UK Master in Finance Advice
Hi all,
I am a penultimate year Business Management student at a semi-target university in the United Kingdom (think Warwick, Bath, Durham). I am currently doing an industrial placement (12 months) in the Asset Management division of a BB in London.
I will be applying to the below schools for a Masters in Finance, and I would like to hear everybody's opinions in order to make a more informed choice.
Ideally, I am looking to pursue a career in Investment Banking/Management Consulting and I am currently averaging a high 2:1, although I am confident I will graduate with a First.
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Imperial College Business School (MSc Finance and Accounting) - This is my preferred option at the moment, I have met numerous people who have graduated from the programme and they are all doing very well professionally. In addition, I like the course structure and the fact that it is less theoretical and academic than LSE, Oxbridge.
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LBS (Master in Financial Analysis) - From what I have read, LBS is the best school in the list. However, I understand that the GMAT is required. Therefore, it would have to be significantly better in order to justify the extra effort of taking GMATs while trying to average a first in my final year.
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Judge Business School (MFin) - The course looks very interesting and I like the fact that it is a 'campus university', meaning life will be less hectic than studying in London. Also, Oxbridge is very well recognised internationally, surely more than Imperial. The only issue I see is that it is supposedly post-experience, although I have seen a number of candidates on Linkedin starting straight after finishing their UG degrees.
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Said Business School (Master in Financial Economics) - Same as above with the exception that this programme is pre-experience. However, from what I have heard, the programme is extremely technical and more Econ-heavy than the others.
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LSE (MSc Finance / Accounting and Finance) - Great name and recruiters in the city seem to love LSE grads.
What are your thoughts? Is it unrealistic for me to get into any of these courses? Are my expectations accurate?
Thank you all in advance for your precious advice!
I'm on one of the programmes which you've mentioned.
Career-wise they should all get you to where you want to go. Plus, your profile sounds great.
I don't know too much about Cambridge and Oxford since I didn't consider either. But Cambridge have the MPhil Finance which I believe is a 1 year pre-experience programme. It requires a First Class I think, so you'd need to push your average up for that. Both Cambridge and Oxford IMO are overly theoretical in curriculum, but offer really solid career prospects. They are both much cheaper than their London counterparts too. However, travelling for interviews will be a bit of a nuisance but this is a rather minor point.
The three I have more info on:
ICBS + Fantastic facilities + Really good course curriculum + Practical emphasis - Department in general is more maths focused (though this applies more to the MSc Finance course) - Brand name (especially at the MSc level) isn't as strong as the others. It is mainly known as a science / engineering university - At c. £33K, it's not as good value for money as the others since the brand isn't as strong but the price is the same
Good to know: the 'career statement' section in their application is really important. They want to know what you've done to date and how you think their programme will get you to where you want to go. The personal statement is also important here.
LBS + Best business school brand in the UK + The most practical-focused curriculum IMO + Great facilities + Many of the lecturers have industry experience + Inter-generational learning - you do modules with MBA students and can benefit from their experience and contributions in class - LBS is mainly known for its MBA programme. At the MSc level, MSc Management is more well known. Basically - MFA lacks the alumni network and recognition for now, but it attracts a high calibre of student
Good to know; GMAT is a must, even as a UK student. A GMAT over 650 + a solid 2.1 + good work experience will make you competitive
LSE + Fantastic brand name in general. However, one thing to note - LSE has more postgrads than undergrads. So, unlike Cambridge, Oxford and ICL which are more known for their undergrad reputation, LSE is known for both + MSc Finance has a lot of visibility (even though it's been running for around 10 years only), whilst the MSc A+F programme is the oldest one in the city (50+ years going now) so has a very large alumni network + Lecturers have stellar academic backgrounds (often top US-university educated) + MSc A+F is good value for money compared to the others, MSc Finance is reasonable for the brand - Small campus, lacks facilities - Course curriculum is not as practical-focused as ICBS or LBS
Good to know: academics are of course very important, but so are academic references
So to summarise, they're basically all great options in terms of careers. I think where they differ on is 1) how academic vs practical they are, 2) their brand in terms of the actual programmes on offer, 3) the facilities at each university and 4) the value for money.
You should be competitive for ICBS and LSE (both programmes) without the GMAT. LBS depends largely on your GMAT. Cambridge and Oxford will be unlikely without a first.
Thank you for your response FG, extremely helpful! Best of luck in your endeavors!
This was fantastically useful. Can you tell me what you would take over LSE finance, finance and private equity, and Cambridge Finance and Economics? Ultimate aim is the usual on these type of forums. Many thanks.
**UPDATE: **
I eventually decided to take the GMAT and got a 700 (Q43 V42 IR8 AWA5.5).
I am pretty satisfied with this score, however, I realise the low quant score could be an issue.
In addition, I have decided to apply to a slightly different list of schools (in order of preference)
Many thanks for the comments and help!
Is Bocconi good? I know it is a quite known school in Italy, however, does it hold the same reputation in other EU countries?
Thanks!
Just putting this out here: often see people here claiming that the above programs are equal but Oxford and LSE Fin+PE are actually clearly top 2 in competitiveness and the best especially if you want to do PE, with slight edge to Oxford imo. Cambridge is much less well regarded
Hey thanks for your response. Are you in one of these programs or is this general hearsay from day recruiters?
Heard directly from top recruiter - Cambridge, Imperial etc can obv also work but would recommend LSE/Ox if you can
Really?: At the pre-experience Master level, LSE above LBS? :o
MSc Programs in UK (Originally Posted: 02/12/2008)
Hey,
I will soon graduate in Canada and I'm really interested in doing a MSc Program in Finance in the UK especially since the job market has been so unstable this year. Because at the moment I am only getting offers for ancillary finance positions and I'm not sure if it would help me at all in the future. Could anyone here give me some advice on whether it is a good idea to pursue a MSc Finance program and look for another job next year or do with the current positions.
Could anyone from the UK also tell me what's the best school for MSc Finance programs? I've been doing a little research of my own at the moment and Cass' program appeal to me the most. Can anyone also tell me about Cass?
LSE. MSc Finance, MSc Finance and Economics, MSc Accounting and Finance.
MSc Accounting and Finance is by far the easiest, both to get into and courses. All have great placement in the City.
Cass is okay.
LSE is mentioned a lot, but Imperial has an excellent program. As do Oxford and Cambridge. And Warwick isn't terrible.
how about placements?
because Cass claims to be top school at placing its graduates.
the thing with imperial is that i find the program a little bit theoretical based on the outline whilst the cass one seems pretty practical. do you know anyone that's in Imperial and what did they say about the program? Also is the IC program hard to get in?
Joing ibtalk.com... its basically the UK version of this forum, but has more students (undergrads/postgrads) than ppl actually working in IB. Might provide you with a better understanding of the courses etc..
As for courses/uni's, depends what your looking to get into job wise.. if you're looking to get into IB then LSE/Imperial/Oxbridge/Warwick (like mentioned) probably come to mind in terms Finance. You could call them Target University's, and all of them have an international reputation (Warwick a little less). If you're just looking to get into a general finance position then Cass would provide better value for money, as MSC Finance in LSE/Imperial are around the £20k figure.
If you got real money to kill and have previous experience (i think 3 years) i would recommend London Business School.
As for getting into those above targets, i would apply early mate.. cause a lot of graduates didnt get the jobs they wanted in investment banking and are looking to go these universities to do Finance postgrads and apply next year. The most common names im hearing amongst the UCL guys is MSc Finance at LSE/Imperial!
All the best!
"The future belongs to those who prepare for it today" - Malcolm X
LBS also has pre-experience Masters programs.
Where as MSc Finance harder than Msc Accounting and Finance, I call bs on that one. The MSc in Finance is basicaly the same as the MSc A&F, except they are starting it only next year and on top of that you don't have to take the mandatory accounting classes (and trust me they are not easy...) MSc Economics and Finance is definitely one of the hardest programs though.
Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is. - My ex girlfriend
Which masters? UK EDITION (Originally Posted: 09/27/2013)
Hello
I am currently going into my final year studying economics at a Semi target in the UK (Nottingham), headed for a 1st class honors (GPA 3.75 - 4.0 I believe), and and looking at breaking into investment banking.
I have strong work experience and excellent E/C's, climbed Kilimanjaro, raised £2k for charity, used to tutor year 6 state schoolers maths, volunteer work, BNP paribas summer analyst last summer and much more...
Here are my questions, this year I will be applying for FO grad roles at as many investment banks as possible and also to master degree programmes as a back up incase I dont land an offer. Here are my current choices (i will only take up one assuming i don't get any job offers)
Oxford Masters in financial economics Cambridge Mphil finance Lse Mfin and PE Lbs Msc Management Imperial Mfin
my main question is would these masters degrees get me interviews or would my semi-target undergrad hold me back,
also how would you rank these master programmes for getting into FO IB, Preferably trading. Im not worried about costs of the degrees, just reputation. Also does anyone know whether there are any pre experience masters abroad (any country, i dont mind as long as its a good school) that i should look into?
thanks
P.S Which course will hold the most weight abroad, i would ideally like to work in London for a few years than move to HK/NYC.
All these schools have strong OCR so you should be fine. I have friends who are doing their Cambridge MPhil Finance and LSE MFin and investment banks both BBs, MMs and elite boutiques heavily recruit there.
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