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How Is the Education in Cass Business School?

Before I rule out this school completely, can I get some opinions on this school from current students or people who know about this school? Not from the official representatives please.

Reasons for ruling this one out.

I have been there a few times. The impression I got was that the school is like a foreign country and the admin people are all UK nationals (saw them on the third floor), feeding on those who come from abroad. The building is fancy because hey let's face it this isn't Harvard, this is the least they can do. I am all for the Euro-thing, but hey there should be some boundaries.

Teachers did talk about having a lot of experience teaching and suggested that they knew what they were doing. But given their previous qualifications, they would say that wouldn't they. Do they even have PGCE? I thought every university teacher had to have one.

I met current students, heard where they studied before and the grade they got, much too low.

The ranking tables are rubbish. No one cares. I don't think LSE cares about their position in the ranking tables and they don't have to. This school has to, because that's all they have got. This school is very showoff, anti-English. They never miss the opportunities to tell the world how great they are. In the financial times editorial thing, there are so many pieces by Cass teachers. I thought that teachers would get sacked if they mixed journalism and academia.

Finally, I don't like the fact that they have got representatives on the TSR. It makes them appear desperate and cheap.

Thanks people. No representatives please. No representatives please.
(edited 12 years ago)

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I can't think about any pros for this school.

What I did was to work out places to apply by looking at the financial times business school ranking tables and cross-referencing them with university ranking tables. I made a pros and cons list, I tried. I don't understand why this school does so well in the financial times ranking tables. I just don't get it.
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Reply 2
Are you applying for postgraduate or undergraduate study?
Original post by KennyChou
Are you applying for postgraduate or undergraduate study?


PostG. Should I apply? If yes, why please. People keep telling me that they let anyone in.
Reply 4
Original post by ILikeProperThings
Before I rule out this school completely, can I get some opinions on this school from current students or people who know about this school? Not from the official representatives please.

Reasons for ruling this one out.

I have been there a few times. The impression I got was that the school is like a foreign country and the admin people are all UK nationals (saw them on the third floor), feeding on those who come from abroad. The building is fancy because hey let's face it this isn't Harvard, this is the least they can do. I am all for the Euro-thing, but hey there should be some boundaries.

Teachers did talk about having a lot of experience teaching and suggested that they knew what they were doing. But given their previous qualifications, they would say that wouldn't they. Do they even have PGCE? I thought every university teacher had to have one.

I met current students, heard where they studied before and the grade they got, much too low.

The ranking tables are rubbish. No one cares. I don't think LSE cares about their position in the ranking tables and they don't have to. This school has to, because that's all they have got. This school is very showoff, anti-English. They never miss the opportunities to tell the world how great they are. In the financial times editorial thing, there are so many pieces by Cass teachers. I thought that teachers would get sacked if they mixed journalism and academia.

Finally, I don't like the fact that they have got representatives on the TSR. It makes them appear desperate and cheap.

Thanks people. No representatives please. No representatives please.


Warwick have an official representative too.
Original post by BTR88
Well Cass hasnt got the same reputation as Oxbridge or LSE, but how, as a university, would you change that? By marketing their school they're trying to attract talent in order to compete with these unis (which has worked if they're so high up in the rankings, I wouldnt trust Guardian much either but FT?).
If Oxbridge or LSE wouldnt have their amazing reputation then they would almost certainly do the same, they just dont need to anymore.
And so far I havent seen any answers form the Cass representative that were in any way trying to lure students in or something. If that was their aim they'd have some anonymous guy so people wouldnt be suspicious and he probs would have tried to disprove you already given that fact that this is in their forum.
Just a few points to consider in you choice maybe (I am just trying to help), just because someone markets them well doesnt mean their desperate or, in this case, of poor teaching quality.
However you might be right on your other points, I have no idea about the whole graduate "market" or the PGCE qualifications, plus when I was there on the open day it did seem a bit like a "foreign country" although other people on here have said this was because it was a joint Cass-City open day and Cass's students were more european (whether thats true or not I have no idea).
Best of luck for you decisions.


Just to clarify, I was talking about those Europeans you mention.

No, Oxford and Cambridge don't market themselves the way this City thing does. They never have. Not because they don't have to, because they don't want to do that. They have standards. If employers, applicants or current students don't like those standards, they can **** off. City, Cass or whatever this thing is called, can't afford to say that. We set the standards for the rest of the world. Cass and other schools try very hard to achieve those standards.

FT: I believe that one of the factors they use is the percentage of foreign students or faculties.
I am 99% sure that this school isn't for me and personally I hate to see these schools in the league tables.

I got insider info today. Their assessment is based on 30% group coursework and 70% exams. The class size is about 120 in each program. Employers that come to Cass want students to work in team. I want to set standards, not be bound to live every minute by them.
Original post by Bud Fox
Warwick have an official representative too.


Is that the business school? That's shame. Warwick is a good university.
I like Warwick University they never say they are the best or smartest or anything like that. They get on with their life and try to do the best they can.
Reply 8
Original post by ILikeProperThings
Is that the business school? That's shame. Warwick is a good university.
I like Warwick University they never say they are the best or smartest or anything like that. They get on with their life and try to do the best they can.


Not sure, I came by it 2 weeks or so ago. I'm unsure about Cass too, haven't visited or anything (so cannot say anything about campus) but grad prospects don't seem to bad even though its not part of UoL. Plus, they're degrees seem to be very financially-based which is a plus but that for sure doesn't make it my first choice uni.
Reply 9
Original post by ILikeProperThings


Finally, I don't like the fact that they have got representatives on the TSR. It makes them appear desperate and cheap.


Because.... Aberystwyth, Warwick, Lancaster, The Open University and Regents College London are all desperate and cheap. :rolleyes:
Original post by Agent Smirnoff
Because.... Aberystwyth, Warwick, Lancaster, The Open University and Regents College London are all desperate and cheap. :rolleyes:


I know you are being sarcastic, but I think you are right. All these places are terrible. I wouldn't like to be taught by idiots.

This business school is a joke among investment bankers. As soon as an employer realizes that applicants are from Cass, they will get rejected immediately. If there are Cass postgraduate students who got a job in Finance, it's not because they studied at Cass, it's because they have a good undergraduate degree from a respectable university. If there are Cass undergraduate students who got a job in Finance, it's not because they studied at Cass, it's because you have work experience which is part of your study. As the op points out, you make a good analyst who never gets promoted. I wouldn't like to work with people from Cass.

'Cass is good for Finance.' Where do they get that idea from? No serious companies want to recruit from this school, why Cass when you can go to LBS, LSE, Oxford or Cambridge and get better students for the same price? No serious academics want to teach at Cass, you can't find PhDs from respectable universities at Cass because academics don't think highly of Cass.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 11
The majority of students at Regent's College London don't have to worry about being employed after they graduate so I wouldn't really care if the university is terrible tbh. Regarding Cass, I know 2 graduates at GS and another 2 in energy trading powerhouses (Trafigura and Cargill), so don't generalize.

"I wouldn't like to work with people from Cass." Nobody gives a **** what you want to do. This coming from a person that doesn't even study at Cass.
Wow, this thread is harsh. You REALLY hate CASS - did they reject you or something?
Original post by Bud Fox
The majority of students at Regent's College London don't have to worry about being employed after they graduate so I wouldn't really care if the university is terrible tbh. Regarding Cass, I know 2 graduates at GS and another 2 in energy trading powerhouses (Trafigura and Cargill), so don't generalize.

"I wouldn't like to work with people from Cass." Nobody gives a **** what you want to do. This coming from a person that doesn't even study at Cass.


I went to Cass actually. I didn't like their Cass branding on everything. They distance themselves from City University for no reasons. But I take your point, undergraduates at Cass, most come with 3As are much better job market candidates than postgraduates. I don't think City University is terrible at all, just this department.

Just an advice. If you are thinking about postgraduate application at Cass, Cass isn't LBS. You have to find out everything you can about the program and the university before making the decision to pay 22k pa. You never have to explain why you went to LBS, but you would have to explain why you went to Cass, and most employers wouldn't know about this school at all. You can't say you went there for life style changes or employment prospects because there are better universities if you want those things. Location can't be the reason either because Imperial, LSE and QM all are in London. No one wants LSE/Imperial rejects. In lectures and seminars, you would be taught by Cass PhDs about the 'Cass' way of doing things, but some employers don't want people who have learned the 'Cass' way of doing things. Cass is not for everyone. I hated it. I felt sorry for oversea students. Once they go back home, I don't think employers back home want 'Cass' graduates. They would rather hire someone with a more traditional qualification unrelated to business who they can teach better.

Good luck.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Walkers_Man
I went to Cass actually. I didn't like their Cass branding on everything. They distance themselves from City University for no reasons. But I take your point, undergraduates at Cass, most come with 3As are much better job market candidates than postgraduates. I don't think City University is terrible at all, just this department.

Just an advice. If you are thinking about postgraduate application at Cass, Cass isn't LBS. You have to find out everything you can about the program and the university before making the decision to pay 22k pa. You never have to explain why you went to LBS, but you would have to explain why you went to Cass, and most employers wouldn't know about this school at all. You can't say you went there for life style changes or employment prospects because there are better universities if you want those things. Location can't be the reason either because Imperial, LSE and QM all are in London. No one wants LSE/Imperial rejects. In lectures and seminars, you would be taught by Cass PhDs about the 'Cass' way of doing things, but some employers don't want people who have learned the 'Cass' way of doing things. Cass is not for everyone. I hated it. I felt sorry for oversea students. Once they go back home, I don't think employers back home want 'Cass' graduates. They would rather hire someone with a more traditional qualification unrelated to business who they can teach better.

Good luck.


Well, I have mentioned before that Cass is like marmite, some love it while others absolutely hate it. However, that doesn't mean that it is Crap. Some points that you have stated above are utterly nonsense.
Let's be absolutely clear, for graduate recruitment (generally a good measure of quality perceived by employers) Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, UCL and Warwick dominate in ibanks. There are handful from Cass too, but the numbers are not spectacular.
Point about academic quality, it is true that LBS is superior and so is LSE. I don't think they target the same students for post-graduate. I guess, a typical student applying to LBS, will have Insead, Iese, IMD ... other top tier schools among his choices, while Cass will be competing against Imperial, Warwick, Manchester,...or RSM, Vlerick,...
In the last couple of years, there have been a quite few lecturers that have gone from Cass to Warwick (Mark Salmon, Gordon Gemil, Nick Webber,...), while others have gone the other way (Lucio Sarno, Stewart Hodges,...). Others have left Cass and later have come back again (Cass>Imperial>Cass, Dirk Nitsche, Keith Cutherberstone). The point I am trying to make is that If Cass was really that bad, do you think this would have been possible? I don't think so. Cass must have a certain level to make this possible and attract top talent from other schools.
Lastly, if Cass was just a cash cow, I think the whole concept model would collapse if no-one ever succeeded in their professional careers. The issue with Cass is that, they have too many finance graduates from too many courses, that perform not as well as some other programs at LSE or Oxford. Cass might not be the most favoured talent pool for GS, MS, McKinsey,... But it is very well licked by the likes of BNP Paribas, SocGen. If you look at the graduate sites of top tier banks, you will occassionly see profiles of Cass graduates and most ibanks come on campus to Cass too.
Employers are not stupid, they will only associate themselves with a particular institution for a reason, i.e. only if there alumni have made an important contribution before.
Apologies, but it is wrong to slack something off, simply b/c youn don't like it. I know a girl that has only got a 'undergraduate' degree in finance from Cass, but she is a FI Exotics Credit trader. Unlike you, she is happy with Cass, and got on her with her career and managed to get her dream job, envied by many other top tier students (including me)!
Original post by student_london

Apologies, but it is wrong to slack something off, simply b/c youn don't like it. I know a girl that has only got a 'undergraduate' degree in finance from Cass, but she is a FI Exotics Credit trader. Unlike you, she is happy with Cass, and got on her with her career and managed to get her dream job, envied by many other top tier students (including me)!


I thank you for the contribution! but I disagree with your statement. Personal experience is more valuable than 'the top tire student's opinion' on the academic quality of the business school. What I liked about the comment was that I can tell that this person is still so angry about the quality of education that he/she received at Cass. This comes from a person who graduated from Cass. That says something about this school.

I also agree with the point that most professors at Cass do not have a PhD from Oxford, Cambridge, LBS or respectable universities in the US. But if you look at the business school at Oxford, most professors have a PhD from world class universities, and there are no professors at Oxford, Cambridge and LBS who have a PhD from Cass. I mean I can't find even 1 professor.

I am sure you can find FI Exotics Credit traders who graduated from London Met, Westminster and Kingston. That wasn't the point. Why does anyone envy fi exotics credit trader?
Reply 16
I am following these Cass comments with some interest as I have an offer and considering. Please, someone help me understand how the Guardian have ranked them 3rd for Business Studies?? My sister went to St. Andrews and I too have applied. I don't like the fact is so far and remote but the ranking of 4th whilst City/Cass is 3rd, well, I just don't get it. It worries me when I read comments that City is some sort of joke amongst employers. At the end of the day all I want is a job!!
Original post by frank1
I am following these Cass comments with some interest as I have an offer and considering. Please, someone help me understand how the Guardian have ranked them 3rd for Business Studies?? My sister went to St. Andrews and I too have applied. I don't like the fact is so far and remote but the ranking of 4th whilst City/Cass is 3rd, well, I just don't get it. It worries me when I read comments that City is some sort of joke amongst employers. At the end of the day all I want is a job!!


I am thinking the same as you! When I looked around at CASS I was amazed, the website and the guardian table really sold it to me. I thought to myself 'If I come here, I will get an amazing job at a big multi-national' and I LOVED the uni. It was not too big, just the right size, just a bit expensive to live there. But now reading all of these, I am very confused :frown:
Original post by frank1
I am following these Cass comments with some interest as I have an offer and considering. Please, someone help me understand how the Guardian have ranked them 3rd for Business Studies?? My sister went to St. Andrews and I too have applied. I don't like the fact is so far and remote but the ranking of 4th whilst City/Cass is 3rd, well, I just don't get it. It worries me when I read comments that City is some sort of joke amongst employers. At the end of the day all I want is a job!!


I am thinking the same as you! When I looked around at CASS I was amazed, the website and the guardian table really sold it to me. I thought to myself 'If I come here, I will get an amazing job at a big multi-national' and I LOVED the uni. It was not too big, just the right size, just a bit expensive to live there. But now reading all of these, I am very confused :frown:
Didn't mean to send that twice

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