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Rank these universities for MSc Finance/Investment courses

twister_082001

Hello friends,
How would you rate these universities for Finance related PG courses..

1. ICMA, University o Reading
2. Edinburgh
3. Aston
4. Bristol
5. Cass
6. Imperial
7. Durham
8. Bradford
9. QMUL
10. Warwick

Rank them from, 1 to 10 with 1 being the highest or the best rank. Also, how is ICMA compared to Edinburgh, Bristol and Durham in terms of course content and job prospects?

Reply 1

anandbatra

I would say

Tier I- Warwick/Imperial/Cass

Tier II- ICMA/Edinburgh/Bristol

I really don't know much about QMUL, Bradford, Aston or Durham.

Cass is very expensive, though. But, from what I've heard, it's well known for its postgraduate finance programs.

Warwick and Imperial are obviously the best among the schools that you've mentioned.

Reply 2

ILIGAN

9

I think that all depends where you're from and where will you work after the degree.

If you will go back to India, you'd find Warwick and Imperial on the top of the list. I suppose they also have very good networks there. Edinburgh may seem to fall just below the two however. Durham and Bradford are well recognized too. The rest are acceptable but I cannot say they're highly regarded. I think the picture is pretty the same all over Asia. However, when you go to the US, Warwick wins out (unless there is LBS or LSE or Oxbridge in your list). Edinburgh may seem to carry more brand name than any of those schools in your list after Warwick. Surprisingly, Imperial is not that well known in the US but it is very well regarded in the UK and in Asia. (Tanaka still has to prove though.) I still have to get the answer why that is so.

Reply 3

nauru

4

Warwick is known in North America? I heard from Americans that it's pretty much a no-name school over there, much like the rest of the schools on the list. (except Imperial and Edinburgh) Correct me if I'm wrong, as I've lived in Canada but not the United States.

Reply 4

The Orientalist

10

The only schools that are really well known in the US are Oxbridge, LSE and St Andrews. Warwick, Imperial and Edinburgh are not well known.

Reply 5

ILIGAN

9

nauru

Warwick is known in North America? I heard from Americans that it's pretty much a no-name school over there, much like the rest of the schools on the list. (except Imperial and Edinburgh) Correct me if I'm wrong, as I've lived in Canada but not the United States.

The Orientalist was correct. Other than those students who show interest to study in the UK, the 4 schools he mentioned (Oxbrodge, LSE and St Andrews) are the only well-known ones. They're so well-known that they can be considered a household name in the US. My friends' parents even thought St Andrews was located somewhere in New England, USA. :biggrin:

A selected group of people in the US know of Warwick -- probably so due to its well-known and highly regarded business school. I also heard that its Politics and International Studies program is pretty good. I can still remember the first time I heard of warwick when I was in the US -- as an elementary student in a high-end boarding school -- where they participated in the school's career orientation program for graduating high school students. It did also probably helped that many of Warwick's alumni occupy a post in IB with head quarters located in NYC. I really can't trace how the Warwick name became well-respected in the US but I reckon their very established Business School and Social Studies programs have something to do with their populrity, plus they constantly promote in some/few US high schools.

Imperial is not known in the US. For some reason, the Americans are not attracted to study engineering/science/tech outside of the US, except probably if it's Cambridge, becuase there are so many good engineering/science/tech schools for ugrad and grad levels in the US. MIT, Sanford, Caltech, Berkeley, CMU, Cornell, John's Hopkins, UCLA, Michigan to name a few. As you can see, most, if not all Americans who study in the UK are enrolled in programs related to the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Economics and Management. Very rarely would an American study engineering or Law in the UK or in countries outside of the US.

Words have also circulated in some high schools in the US that the city of Edinburgh is such a lovely place live and study in and its university --like the Oxbridge and St Andrews -- is ancient and is very well respected globally.

Reply 6

The Orientalist

10

Iligan, do remember that even though St Andrews is very prestigious in the US it's not even quite considered a top 10 uni in the UK (or just about). It remains a great university with a particularly good reputation in a number of subjects (IR for example I hear?).

EDIT: Iligan, you called me a "she"?!

Reply 7

ILIGAN

9

My apologies, The Orientalist. :smile:

Your alternick name appears to be of a female gender. No harm intended there. Thanks for telling me and for sharing your views about some UK unis.

BTW, you mentioned St Andrews is not quite top 10 in the UK. But I just checked the latest ranking table and it did pretty well. In fact, it did so well that it landed on number 4 spot -- which very much contradicts what you just said here. However, I know league tables are not always accurate and some of the criteria they used are highly questionble (at least, this is true for US News & world Report -- the magazine that ranks US colleges). If you were to give me the top 10 in the UK, what would your list be? I'm interested to know what your top 10 unis are as I want to see the different angle from those available league tables.

Reply 8

The Orientalist

10

ILIGAN

BTW, you mentioned St Andrews is not quite top 10 in the UK. But I just checked the latest ranking table and it did pretty well. In fact, it did so well that it landed on number 4 spot -- which very much contradicts what you just said here. However, I know league tables are not always accurate and some of the criteria they used are highly questionble (at least, this is true for US News & world Report -- the magazine that ranks US colleges). If you were to give me the top 10 in the UK, what would your list be? I'm interested to know what your top 10 unis are as I want to see the different angle from those available league tables.

¨

That league table you mentioned (The Guardian) is probably one of the most inaccurate there is. Avoid it!

The general conscensus of which unis are the best in the UK is as follows (there might be some very slight variations):

1) Cambridge/Oxford
2) LSE/Imperial
3) Warwick/UCL
4) Bristol/Durham/Nottingham/Edinburgh/St Andrews/Bath

Individual subjects are a completely different matter of course.

By the way I'm an international student (Switzerland/France).

Reply 9

dianarey

1. Imperial (Math and Finance programmes)
2. Cass - City (Ms in Finance, in Mathematical Trading and Finance)
3. Warwick (Math and Finance programmes

The rest are really far behind in that specific field... sorry
Of course those are all postgraduate programmes.

Reply 10

twister_082001

OP

Hey guys,

What about ICMA? Cass, Warwick, LSE are top rated universities esp for Finance but I guess ICMA is quite good too...not in the same league but well regarded by employers and not far from London major too. I am trargeting that school for MSc International Securities, Investment and Banking. I am a BE in COmputer Engg. with 1.5 yrs work exp in an IT Consultancy firm...should I go for ICMA? Got rejected from Cass and Warwick :frown:

(

Reply 11

rushabhs84

hey guys i m from india and have done my bachelors degree in accounts and commerce and i have got an offer from icma centre thats reading in international securities,investment and banking(isib) and also from lancaster in msc in finance now im really confused which one is better globally and which uni has a brand name universally as both courses content wice are the same so...if any1 can help me make a decision i would be really greatful thank u so itss
1. lancaster in msc in finance
2. icma in isib which is ranked better and has better carrer prospects

Reply 12

rushabhs84

which one is better ranked and has better job prospects
1 lancaster in msc in finance
2 reading (icma) in international securities, investment and banking (isib)

Reply 13

dianarey

twister_082001

Hey guys,

What about ICMA? Cass, Warwick, LSE are top rated universities esp for Finance but I guess ICMA is quite good too...not in the same league but well regarded by employers and not far from London major too. I am trargeting that school for MSc International Securities, Investment and Banking. I am a BE in COmputer Engg. with 1.5 yrs work exp in an IT Consultancy firm...should I go for ICMA? Got rejected from Cass and Warwick :frown:

(

hey I am sorry to hear that u were rejected by Cass and Warwick.
I know their criterias are becoming much competitive due to high demand.
In this case try to apply to schools like ICMA or Lancaster or even King's college... if they have something similar.
good luck

Reply 14

hungry_hog

9

BTW, you mentioned St Andrews is not quite top 10 in the UK. But I just checked the latest ranking table and it did pretty well. In fact, it did so well that it landed on number 4 spot -- which very much contradicts what you just said here. However, I know league tables are not always accurate and some of the criteria they used are highly questionble (at least, this is true for US News & world Report -- the magazine that ranks US colleges). If you were to give me the top 10 in the UK, what would your list be? I'm interested to know what your top 10 unis are as I want to see the different angle from those available league tables.

I wonder how much of St. Andrews popularity in the US is due to the Prince William effect

Reply 15

twister_082001

OP

Most of the universities or colleges become popular bcs of their alumni or famous people who studied there but I guess St. Andrews is a good one anyway.

Hey guys can you tell me how good is ICMA Centre at Reading for a career in IB/Financial Consulting etc., esp their MSc ISIB. I have decided to join the course but wanted to know more abt it.

Reply 16

twister_082001

OP

Hey people, how good is ICMA Centre's MSc in Int'l Securities, Investment and BAnking. What r the job prospects after that?

Reply 17

2nd_slip

9

You can become the MRF pace academy coach!

Rank these universities for MSc Finance/Investment courses

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