MSc finance profile evaluation

Hello everyone! I’m starting my last year of my undergraduate degree and I’m going to start applying to MSc Finance across Europe in the following months. I’m targeting top European schools such as Imperial, LSE, Oxford, Bocconi, Warwick, IE, etc.

Quick profile:

Double bachelors degree (5 years) in Law and Management in a top Portuguese university with an average grade so far of 16.8/20 in Law and 17.3/20 in Management. Had a medium amount of Mathematics and Statistics, as well as some light Econometrics and 2 big finance courses (Financial Markets and Corporate Finance). I’ve had excellent grades in all of them, as well in the the vast majority of the classes I took so far. I’ve obtained a merit scholarship for the 4 years I took so far, thanks to being among the top students of the class each year.
I did an exchange semester at Copenhagen Business School and got very good grades there as well.
I have just taken the GMAT and got a 750 unofficial score (waiting on my official score, probably coming in 1 week or so).
I did a summer internship at a Big 4 consulting firm this year, in the Corporate Tax department. I’ve also played a team sport since I was 6 years old and have won various trophies from very young to senior levels. I’ve played in Portugal and a bit in Denmark when I was in exchange there.
I’ve been part of a pro bono student consulting association in my uni, part of the student association, and part of a financial association of my uni writing articles on financial topics to be read by the students and faculty.

Do you guys think I have a chance at any of the top unis in Europe? I’m afraid they won’t like the fact that I do not come from a highly quantitative course such as Econ or Maths, that I come from a Portuguese uni (even if one of the best in the country), or that my only 1 month of internship isn’t enough.
Thanks a lot!

Reply 1

RedAndYellow1260

4

Hi there, your profile looks pretty good to me. The most important thing for you to consider is what you're hoping to gain from doing an MSc Finance at this point in your career, then things would fall into places.

You might be competitive for LSE, Imperial and Warwick as long as you have a great GMAT quant score along with strong personal statements and letters of recommendation. The caveat is that you might be offered a spot on one of their less math-y programmes (like MSc in Acc+Fin). My profile is more finance-related but not as well-rounded as yours, and I still managed to get into LSE, Imperial and Warwick for Acc+Fin.

That being said, you should apply to as many programmes as you can. Good luck.

Reply 2

PBVF

OP

3

Original post by RedAndYellow1260

Hi there, your profile looks pretty good to me. The most important thing for you to consider is what you're hoping to gain from doing an MSc Finance at this point in your career, then things would fall into places.

You might be competitive for LSE, Imperial and Warwick as long as you have a great GMAT quant score along with strong personal statements and letters of recommendation. The caveat is that you might be offered a spot on one of their less math-y programmes (like MSc in Acc+Fin). My profile is more finance-related but not as well-rounded as yours, and I still managed to get into LSE, Imperial and Warwick for Acc+Fin.

That being said, you should apply to as many programmes as you can. Good luck.

Thank you for your answer! My GMAT score was the following:
Total 750 98%
Quantitative Reasoning 49 72%
Verbal Reasoning 42 96%
Integrated Reasoning 7 78%
Analytical Writing Assessment 5 54%

I’m also considering Bocconi, Stockholm School of Economics and Copenhagen Business School to study the MSc finance. Would my chances be greater there? Also, would their MSc finance programs be on the level of LSE, Imperial and WBS in a way that it would be better to pick their finance masters as opposed to the other unis’ MSc finance+acc?
Additionally, I’m weighing the fact that Bocconi (16.000 euros) and CBS/SSE (0 euros because I’m an EU resident and student) are much cheaper than LSE/Imp/WBS (around 50.000 euros). Is this difference really worth it? Is it easier to get in those other 3 unis, and if so, would I be so badly served if I only got in their MSc Finance and not the top UK ones?
Thank you in advance and all the best!

Reply 3

RedAndYellow1260

4

Original post by PBVF

Thank you for your answer! My GMAT score was the following:
Total 750 98%
Quantitative Reasoning 49 72%
Verbal Reasoning 42 96%
Integrated Reasoning 7 78%
Analytical Writing Assessment 5 54%

I’m also considering Bocconi, Stockholm School of Economics and Copenhagen Business School to study the MSc finance. Would my chances be greater there? Also, would their MSc finance programs be on the level of LSE, Imperial and WBS in a way that it would be better to pick their finance masters as opposed to the other unis’ MSc finance+acc?
Additionally, I’m weighing the fact that Bocconi (16.000 euros) and CBS/SSE (0 euros because I’m an EU resident and student) are much cheaper than LSE/Imp/WBS (around 50.000 euros). Is this difference really worth it? Is it easier to get in those other 3 unis, and if so, would I be so badly served if I only got in their MSc Finance and not the top UK ones?
Thank you in advance and all the best!

Hello, sorry for the late reply. Your GMAT result is definitely stronger than mine. You would probably be fine on that front. But admissions are pretty unpredictable.
Academicallly speaking, LSE/Imp are the top places for finance in the UK, if not in the entire Europe. So, if you want to learn from the cream of the crop in finance research, it is worth the premium. But CBS/SSE is super strong and probably more or less on par with those UK schools, so you wouldn't miss out too much if you decide to attend them.
Ultimately, it really depends on your career goals. You should look up alumni from those schools and see how well they're placed and compare them to alumni from UK schools, and see if the diffrences in tuition would be worth it. This highly depends on your personal definiton of a good placement.

Reply 4

Warwick Business School

Official Rep

11

Hi PBVF,

I hope you are keeping well.

I am Danielle Carroll, Recruitment Manager for the MSc programmes here at Warwick Business School. You have a very interesting background that we would very much like to discuss with you. For our MSc Finance you are not required to take a GMAT test. If you would like to reach out to us, we would be happy to review your undergraduate transcript so far and advise you on suitability to our course before you decide on if you wish to make an application. If you are interested in sending through your transcript and/or setting up a 1-2-1 consultation please reach out to us by emailing [email protected].

We hope to hear from you soon,

All the best,
Danielle

MSc finance profile evaluation

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you