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Reply 1
Im kinda in the same situation, graduated this year in BSc Maths and applied to do MSc Economics/finance investment. It is also 2 years for me with diploma/certificate in the 1st year. Was pretty much set on the 2 years, but had a chat with a friend who did economics at SOAS, told me its pointless to do economics.....period. Now im back to square one and undecided.

I have to agree that any masters course with tuition over 15k is a bit crazy, for international students fair enough, but for home students its stupid :p:
Reply 2
jcccc
Im kinda in the same situation, graduated this year in BSc Maths and applied to do MSc Economics/finance investment. It is also 2 years for me with diploma/certificate in the 1st year. Was pretty much set on the 2 years, but had a chat with a friend who did economics at SOAS, told me its pointless to do economics.....period. Now im back to square one and undecided.

I have to agree that any masters course with tuition over 15k is a bit crazy, for international students fair enough, but for home students its stupid :p:

Did your friend give reasons why it's 'pointless'? Maybe he just doesn't like the SOAS course?
Reply 3
*bump
Reply 4
He is on for a 1st at SOAS, he was telling me a lot of things like ACCA n CFA n stuff, he just said economics wont be useful. I said I would like to go into banking and he advised me to do something in acturial science and something in accounting. But thats his opinion, Im still going to do the MSc throught the 2 year option with cert/diploma in the 1st year, as I did BSc maths.
Reply 5
While an econ MSc is useful, it's mainly useful for going into econ based jobs. Before doing it, I'd ask yourself some questions:

What do you want to go into afterwards?
How will it help you towards that?

If you want to go into city careers, I'd strongly recommend than MFE over the MPhil in economics, as the MFE is both academic, mathematical, and far more applicable to city careers. However apply with your degree first, as a degree in phys from ICL is very, very employable for city careers. Unless you want to go into an economics type job, like the GES, IFS, an economic consultancy or something, an MSc or MPhil in economics is of little use.

And if you like econometrics, look at UCL. They're very, very hot on econometrics and their grad courses include a lot of it, as well as assuming a lot of it from undergrad (it's compulsory for at least two years at UCL).
Reply 6
I'd second what Drogue says. Unless you want to go into an Economics based career, an MSc Economics will be of little use. And Physics (with or without Theoretical Physics) degrees, from Imperial College, are extremely employable - in my opinion, I'd say the most employable for finance. So, if you want to go into banking/finance, I'd go straight into it after graduation.

Hope this helps,

Sen
Reply 7
I'd strongly recommend than MFE over the MPhil in economics


Whats MFE and MPhil? I did a maths degree but only achieved a 2.2, not great i know, but will probably end up doing MSc Finance and Investment after my Cert /Diploma in Economics. The main reason im doing the MSc is because i got a 2:2, and i hope to go into banking/finance when i finish. How useful do you guys think the MSc will be to me?
jcccc, where is your 2.2 from? Where will you do the Masters?
Reply 9
jcccc
Whats MFE and MPhil? I did a maths degree but only achieved a 2.2, not great i know, but will probably end up doing MSc Finance and Investment after my Cert /Diploma in Economics. The main reason im doing the MSc is because i got a 2:2, and i hope to go into banking/finance when i finish. How useful do you guys think the MSc will be to me?

MFE = Masters in Financial Economics
MPhil = Masters (in economics)

The former is a half practical, half academic degree taught by the business school and the economics faculty. It's a one year course that costs a fortune, as it's designed for high flyers looking at banking and finance stuff. The latter is an academic degree, meaning it's much cheaper, two years, and less employable for banking.

An MSc in finance will help, especially if you got a 2:2, but it's not the be all and end all. It's a lot of effort and I'm not sure how well it'll pay off. Though if you don't get into IB, it would be very employable corporate-wise, going into finance.
Reply 10
President Ben, i did my BSc at Exeter and im looking at QMUL mostly, also considered SOAS but heard people who wants to work for government, UN, etc go there(more mature students?).

I want to stay away from essays as much as possible, heard finance is heavily involved with maths, just want some confirmation. With my background in maths, do you guys think i would have problems with the cert/diploma in econ n finance? its mostly 2nd year modules and optional 3rd year finance modules. Oh and dont take me for a fool with my 2:2 :p: , I did f**k all work the first 2 years, and only cared about the degree in my final year after xmas, so stupid of me! But i guess it too late to regret, thats why i want to redeem myself by hopefully completing the MSc.
And what do you mean by banking/finance? What are your goals? Expectations?
Reply 12
Now thats a tough question, I see myself and would like to work in a bank or in the financial sector in some big city. Really not sure what else i can add to that. As for goals, everyone wants to be paid a large sum of cash for their job, and im looking at 20k+, not much i know.

I see the MSc as a way to cover up my 2:2 in maths, and hope it will give me more options in employment terms.
jcccc

I see the MSc as a way to cover up my 2:2 in maths, and hope it will give me more options in employment terms.


Well, it will. Not sure how much it will help things though (costs of doing the MSc considered).
Reply 14
Hey Ben do you know much about QMUL, i mean the economics department etc? I really want to study in London and want to get a UoL qualification, and with my academic background, I see QMUL as the best uni for me to goto.
Reply 15
If you can, UCL or LSE are obviously better. If not, QMUL has a reasonable reputation, probably equivilent to SOAS.
SOAS has an entirely unique reputation. I know that much (them being over the road). I don't know that much about QM - especially at the postgrad level.
Reply 17
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(edited 7 years ago)
Is there such a thing as a lucrative public sector job? :confused:

I don't think any of us will be able to compare Physics and Economics for being rigorous subjects at PhD level... but there seems to be plenty of scope for research and kudos.
Reply 19
edders
Stuff like finance and accounting really doesn't interest me; I'd rather study economics in the more abstracted theoretical sense of mathematical models etc. Do you think economics is an intellectually rigorous subject, or am I better off sticking with physics? (I'm pretty sure I want to do a PhD in something :p: )
This may be completely wrong, and if it is correct me, but, what I'm hearing from you is:

- You're studying Physics at Imperial.
- You want to have a lucrative career in finance.
- You like modelling and mathematical finance/economics.
- You want to do a PhD in either Physics or Economics.

What sprung out in my mind was: why don't you be a quant (quantitative analyst)? As the name suggests, there's a lot of mathematics and modelling - in fact, you need a PhD in a mathematical discipline such as Mathematics, Physics/Theoretical Physics, Engineering, Computer Science (I don't think Economics is usually as accepted as Physics for quant jobs) to even be interviewed - something that you should have. And quants mint money: starting from around £80k right up to £500k, excluding the phat bonuses you may get around Christmas time.

Of course the catch: that industry is extremely competitive as you'd imagine and the jobs are extremely hectic.

Sorry if this completely detracts you. Just thought you might be interested in it. Seems like an almost perfect match. If you are, research a little more about it.

Hope this helps,

Sen