Erasmus University Rotterdam vs Copenhagen Business School
Hi everyone,
I need your advice on choosing the right Master's program. I've been accepted, as an international student, into the MSc in Financial Economics at Erasmus School of Economics and also have a strong chance of getting into CBS's Finance and Investments Master's program.
I'm aware that the MSc in Financial Economics isn't as prestigious as the programs offered by RSM, but I'm curious about how it is perceived by recruiters across Europe. Would it be a smarter choice to attend CBS, which offers a two-year program with opportunities like the CEMS double degree or exchanges at top universities? The Financial Economics program seems a bit limited, as it is a one-year academic course without the chance for internships or international study.
I'm open to both investment banking and wealth management roles and would prefer London, though I'm flexible with other major financial hubs in Europe (I speak English and Italian fluently).
Alternatively, I could aim for a strong GMAT score and apply to other programs still accepting applications, such as ESCP's MFin or ESADE. Would this be a better path? Or should I wait another year to apply to top schools like HEC or LBS? I'm 24 and would rather not delay my plans any longer tbh.
In the future, I would like to pursue a top MBA program (preferibly in the US) before I turn 30, so please keep that in mind when considering my options.
Thanks in advance for your input!
tbh don't waste time. Both Erasmus and Copenhagen are good. You can always extend your master at Erasmus if you want to make it two years to include an internship... Depends where you want to live and work afterwards. Note both countries speak relatively good english but Amsterdam having way more opportunities than Copenhagen in general to take into account... good luck...
Thank you for the insight!
In the end, I decided to proceed with Erasmus. As you said, I don't want to waste more time and will probably extend my master's solely to include an internship.
It also seems like Erasmus is better regarded by London recruiters than CBS.
Currently an Analyst at a BB in London having graduated from the same Erasmus masters so sharing my own experience. Erasmus is seen as the top finance (Target) uni of the Netherlands and recruiters usually dont really care if you did ESE or RSM (dont think they even know the difference). The masters programme is 1 year but I consistently took breaks to do internships in Amsterdam and London / travel been courses, eventually taking 3 years to complete the programme instead of 1. Extensions are very normal and most of my friends took 1.5 / 2 years to graduate.
Compared to other programmes like CEMS, its more up to you to fill it with meaningfull extra-curriculars like committees or internships to enhance your CV, meaning you are much more flexible which I really appreciated as I was discovering what I wanted to do after I graduated. But if you dont want to wander off the beaten path you can still pursue multi year masters with set programmes / exchanges, in the end most IB interviews are more about technicals and the "do I want to work with you?" questions.
Banks from London will recruit directly at the uni which is a big plus, but if you dont speak Dutch you will need to have a high GPA to compensate, im not sure if this is different for ESADE etc but considering you speak italian why not go to Bocconi? Have loads of colleagues from there so it seems a good platform to break into London. I would advise on starting a masters this year so you wont have a huge age gap when you start working and if you want you can still apply to LBS as a back-up option for the year after, this depends on your budget as well.
Cant tell you anything about MBA's but hope my other insights can help you make a decision, good luck!
Not OP, but also looking into these unis. You made me curious about extending studies. Can you tell more what exactly does the process of extending studies look like? Can you for example take a course but not pass it /not sit exam at all/ in Year 1, and then retake it /sit it for the first time/ in Year 2 without your grade being affected?
Also can you tell what London banks come to campus and recruit directly non-Dutch speakers?
For me I just dis-enrolled from courses the moment I started my internship, I called the student desk to verify and basically you just stay enrolled at the uni paying them tuition and re-enroll for the next year. The courses you already passed still count so then the year after you re-enroll and finish the courses not done yet. As long as you do them all before you get your diploma they dont care (be thorough and call yourself to check if this is still the case but cant imagine they changed it since it makes them money). Your grades will only be affected once you take an exam, if you quit a course before the exam it wont affect your GPA, but you will need to do the entire course again the next year.
The banks come to an event organized by the financial student society, every bank changes their preference based on HR but mostly Barclays, Citi, Nomura, BNP, Lazard directly recruit non-dutch speakers. MS, JPM, BofA depends but have mostly done Dutch while I was a student.
Some german students I knew would apply in Rotterdam and for the Frankfurt spring week to increase their chances
Thank you for the useful insight!
Can I ask how difficult it was to get into IB in London coming from Erasmus?
Regarding Bocconi, I got into my fourth choice with no financial aid, so it simply wasn't worth it for me.
I cant reveal too many specifics, but its very difficult getting into London IB regardless of uni. For most european target universities like erasmus (from what colleagues told me) you need to apply and be selected for a recruiting event, best chance is if you have a solid GPA or prior internship experience from smaller PE boutiques or local banks. I was rejected multiple times until after my first internship (2nd year of master). This is why most people extend their studies, get some experience and direction in terms of what you want to do and then leverage the events on campus to get an internship. Ofcourse you still need to stand out, do multiple rounds of interviews / superdays and have a better "fit" with the team than other applicants but once you have the internship you are basically with one foot in the door as long as you dont do stupid things (could write a whole thread on all the things I have seen).
Whatever you guys decide to do, stay open minded during your studies for other opportunities, nothing is worse than having tunnel vision for banking and missing out on something better, I knew people that quit after a few weeks in the internship because it just wasnt for them.
strange this was changed totally over night... I was not allowed to recall my karma point...
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