15th in the world

John molson is not even ranked
everybody in montreal know that it is a weak school with a lot of foreigners particularly from middle east who are accepted cause they pay high fees..why these guy are not accepted at Mcgill ? Concordia better than Mcgill lol (its a joke) it has no visibility even in Canada
Reply 8
Manchester should be fine. If you get an offer from there, you should pat yourself at the back.
Reply 9
Original post by Mr. Roxas
Manchester should be fine. If you get an offer from there, you should pat yourself at the back.


Over Cass? Really?
try warwick you may get accepted
Reply 11
Original post by Maggieffc
Over Cass? Really?


Personally, I'd take Manchester over Cass. It has a great business school and has special ties with top employers in London, most parts of Europe and Asia.

of course, Warwick has got the highest rep, but he doesn't have an offer from Warwick yet.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 12
Original post by Mr. Roxas
Personally, I'd take Manchester over Cass. It has a great business school and has a special ties with top employers in London, most parts of Europe and Asia.

of course, Warwick has got the highest rep, but he doesn't have an offer from Warwick yet.


Can Manchester compete with top universities in terms of FO jobs? And wouldn't Cass be better in terms of job prospects because of its location?
Reply 13
Original post by b_alam
Can Manchester compete with top universities in terms of FO jobs?


Absolutely. Of course, not everyone from Manchester gets that kind of job; it's the same way that not everyone from Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick, Imperial and UCL can land as FO too .


And wouldn't Cass be better in terms of job prospects because of its location?

Being in London will give you a leg up for you'll probably be doing less work when you literally visit firms to submit your CV. But most of those companies do visit Manchester campus too to recruit talents. You'd have as much access to those companies as those Cass students do.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 14
I went to Cass today for a conference on risk management (long story). Basically had a good chat with many people across industry and academia.

This experience has done nothing to change my opinion. Cass is a very practical and hands on style business school that has very good employment prospects. These prospects, generally speaking, aren't as good as Oxbridge/LSE/Warwick/LBS/Imperial but beat pretty much anything else.

OP, by all means don't take my opinion as gospel and conduct more research. But in my opinion you'd have to be absolutely bonkers to choose Manchester over Cass.
Reply 15
Original post by Maggieffc
I went to Cass today for a conference on risk management (long story). Basically had a good chat with many people across industry and academia.

This experience has done nothing to change my opinion. Cass is a very practical and hands on style business school that has very good employment prospects. These prospects, generally speaking, aren't as good as Oxbridge/LSE/Warwick/LBS/Imperial but beat pretty much anything else.

OP, by all means don't take my opinion as gospel and conduct more research. But in my opinion you'd have to be absolutely bonkers to choose Manchester over Cass.


Thank you for your interest! the problem with Cass is that its reputation is not that good outside UK, this is what's making me think twice of going there. I am wondering also if its worth the money, as it is almost as expensive as the LSE accounting and finance program..
Reply 16
Original post by b_alam
Thank you for your interest! the problem with Cass is that its reputation is not that good outside UK, this is what's making me think twice of going there. I am wondering also if its worth the money, as it is almost as expensive as the LSE accounting and finance program..


Ah OK, I can't speak for outside the UK then. The only thing I would say is that many of the attendees (both speakers and guests) were from overseas. For instance, Tobias Guldimann the Chief Risk Officer of Credit Suisse flew in especially. And he wasn't the only one. It does have a growing international reputation but I really don't know how big it is. It certainly isn't on a par with LSE. And if you can get a place on A&F at LSE then that's probably a better all round option anyway.

And I really can't comment on fees. They're pretty hefty. But it's all a question of what you can afford. If it helps you land the job that you otherwise wouldn't be able to get then yeh, sure it's worth it.
Reply 17
I would agree with Maggieffc, Cass over Manchester.

There are talks at Manchester but not really direct recruiting, as I'd imagine with most unis. I visited Cass business school the other day, it is in a very good location which should give you some opportunities to actually network. They mentioned that many people didn't have time to travel far but it was possible to pop over to Cass in their breaks.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 18
Cass just cause it is in London, it will not be easy and convenient to take the train from manchester til London every time you have an interview and you will not be able to network in Manchester, I try to figure out what I gonna do if I were you, I would definitely go for Cass which is a powerhouse in finance compared to manchester which is most focused on research...
On a day to day basis and regarding a job driven approach, Cass beats manchester
Reply 19
Original post by Borisvian
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On a day to day basis and regarding a job driven approach, Cass beats manchester


This is the key point. I wouldn't just go for Cass because it's in London. It provides a hands on education that is ready to be applied in the industry. Other universities are more academic and theory based. You can argue the warrants of both, but in terms of training financial practitioners and making them as appealing as possible to employers (employers who often don't have the time/money to train well qualified but otherwise clueless graduates) then Cass has the upper hand over most.

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