MSc finance, where?

Hi everybody,

first of all, thanks to people who post here, I've been lurking for a few months and have finally a specific question that needs answers from people who seem to know a lot about this stuff.

I'm in my penultimate year in a B.A. undergrad degree in continental Europe and will be doing an exchange in Canada next semester. I speak French, English and German. (Ready to learn a new language if needed).
My work experience consists of one internship and I believe that my extracurriculars are pretty strong.

I am looking for a masters degree in finance and I am ready to go practically anywhere around the world depending on the university, it's reputation and career opportunities.
I have already selected a few universities but I am looking for your help in case I missed a few. (Which will be the case since I don't know a lot of degrees outside Europe). So just add or delete unis and please mention why

I have selected:
- UK: LSE, ICL, Oxford Said, Cass, Warwick
- France: HEC Paris
- Switzerland: St-gall (seems that it is more appropriate if I want to work either in Zurich or Germany)
- USA? I know that there's quite a lot but it seems that there's more MBA's rather than masters.
- Asia-Pacific? (what about Australia, Singapore, HK?)

Which will probably lead you to the next question: where do I want to work? Either London, USA, Singapore or HK

The choices seem so endless, yet the opportunities so narrow

OR should I work for a few years and consider a MBA?

I hope that I haven't forgotten any details. If it is the case, please ask.
Thank you for your answers, have a nice sunday

 

In the USA the best ones seem to be M.Fin in Princeton and MIT. I will be attending MIT this summer so if you have any questions later this fall I would be happy to help.

 
ITM:
Bocconi has a good Corporate Finance programme, it places very well in London

All of the ones listed in the UK are strong except for Cass maybe

good luck

Why do you reckon it is so with regards to Bocconi? Their master is very quantitative and involves tons of stuff irrelevant to corporate finance.

 
JeremyLinMVP:
ITM:
Bocconi has a good Corporate Finance programme, it places very well in London

All of the ones listed in the UK are strong except for Cass maybe

good luck

Why do you reckon it is so with regards to Bocconi? Their master is very quantitative and involves tons of stuff irrelevant to corporate finance.

What I know is that if somebody is in an IB interview in London, they are either from a top 6 UK school or from these few European schools. If somebody studies in Italy, they will be from Bocconi. The stuff you actually learn is very rarely related to the stuff you need for your interviews anyways - what you are really hoping is that a) your school will get you an interview b) the person on the other side of the table will be from the same school (which will significantly enhance your chances of getting in). For this some reason it does not matter what percentage of people from every programme get into IB, what matters is what percentage of people in IB are from that school.

 
Best Response

Thanks for your answers.

@yourdreamtheater thanks, added to the list

@bjornatli first of all, congrats. I visited the Princeton's finance program today. Seems like a really nice program. What made you chose MIT over Princeton? Did you apply to both? If you dont' mind, can you give me your "pedigree" (GMAT or GRE, GPA, work exp, etc) (PM me if you don't want to share with everybody)

@ITM I didn't list Bocconi because, to be honest, I didn't feel like going there. Might be strange to say this, but I visited Milan, I know people who are at Bocconi and I feel like it's not for me. Noted for Cass, thanks!

@Jacki Chiles thanks for the link, I never heard about this website. I'll be reading the articles.

Again thanks guys.

 
MEvolutionToday:
@bjornatli first of all, congrats. I visited the Princeton's finance program today. Seems like a really nice program. What made you chose MIT over Princeton? Did you apply to both? If you dont' mind, can you give me your "pedigree" (GMAT or GRE, GPA, work exp, etc) (PM me if you don't want to share with everybody)

I applied to both but got rejected at Princeton. I later found out that their emphasis on relevant work exp. is quite big and since I don't have any I really never stood a chance. Even so I don't know if I had chosen Princeton over MIT if I had had the chance. The faculty at MIT is so legendary.

My grades are not superb, but ok: GPA:3.95, GRE: 155V, 162Q, 4.5A. I have no work exp. in finance. I think what did the difference for me was a strong SOP and outstanding recommendations.

 
MEvolutionToday:
@ITM I didn't list Bocconi because, to be honest, I didn't feel like going there. Might be strange to say this, but I visited Milan, I know people who are at Bocconi and I feel like it's not for me. Noted for Cass, thanks!

Look at SSE as well (Stockholm). Decent programme and blondes everywhere, what can be better? The placement in London is weaker than in some other schools you mentioned though...

 
ITM:
MEvolutionToday:
@ITM I didn't list Bocconi because, to be honest, I didn't feel like going there. Might be strange to say this, but I visited Milan, I know people who are at Bocconi and I feel like it's not for me. Noted for Cass, thanks!

Look at SSE as well (Stockholm). Decent programme and blondes everywhere, what can be better? The placement in London is weaker than in some other schools you mentioned though...

The problem with this is that you can never know how many people actually want to get london placement. For example, if: School A: 25% want to get job in London, 20% get job in London School B: 80% want to get job in London, 40% get job in London

School B places more kids in London, but school A clearly offers better opportunities. With regards to SSE, my swede friend there claims that majority wants to find jobs in Sweden, but there is a shortage of opportunities in Sweden, hence forcing some to seek jobs in London. But this is anecdotal evidence.

Nevertheless, I think SSE offers probably the best experience in Continental Europe compared to Bocconi, HEC and St Gallen if you are not fluent in local languages.

 

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