WU vs BI vs RSM vs CBS for a masters in finance?

I would like to rank the following universities and would like to ask for your help in it. My career goals are either working in PE or at a hedge fund. I have already received offers from 2 of the universities and will probably receive offers from the other two as well.

A. BI Norwegian Business School - Finance MSc (2 years)

  • Pros: probably will receive a scholarship for living expenses + tuition fees, exchange opportunity at Bocconi (1 semester) or double degree opportunity with EDHEC (2 semesters) - which of these would be better by the way?

  • Cons: Matlab will be used during the program; not sure what graduate outcomes are like but according to ftrankings average salaries of graduates after 3 years is ~57k USD

  • Average graduate salaries according to emolument is 52k USD in financial services

B. WU Vienna University of Economics and Business - Quantitative Finance MSc (2 years)

  • Pros: very strong focus on R, seems to be a well-rounded program with no bullshit courses (this much maths could be a bit of an overkill for my goals though), no tuition fees, would leave doors open if later on I decide that I'd like to make a career switch towards a data science role

  • Cons: No scholarships for living expenses (as far as I know) meaning that I would have to work part-time, the program seems to be very theoretical but correct me if I'm wrong, according to infogram the average WU qfin graduate salaries are only ~50-60k, although I think that could be incorrect as Masters in Management graduates' average salaries were 83k according to ftrankings, no exchange opportunity due to the program being very specific, degree could give off "nerd programmer" vibes which could prevent me from getting into a managerial role (again, correct me if I'm wrong)

  • Average graduate salaries according to emolument is 105k USD in financial services

C. Erasmus University Rotterdam - Financial Economics MSc (1 year)

  • Pros: 1-year long only, ~2k eur tuition fees, but will probably be covered by a 5k eur scholarship, average salaries after 3 years is 70k according to ftrankings

  • Cons: After tuition fees, I will have only 3k eur for living expenses so I would have to work part-time, no exchange opportunities (obviously because it's 1 year long only), looking through the courses it doesn't seem like I would learn a whole lot (no programming or stats for example)

  • Average graduate salaries according to emolument is 131k USD in financial services

D. CBS Copenhagen Business School - Finance and Investments MSc (2 years)

  • Pros: tuition-free, CEMS Master in Management double degree opportunity + exchange semesters at great schools (LSE, Bocconi, St. Gallen), seems to have good graduate outcomes though I don't have any info on the salaries, the government gives you money if you work at least 16 hours while studying

  • Cons: no scholarships to cover living expenses, STATA is used as a programming language, seems like there's not a lot of emphasis on stats

  • Average graduate salaries according to emolument is 133k USD in financial services

4 Comments
 
 
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WU QFin Student here, hope I am not too late.

Pros: very strong focus on R, seems to be a well-rounded program with no bullshit courses (this much maths could be a bit of an overkill for my goals though), no tuition fees, would leave doors open if later on I decide that I'd like to make a career switch towards a data science role You are completely right on this one. There are no bullshit courses (maybe 1) and there is a strong focus on Maths and Statistics. If you take the assignments seriously you can be very good in R at the end of the program (I have some classmates that did not learn much R though - that is up to you and your efforts)

Cons: No scholarships for living expenses (as far as I know) meaning that I would have to work part-time, the program seems to be very theoretical but correct me if I'm wrong, according to infogram the average WU qfin graduate salaries are only ~50-60k, although I think that could be incorrect as Masters in Management graduates' average salaries were 83k according to ftrankings, no exchange opportunity due to the program being very specific, degree could give off "nerd programmer" vibes which could prevent me from getting into a managerial role (again, correct me if I'm wrong) Average graduate salaries according to emolument is 105k USD in financial services

First point, Vienna is pretty cheap and you can survive with much less money than in any of the other countries you mentioned. If you stay with tight budget I guess 800 / 900 per month including rent is doable. It is easy also to find a part-time job in one of the main banks here (Erste, RBI, Bank Austria) and then you are covered. You should not focus to the ftranking salaries because they are adjusted to cost of living as far as I know. For what I heard the avg salary is arount 40/50K€ right after graduation, which indeed with all the adjustments is higher than Management student salary. About the vibe you are right, and I think it is the only drawback of the program, if you are not really interested in a career in data science. But you can find your way out of it anyway.

 

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