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Manchester or Leeds ?

Hello

I have two offers from the University of Manchester and the University of Leeds. In Manchester I applied for their MSc in Economics while in Leeds I applied for their MA in Economics and Finance at the Leeds University Business School. I know that both universities are not that good in the UK ranking but the programme in Manchester seems to be very serious and mathematical according to the sylabusus. Moreover, I know that their MSc programme and the university itself are regarded quite highly despite the rankings.

On the other hand, the MA programme in Leeds Business School seems to be more applied and the economic modules do not have the same content as other leading programmes in the UK. They even don't have a pre-session math course on the contrary to Manchester which implies on the level of Math needed imo. However, the business school does have a decent name I think with employers and according to what I read, the job prospects are not bad either. In addition, since there is finance involved I guess the course will be more practical and suitable for the job market.

Therefore my question is what do you think would be the better to enhance my job prospects ? Manchester University does seem to perform much better in the world rankings despite the similar position with Leeds in the UK. Besides, is it necessary to pursue a finance degree to be more compatable for the UK job market or can I also progress with a solely Economics MSc (rather theoretical) degree ? What bothers me with Leeds is the brand MA and not MSc but the school claims it is just due to tradition.

Any advice would be very appreciated

Daniel
Reply 1
As far as I know Manchester Business School has a far better reputation... MBS belongs (according to the different TSR threads) to the top 5 or 6 B-schools in the UK for postgrad studies. I didn't hear much about Leed's reputation, that's why I don't know how Leed's B-school performs.

Check this out:
http://www.mbs.ac.uk/aboutus/ranking.aspx

Bye the way... What did you study for undergrad?
Reply 2
I have a BSc in Economics. I know that MBS has a very good reputation. However is their Economics department (which is part of the social sciences faculty) also highly valued with employers? I didn't apply for the MSc Finance and Economics degree at MBS as the tuition fees are extremely high even for home students. Besides, I know that the Economics students share the same Economic modules as those studying for the Finance and Economics degree.

The question basically is Economics at the Social Sciences department (Manchester) or Economics and Finance at a Business School (Leeds) ?
Reply 3
Yeah, the economic department of University of Manchester isn't that highly ranked, but maybe employers would automatically assume that the Economic's degree is from MBS (that's just what I think). Some say Economics at Manchester is not highly ranked because the department for economics is really huge compared to other economic departments in the UK. As to your concern about Leeds I don't really know, sorry.
Reply 4
I sincerely hope that this is the reason for Manchester's Economics low ranking. It is so surprising as Manchester has a good reputation worldwide but in the UK it seems to be lagging behing. Moreover, the course structure and the list of modules seem very interesting and mathematically rigorous at the same time.
Reply 5
I don't think people should take those rankings too serious... They just can be some kind of indication, but if you think the course structure of Manchester is great, then go for it. The problem with those rankings is that they pick out some factors (out of many, many possible factors) and make it to an average score. Finally what counts is what you prefer and your achievement. If so many students apply for economics in Manchester, then it definitely can't be wrong.
Reply 6
If you refer to the Times and Guardian rankings, then you should know that they are of higher relevance to undergraduate students and not graduate. Manchester is a very research-intensive university, and this is why it performs admiringly in rankings whose criteria measure research quality, such as Shanghai and Times world rankings.
Leeds is also a research-intensive University. The business school is not as good as Manchester's though, but it is still very good.
Reply 8
but still, what do u think would look better on the C.V, A MSc in Economics from Manchester or a MA in Economics and Finance from Leeds Business School ?
Reply 9
As an international student, I'd certainly go for a MSc Economics at Manchester. Manchester's international reputation is excellent, regardless of domestic league tables.
Reply 10
Trust me, the UK ranking league table have not a clue on what the actual standing for economic research is in UK. Time, this year, have ranked certain economic departments in the top 20 which considered quite mediocre in academic economics.
And the RAE 2001's result is so outdated that it's useless.

If I were you, I would easily choose Manchester over Leeds. Any university that have economics under their business school, to me, shows a lack of dedication to economic research. In addition, the very fact the program from Leeds is applied is a more of a reason to choose Manchester. An applied program is useless if you want to do PhD economics later onwards. And I speculate Manchester enjoys much better prospect in employment than Leeds. Don't worry about the MSc being to theoretical. If finance industry values applied program over theoretical ones then they wouldn't be hiring LSE/UCL/Warwick/Oxbridge Master students. The fact that you can handle a theoretical program shows, I believe, intellectual strength to employers.
Reply 11
Daniel212
but still, what do u think would look better on the C.V, A MSc in Economics from Manchester or a MA in Economics and Finance from Leeds Business School ?


And btw, unless you're from the states, employers may perceive the MA to be a water down version of MSc. MA sounds to be less rigorous than a MSc in postgraduate level, though this argument doesn't necessarily stand for BA with BSc.
Hi! What didyou finally choose?
I am stuck between the same options though it is for undergraduate.

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