MSF- Bocconi or ESADE. Thanks!

I've got admitted to the MSF program in both schools. Yet I'm not sure which school to go to.

I'm a Chinese student and I'm thinking about getting into a commercial bank after graduation. As here in China none of them is famous, I'm considering which school has a better reputation in Europe. Yes I know the situation in Europe may be not so good but I'll try anyway...

I also got admission to University of Maryland in USA. I guess I just do not like the school so much. Its MSF program recruites about 90% percent Chinese students, so what's the difference between going abroad and staying here in China.(I can even build a better network here. Haha~) And it costs a lot more...So I think I'd better give it up. What do you guys think?

Any advice will be really helpful. Thank you so much.

 

Thank you themaverick and ametista. It seems that most people on this forum think that Bocconi is better than ESADE. Yet I'm wondering if ESADE has a better campus culture. I noticed that many people who had been to a campus tour to ESADE mentioned its focus on individuals. What about Bocconi in this aspect?

My undergraduate school rarely cares for students and this brings us a lot of extra difficulties, especially when its comes to hunting for an internship or job. That's why I hope that my graduate school can be one that cares for its students.

Thank you for your comments!

 

well i mean do you care about getting a job in london or having a "fun" campus.

bocconi MSc Finance consistently gets its students IB jobs in london, esade not so much. but bocconi is not a fun campus and its MSc Finance program isnt exactly fun either.

regardless, if you dont have eu citizenship, you'll have a more difficult time finding work wherever you go.

 
Pedo_Bear:
well i mean do you care about getting a job in london or having a "fun" campus.

bocconi MSc Finance consistently gets its students IB jobs in london, esade not so much. but bocconi is not a fun campus and its MSc Finance program isnt exactly fun either.

regardless, if you dont have eu citizenship, you'll have a more difficult time finding work wherever you go.

Thank you a lot. ER...Actually I never thought about having a fun campus. (I guess few Chinese will take 'fun' into consideration when choosing schools.) By mentioning ESADE's focus on individuals, I mean is it possible that for an international student, a helpful career service can be more valuable than reputation? I know some Chinese in US who go to schools with good reputation but relatively not-so-good career service, and they have even more trouble finding a job compared with those who go to schools offering great career service.

Now I'm still in college and not many people go to European schools here. Consequently, my knowledge about job-hunting, especially in Europe, is quite rough. Thank you a lot for your advices and comments. (And if I said anything less proper, please point it out for me. Thanks.)

 

Do you speak either Spanish or Italian? Why not St. Gallen / Mannheim / WHU? Where would you like to work after the MSc? As Latam I would take Esade, but as a Chinese I would say Bocconi.

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El_Mono:
Do you speak either Spanish or Italian? Why not St. Gallen / Mannheim / WHU? Where would you like to work after the MSc? As Latam I would take Esade, but as a Chinese I would say Bocconi.

I speak only English, Chinese and some Japanese...at least for now...Language is no doubt a biggest barrier for me. So I'll try to get to London or a company using English as their working language on European continent. (Chances are quite limited for both though.)

By saying Bocconi is a better choice, do you mean that it gives students bigger chances of getting to London?

And another question; Britain changed its Visa policy a few months ago, is it still possible for a non-EU citizen to work in London?

Thank you very much.

 

When I see people ask this question I always have an easy answer that not many people want to hear. You can always make your own fun, but you can't always get a good job out of a fun school.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 
A Posse Ad Esse:
When I see people ask this question I always have an easy answer that not many people want to hear. You can always make your own fun, but you can't always get a good job out of a fun school.
This is good advice!

Perhaps in my situation I shall interpret it this way: I can do the career service by myself, but if the school's reputation is limited, then what I can do to make up for that is also more limited.

 

ESADE also places consistenlty at top BBs in London maybe slightly less than Bocconi but if you are set on banking you will have a good shot from ESADE (based on what I have encountered in London).

Agreed though that Bocconi will give you a slight edge.

Sure you can make your own fun at uni but believe me Barcelona is about 25x better than Milan in terms of living quality. This includes the beach, the climate, costs, parties and and and.

Sure getting a job should be your priority, but if you have some decent past experience and network during the year you should do just fine from ESADE.

just my 2 cents

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

hi kukumalu im also planning to attend the msc finance.but i need the scholarship, have u applied to uk schools.? also have u got the scholarsip for bocconi?

 

to Higheck123 i don't see any pre-required math courses for Bocconi, yet i think there must be some. I once called their admission office, they replied 'no'. I guess I should have writed to their students or professors directly....

 
Best Response

I'm attending ESADE now in the MBA program. I think realistically, given today's environment, anyone without EU citizenship will have a harder time to find a job here than in the past. Having said that, Adidas told us Nothing is Impossible, and it's not. A few of my (Asian) classmates are already gearing up for interviews in London's IBanking world right after we come back from the holidays, and surprisingly, more than a few don't even come from a finance background. It honestly has as much to do with how hard you work for it and what the school's reputation. If you want it more than anyone else, chances are, you're going to have a reasonable shot. It doesn't matter if you go to LBS and don't try. Banks only want people who want to be there.

As you mentioned before, ESADE is certainly very focused on their students. I swear, everyone here must have been trained to memorize first year students' names, because the first day I walked in the door during orientation week, quite a few staffs were already calling my name. The key is, they try to help you get where you're going. Career Services has been really good in this aspect, even catering to an oddball like me who likes to work with cars and not other people's money. I'm not sure if MSF shares the same career services as us MBAs, but if they do, then there's another Asian advantage (provided that you want to consider working there). Our admissions director for Asia is also in charge of Asia Career Services, so she gets a lot of opportunities and face time to meet companies, rather than making phone calls from half the world away. It makes a difference.

Again, the biggest difference maker is you. If you can get face time, if you can show passion, if you know your stuff, then it's going to make an impression on the recruiters. This is also the part that I find students from Asia to be a bit weaker in (I'm from Taiwan). In general we're very good in knowing our stuff and studying hard, but very often we don't make a big enough impression to recruiters. You have to step outside of your own comfort zone sometimes to really be noticed, but in the end you'll be better no matter what you choose to do.

And speaking of getting face time, Barcelona is pretty good at helping you do that. IESE is 5min walk from ESADE, so it makes sense for a lot of recruiters to come and recruit. Some of my classmates literally helped recruiters carry their stuff to IESE after presentation at our school. You'll get a lot of networking here in BCN. You just have to make the time and effort for it. And speaking of efforts, two of my classmates actually take a weekend class (trading or investments) in London just because they want to work in a bank so much. It gives them face time, even more networking, and even more technical knowledge. Unsurprisingly... I know at least one of them have several interviews lined up already. Oh, and it's only about an hour flight to London, which is great if you have that impromptu networking session that you really want to go.

Hope that helps!

Sunny

 

Hi Lads, I hope you can help me out.

I have admitted to Bocconi (2 year program) and ESADE (1year program) for a Master in Finance, I dont know where to go. I d like to ask your suggestions or answers about the following questions:

MY GOALS & CONSIDERATIONS: -Job Preferences: Investment Funds > Investment Banks > Consulting Firms. But the most important thing is that I want to have a job after graduation in a few months maximum, psychologically I could not stand being unemployed after studying so many years. -Location: Abroad (no matter the country, I am spanish) -I am 25 (nearly 26), I have studied a High Degree in Pharmacy prior to my BBA.

1) What Business School is better to hit the investment sector? No matter the country I d end up working.

2) What percentage (an estimation) of ESADE/Bocconi students land a job or internship in a investment institution ranging from 1st tier to 3rd tier (like ranging from Goldman Sachs to Societé Generale for example)? I asked some Bocconi and ESADE's alumni and they told " a lot of my classmates found a summer internship in IBs in London" and then it was like 15% of their class. I know that breaking into IBs is quite tricky, but I though the acceptance rate was going to be higher.

3) Is the real salary similar to the average salary of 47.500 EUR/year after graduation stated in ESADE's website?

Thank you very much for your time. Kind regards, José

 

By all mean Bocconi unless you want to work in Spain. The Bocconi MiF is quite tough and still is among the ones that places most consistently in IB. What do you mean with Investment Sector? Asset Management, hedge funds, private equity? For the latter two it will be difficult straight out of school. Most likely you could find something with a smaller local firm (then I'd rather go with my home country due to language, etc). So (1) Bocconi places better in the financial sector. (2) I would not forget that a lot of people even though they are in a Finance program don't want to follow the IB track anymore (start-ups, corporates, consulting are all viable alternatives), so I would say any school that places 15-25% in IB is still pretty good. (3) If you get into a decent bank that salary will more be like 65-80k pre-taxes in most EU countries.

 

What about SSE in terms of placement in London? Is it as good as the case of Bocconi? And for both schools (Bocconi and SSE) is it true those that finally make it into a FO IB are the citizens of the country the school is operating? I mean I've heard ibd jobs for Bocconi graduates is offered to Italian graduates and in case of SSE to Swedes graduates as those people are recruited to fill the desks designed to serve the clients of their native language, is it true?

 

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