Is Imperial College London worth the risk?
Hey all here. I will get straight to the point.
As a student graduated from the Canadian University, I have aspiration to continue my education in the field of finance as my degree (mathematics) is not that employable. I would have the opportunity to study at the Imperial College London for its master of science in Wealth management and investment. I have to admit that before applying, I never consider going to study in the UK, partially because it is too expensive, partially because I don't want to leave Canada, so I did not apply to any other schools. Yet the opportunity presents itself now and I try to find out if it is worth the risk. I have offers from other universities including Western university (economics & finance) and queen's (master of finance). I talked to several professors from the UoT, (big name in the world of finance, e.g., Professor John Hull) and I got some uneven responses. But all of us agree on one thing: If I decide to stay in Canada, attending a Canadian university will give me a better opportunity to break into the banks. By going to the Imperial, I may have an impressive name on my resume, but it would mean nothing if I cannot secure a place in London. I have no problem working aboard and to a certain extent, I consider it would be a great experience (after all, in terms of the financial centres in the world, Toronto is way down the list). So the main question comes to this: Would an international student (I am a Canadian citizen) be able to find a job in London? If not, would imperial brand be highly valued in Asia Pacific? (From what I have heard so far, the only target school for the big U.S. banks in the UK is LBS, not even the LSE.). Any input is appreciated!
Take the risk I believe? Each professor has his own experience, so I would love to know how someone who has been in the similar situation before made the decision and how it was played out. Professor John Hull, for example, graduated from Cambridge, so he was very familiar with the UK institutions. Yet while talking to other professors who got their degrees from the States, I have some very different responses. Yes, I have the opportunity to talk to many renowned professors at the UoT and I am very grateful that they were willing to offer me some genuine advices that I can hardly extract from the human resource departments, but I still would like to know how the current students see the issue. Would you guys consider it a kind of risk worth taking? Thanks for the input. And btw, kyc133enydc, if you don't mind, may I ask what your background is?
Unfortunately, I was not considering doing MBA while initiating my application and it would be too late for me now. Besides, I don't have enough work experience at this moment to make an impression on the admission committees. It will be something I will be doing in a few years, if everything goes as planned.
Serious response: your whole premise is flawed. Maths is an extremely employable degree in finance. I can't see how this masters is going to really change things unless you want to work in London?
That comes a bit of surprise. As far as I know, honestly, none of the potential employers I have talked to seem interest in my skills as a mathematician. If you are talking about being a quant or risk management, I agree with you. But you need a master degree at least to have a proper network before you start. I turned down the offer from the Toronto MMF program since it is too mathematical and it just likes taking computer science courses with knowledge of how to crack differential equation. Continuing my studies serves three purposes: area of concentration, master degree, and network. I do want to work in London as it has a larger playing field. But it seems that most imperial graduates went to work in Asia. Not sure the reason yet. Still trying to find it out. One more thing: would you mind elaborating on your statement regarding the important role that mathematics plays in the finance and where the opportunities are? And if any one of you guys is currently on the Toronto downtown campus, I would like to invite u for a cup of coffee.
I'd also be interested to keep this thread going... Would an international student be able to find a sponsored job easily in London, assuming he comes out of imperial?
I went to the Imperial open days. It is an impressive university with a great name. In the UK and in the rest of Europe people know its value. Idk about the rest of the world though. But I think that any important employer will know Imperial's brand and it will assure you a job. I say take the risk. I don't think you'll regret it. Go visit the uni before though. I didn't apply because I found it a little "unfriendly". After all, you'll be living there for a while...
It would be no question that imperial is a world class university. But the main problem comes to secure a Visa. UK has a somewhat unfriendly Visa policy so I have no clue how hard would it for me to have one. An UK degree, on the other hand, does not carry the same weight as those U.S ones in Canada. Mind if I ask what your background is?
Oh I'm no one special. I'm 17 and I lived pretty much all around western Europe. I've been looking at universities all around the world for the past 2 years. I applied to the US (got accepted at UCLA, UCSB, Brown and Georgetown), to the UK (got accepted in Bath, Warwick and Edinburgh) , to McGill and to other Universities in Europe (Bocconi, LMU Munich, St Gallen). So I know a little about this whole university thing, but my word is not as worthy as the one of a real employer.
I agree with you. But on the other post, you said you had settled, so it would be too late for me to say anything about the school choices. I am from Canada, so I know McGill. McGill is considered the best (or the second best) in Canada. Besides, McGill usually carries some sort of charisma that no other universities enjoy. But Canada has a very small financial market compared to its brother NY and London. Regardless, if you won't come to North America now, then come later. If you are good enough to get accepted into Brown, I believe you will be good enough to get accepted into other big fish in the sea. If the brand name is the most important thing to you, try everything you can to get in H/Y/S/P. Like it or not, if you cannot beat those graduates, then join them.
Seems a fair comment. Actually my reasons for Bocconi are that I am Italian and I've never lived in Italy, but I have lived in London/Germany/France/Austria/Spain, so I wanted to give it a chance before leaving the continent (which I intend to do). And the reason against the US is that I am 17, and if I'm going to live 10000 miles away from my family I need to have a little bit of independence, which you can only get with 21 in the US (other than the highly unreasonable costs of education). Plus, in Europe Bocconi is seen as one of the best schools in the continent, from what I've heard from employers and university professors to whom I ve talked to.
You and I should definitively switch the position. I want to go for Europe because I have never been there. You want to come to North America because you have enough. Whatever your eventual decisions are, it appears that you have a good plan. You cannot change your past (Alas, I wish I could), but you can craft your own future.
P.S. I am very interest in your personal adventure. I am surprised to know that as an Italian, you have never lived in Italy. I would love to visit the relics of the Medici Banks.
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