Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) or the University of Warwick / LSE / other UK unis
Hello!
I’ve graduated IB in May 2023 and currently studying at a no-name university in Estonia. (Estonian citizen)
I realised that I made a mistake because the quality of education and opportunities are pretty bad out here.
So I want to start my studies in a better university next year. I would prefer to stay in London after graduating, but at the same time is it really worth to pay over 30 000 euros each year for tuition + living costs in London / Warwick. I’m from a middle-income family (Eastern European measures) so it will be pretty tough to finance it.
Alternatively to the UK, I can study at: Copenhagen Business School, Erasmus University Rotterdam, KU Leuven.
Should I stay here in Europe with cheap tuition or go for the UK and spend over 100k in 3 years? Considering the fact that I’m only fluent in Russian and English is it even possible to get finance internships (preferably IB) in the Netherlands/Denmark?
Another plan is bachelors in Europe + Masters in LSE / Oxbridge.
Recruiting may be slightly easier from the UK, but (depending on the degree) Erasmus University sends a lot of people to London every year.
Some recruiting events (like International Banking Cycle) may be more difficult to attend though, as they often require fluency in Dutch.
Thank you for your reply.
What would you say about CBS and KU Leuven? Maybe other suggestions for low-cost unis in Europe?
Tough one, as I have not studied at either of those unis. Intuitively, I see less people from Leuven and CBS in London though, and you’ll likely run into similar issues regarding the language barrier for local recruitment events.
Sorry if I didn't notice that but are you currently studying at the Bachelor's or Master's level? For Bachelor's, it's easier to study in the UK (but very expensive) to land a FT role in London but EUR is also decent based on what I've heard. For Master's, I'd say you have pretty equal chances with semi-target unis in the UK and Erasmus Uni. I've only heard of one person from CBS and none from KU Leuven in IB. There are more people from those unis in IB for sure, but certainly less than from EUR. But if money is an issue, I'd go to EUR and try to land an summer internship/off cycle one in London, all depending on your level of studies.
I started Bachelor’s in September. Planning to drop out soon. EUR is only 2000 in tuition, while the UK is 26000+ and cost of living being higher than the Netherlands.
Do you know if there are people landing spring weeks as European students?
Ah that's much better for you as you still have lots of time ahead! In this situation I'd definitely go for Erasmus because the tuition fees difference is massive and it's NOT WORTH it, really. I'm not sure about spring weeks, but there is a good amount of people from EUR landing summer internships, so that should be feasible. There are also limited chances of landing an internship in the Netherlands, even as a non Dutch speaker, so that can always be your backup plan. And, if things don't go right, you can always spare money and do a Master's degree in the UK so that you would get an "upgrade" in the application context haha
I'm Estonian myself, can give you some ideas. Disclaimer: Uni Tartu grad myself. But imo, every non-UT degree has low quality in Estonia and it's ironic that within Estonia, degrees and GPAs are viewed equivalently when UT quality (global top 300ish) is miles ahead of every other Estonian higher ed institution.
I know there's 1 Estonian that's successfully followed the plan that you list at the bottom in more simpler form, he did bachelors @ Uni Tartu into ER experience into 1-year LBS masters, now works in Dublin (he told me he got into the recruiting cycle very late and was quite torn between IB and ER).
Personally, I tried to stack educational qualifications (did a masters in English + got certificates to boot) and that wasn't enough either. Breaking into London is basically impossible if you're hoping for an employer to sponsor you. So now I'm thinking German C1 to break into a Jefferies or Kepler Cheuvreux.
So yeah, TLDR: if you want to get into London, finish your bachelors then try to do something relevant for 2ish years (in Estonia, most likely going to have to be Big 4) and then do a 1-year masters in London to then recruit with that.
Edit: Just so I don't forget - don't expect to find a single role if you don't speak local language. You may luck into certain employers having Baltics exposure and wanting Estonian-speaking analysts (see Aurora Energy Research), but those are super rare. So work on your European languages, I would target German or French with potential for Dutch as well.
What do you think about staying in Estonia? Lately, I started to think about wlb and having a family in the future, so I don’t know about going to London anymore.
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