Bocconi Mafinrisk vs MSc in Finance (vs GGSB MSc in Finance)
Hi guys,
I am a French student in business/finance willing to pursue a master's in finance next year, and I'd need help with choosing my program.
Are any of you guys familiar with Bocconi's programs? I totally get the difference between the Mafinrisk and the MSc in Finance in terms of duration, cost... But I was wondering if there was any differences in terms of placement stats and intensity of the program.
I sent an email to both programs but only the mafinrisk replied, telling me to ask the MSc for their opinion.
Which one would you recommend and why?
To me it's a big advantage to attend the mafinrisk as it is only one year and "only" 14.5k€ whereas the MSc in finance is 2 years and therefore 2*12k€... But graduating in 2 years gives you the opportunity of doing a summer internship (increasing the chances of landing a grad position when the program is done) and also studying at a slower pace.
My goal would be to either go into IB or Asset Management, I am still trying to figure out which one fits me best.
I'd like to stay in Europe (London, Geneva, Paris or even Monaco)
My back-up plan would be GGSB's MSc in Finance, which looks to be a step below Bocconi in terms of everything, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks in advance for your opinions
I did my MSc at Bocconi. Bocconi is a massive feeder in the banking industry and it's MSc in Finance is definitely the program with the best placement statistics in that field. This is true because of the alumni network in London and because of students self selection (who wants to go into banking go there, top students tends to go there because they know they will be able to get into banking and make more money, etc.). Given the fact that you can pick the subjects that you want during your second year, you can tailor the program according to your interests and this will help you to boost your techicals and during the recruiting season. Having said that, the biggest advantage of the program is that it gives you the opportunity to go for a summer or offcycle internship after your first year. Almost everyone who got into banking from that program did so thanks to an internship.
On the other hand, the Mafinrisk is more linked to the insurance and risk management market, which is not IBD. I am not that familiar with that program but I know that students there are usually older, sometimes with previous working experience and are more interested in the "risk" part of the finance industry. Therefore, if you are willing to break into IBD, you should prefer other programs (i.e. International Management, Accountring, Financial Management and Control, Economics).
GGSB is good but, as you said, is ranked lower and it will always be less respected than HEC, ESSEC, ESCP and EM Lyon.
Just out of curiosity, why would you not apply for any other French schools?
Thanks cruel3a for your reply. I was thinking that both program would place with similar stats in IBD as the mafinrisk curriculum looks very axed towards financial markets. So that's good to have your opinion... I think I might go for the MSc instead of the Mafinrisk then. But would employers really pay attention whether it is written "MSc in Finance" or "Master in Quantitative finance & risk management" on my resume?
I didn't apply to other French schools for different reasons. Besides the top 3 (HEC, ESSEC, ESCP), I think that Bocconi would bring me higher than any of the French schools in Europe (I don't really aim for a job in France), and the program looks more interesting. Plus I am fluent in Italian and I wanted to have the opportunity to keep up with my Italian. My dossier is good but I think not good enough to waste time applying to HEC (I got rejected from LSE). Finally most of the French schools require French grad students (Licence in 3 years) to take a year in general Management before entering the program or being able to specialize, and I really wanted to focus on Finance. As an international you can apply to the MSc in Finance with a Bachelor but for us we still have to study a fourth year before we can apply to the MScs. I am still thinking of applying to Dauphine though, as all the industry people I had the opportunity to meet (BlackRock, Exane, BNP...) recommended the university. But the admissions look to be quite competitive too.
First it seems to me that you are not already set on IBD or Markets. If you are looking for a job in trading (Markets), Bocconi will not work. EDHEC, for instance, is way better than Bocconi for trading jobs since French schools tend to be very respected for quantitative jobs. Anyway, maybe HRs will not put that much attention on your name degree but Bocconi alumni that will interview you during your first rounds in Milan will and you will need to be able to tell your story if you pick the Mafinrisk over the MSc.
T_LAURENT I think Bocconi would be a good fit. I've heard good things and if you want to work outside of France, then Bocconi could give you exposure both in Italy and London. If you were to look at school in France, then I think as a French student you would probably have to take the tage mage instead of the GMAT; might be a pain to take different kinds of tests.
cruel3a I have a quick question. What else do you know about EDHEC? I might be going there, so I'm interested in what other Europeans think about the school.
That's very true I am still not sure where I want to end up... I feel like I would love both. But tons of people say that trading is almost only done by engineers nowadays anyway, so I might not even stand a chance even if I wanted.
Could you please let me know what kind of job you found after your MSc and where? What about your colleagues from the program? On the MSc Finance website they say that only 39% of alumnis are employed abroad: is that because they chose to stay in Italy?
I did not attend the MSc in Finance. I attended a MSc in Accounting and at the end I had offers for Finance in a BB in London, M&A in a BB in Milan and Corporate Finance in a Big 4 in Milan. I am not sure if so many people from the finance program find a job abroad but I am sure like hell that the program sends a lot of people to London in IBD and Sales. 39% is very high man. Around 75% of the class is composed by Italians and they decide to stay in their home country (which, btw, offers a great lifestyle) or where not able to secure a position in London.
I heard it is solid from a quantitative point of view. I met a couple of guys at Barclays in their Trading and Structuring division coming from that university. At the end, as always, you should choose the best school you can get and if you are not able to land an offer from HEC, ESSEC or ESCP, I would go with EDHEC over other french schools (ie. EM Lyon, where I went on exchange and that I think is not too finance focused).
Hello everybody ! I'm French too and I will enter the TSE (Toulouse School of Economics) in next september in third year. But my hope is to join the Bocconi for my fourth year and I have a lot of questions so maybe you can help me. First of all, do you know exactly what English test do I have to do ? GMAT or another one ? Because I read a lot of things about this and I'm not sure to be right. For the other questions I'm really happy to read your answer over my comment. Thank you !
Emilien Simioni
Hey Emilien,
Usually they ask for the TOEFL as a proof of your English level. The GMAT is more of a general test (half of it is math, it was made to test your aptitude to become a manager) and thus they ask for both tests.
I got accepted into both programs (MaFinRisk and MSc in Finance) and I'm currently trying to choose the one I'll be attending, prob the MaFinRisk. I'll let you know what I think about the school/program/career opportunities etc once I'll be there.
For the admission you need to sit the gmat or the gre. To prove you can speak english you can choose between the toefl, ielts, fce and bec. It is all written on the school website btw...
Thanks for your help. I will come back to hear about your student experience.
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