UK/EU MSc's in Finance
Hey guys
I want to do an MSc in Finance september intake (yes ik a bit late). I'm a european national, went to a decent southern EU target business undergrad - and am currently working as a private equity analyst in a decent LMM firm (11 month fixed contract).
Due to working full time until July (and general laziness tbh) I am not/have not planned to do a GMAT. I have a decent GPA (8.3/10) an internship in a PE-backed startup as a strategy analyst. My main profie strengths will be my current role in finance + a really international profile (lived in multiple countries/speak 3 languages...) and I generally interview/come across pretty well.
Im looking for an MSc to really up the types of firms I can apply to in a year. Open to starting in IB for my first few years - definitely want London.
I definitely can't target the top MSc programmes (LSE/LBS/HEC/ESCP) but maybe there are some decent London rated ones without GMAT I can consider?
Imperial might be a reach but a few of their programmes interest me. How is UCL regarded? Kings i've heard pretty bad things about but could be a safety choice? UCL has a new PE/VC master - but seems really unkown and seems like it would pretty much close the IB path.
Many thanks for any insights shared
id take this summer to do the gmat then reapply next year- no point going to ucl/kcl its amazing waste of 40k imo- only worth it if your at an LBS LSE HEC etc. Imperial would probably be worth it
Agree. anything else other than lbs lse ox, imperial in uk is waste of money
even imperial for 40k...
maybe try with imperial F+A, think they are more lenient regarding your academics, places well too
I recently got admitted to that one, and realized that the F+A is kind of the sidetrack degree where Imperial parks its less talented cash cows. So what @velvettyjetty said is completely correct.
At Imperial, one can choose two out of the five possible finance degrees, but I did not receive an offer for either of my choices. They tried to explain to me that the F+A degree would fit better to me, which is bs however since i dont target Big 4 or M&A. Another issue with the F+A degree is that most people in that degree dont target IB. So you would have to network with people from Finance, Fintech, and wealth management a bit more. Compared to LSE and HEC the Imperial degrees also offer little opportunity to choose electives.
Nevertheless, Imperial is considered one of the best schools in the world and will definitely boost your CV more than UCL or KCL. Whether its worth the money and the living expenses of London is everyone's own decision.
Not to say that it is a bad degree, but just making a point why it is a bit easier to get in. Otherwise LSE Risk and Finance is also easier to get in compared to the MSc Finance.
Not entirely true. According to current Imperial MFin students I've spoken to, plenty of kids target IB from the F&A course, and they even had better placements than the MFin this cycle, apparently, which is impressive considering how crappy the current hiring market is.
Mmmh doesn’t seem accurate. Imperial F&A is probably easier to get in compared to the traditional MFin but recruiters don’t differentiate and many of the kids I know from there got some BBs or strong PE internships
You can try to apply in the last sessions if you manage to get a GMAT waiver, if not, keep working and apply next year. Fully back everything else that was said in this thread, it is just simply not worth it to do a masters if not at the top target schools, complete waste of money. My general rule of thumb is you shouldn't go for your masters to an institution that is worse than your undergrad school
Lbs Mfa here.
Do the gmat (it’s much shorter now with focus). No point going to non target masters as it will be extremely difficult to get interviews in the first place. Competition is tough at the moment and non target masters (kcl/ucl) students find it hard to get interviews even during normal times.
How did your class place this year?
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