Well,
Finally I got the offer I needed, but I'm struggling to decide which one to choose:
-
CASS MSc Energy, Trade and Finance
Pros: great and flexible program with a lot of electives, massive placement in O&G, really finance focused
Cons: Really high tuition fees (25k) -
UCL MSc Global Management of Natural Resources (offered by the School of Management and the department of chemical engineering)
Pros: UCL brand name, really cheap (14k), a lot of trips and seminars with 5 months to be spent in Australia at UISA (Adelaide)
Cons: really quantitative, lack of finance modules (weighted by few mgmt courses), quite new
Goal would be to end in MM/BB O&G/NatRes M&A, or at least O&G/commodities trading (eg Glencore)
Also got offer from the ESCP's Energy Management course but it seems slightly below Cass and UCL in terms of modules and reputation (in the UK)
Cheers
I'd go with Cass; More relevant, you'll be surrounded with other people also wanting to go into finance and if you go to UCL you run the risk of being in Australia for 5 months whilst trying to secure a job/internship which really isn't very helpful.
Could be, even tho UCL has a lot of connections in Australia for work as well as for academics... what a mess! Thx anyway m8
Got an offer for the same UCL program!! PM'd you! Anyway, I would go for UCL: brand name, really quantitative degree and a lot of connections worldwide
Alright
UCL bro!
Anyone else? BobTheBaker you think that they're at least fine for a future in Texas's O&G?
bump
I would go with Cass. Five months in Adelaide is a drawback in my book. The 9 hour time difference means you might have interviews in the middle of the night + the obvious trouble networking in person with anyone.
You right, but UCL has a good network in Australia as well.. Anyway, I am more oriented for CASS, despite the tuition's gap. Is really more finance oriented, with modules such as M&A, Hedge Funds, VBA programming and so on. And seems that firms such as Glencore do campus recruiting for this program
If your plan is to work in Australia, go for UCL. Otherwise, I would stick to Cass and the finance-oriented courses.
Cass has tons of alumni in the City and usually places well. I know Glencore hosts trading competitions for different energy programs in the UK and interviews the top performers. I have three friends who studied at different targets/semi (Cass/LSE/Edin) that all got interviews through those competitions.
bump
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Lol great comment and inputs, thanks for sharing! What is making me doutbful about the program is 1. that they require a 2.2 instead of a 2.1... Maybe recruiters will see this as a downside? Or will rank the program is a low tier? Of course, is not a pure financial course but UCL's brand is big and well renowned.. Likewise, the period in Australia is interesting, cos they're going to show you mining process and a lot of sites. 2. that the program is really energies focused, while Cass has only 3 pure energies modules, with a lot of quant finance
What a mess :S
Cannot see the comment! What's going on???
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Alright, money is a big factor you right. So you are strongly pro-UCL right?
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I'd go with Cass if you're really interested in the physical commodities business. I know a bunch of people who ended up at Trafi/Glencore/BP's graduate program after Cass and I myself kept on seeing people from Cass during the assessment centers for these programs. Also there aren't that many programs that focus on energy and considering that the physical commodities world is pretty small, you'll make some good connections to people with the same interests who will end up in the same industry. The course is fairly quantitative/finance oriented but mainly caters to the physical trading business, there's even a module on O&G trading that is taught by ex-BP traders.
Seems that Cass's program is really strong. You're working in the commodities business? You attended the MSc? (Just out of curiosity)
Another pros compared to UCL is that out of more than 10 modules only 4 are energies oriented, while the latter has mainly engineering/earth science modules... But 10k of difference is huge...
Poor guy, every other comment says something differnet, lol! I know how it feels, I was in the same situation a few months ago. Not sure if this helps, but I'll leave this quote here by Josh Angrist:
"...if we compare people who went to, say, private colleges--think about perhaps Boston U.--versus U. Mass. (University of Massachusetts), or even Harvard or MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) versus U. Mass., naively you'll see that the people who went to the private colleges earn a lot more. But conditional on where people were admitted, they do about equally well. There's no advantage. And that suggests that most of the observed difference, perhaps all of the observed difference in earnings between people who went to private and public universities is due to the fact that the people who went to the private universities were destined to do better anyway; they were on average people who were either more ambitious or had higher test scores."
See an example of sucha an article here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17159
I.e. since you got admitted to two good schools, don't sweat it too much. It means you have good abilities and are probably going to succeed if you keep on doing your thing. So if the 10k matters a lot to your budget, go for the cheaper school
Really great comment mate, do appreciate it... And also bookmarked the quote! Thanks for sharing it, As soon as I decided, I let you guys know
Btw I realized I wrote Cass was cheaper, which was not the case. Edited!
you people forget that Australia is not the cheapest place on the world. 5 months living costs should be included in ur calculation
UCL's campus is in Adelaide... Thoughts?
To my knowledge, the UCL brand carries more weight than Cass so it might be the best option. A little off topic here, why did you feel the necessity to embark on either one of those programmes? Wasn't your undergrad school, course, and grade enough to fulfill your career plans?
Thanks for sharing your point mate. Anyway, I decided to carry on this project for many reasons: First of all, I graduated from a non target in Italy (although a semester abroad in a top50 uni), so I want to add a good name on the CV Secondly, I am working as FP&A in a F500 in France-Italy, but want to work in London in a BB or MM, so I need it
I figured... The reason why I asked is because I graduated from a non-target myself in London and I am struggling too to break into IB.. not even internships I've managed to land and I got a high first honours (80-90%). At this point I am not even sure about what I should do but the only solution I can think of is to pursue a MFin at a top school to boost my chances. Tough..
I see. Mate, you graduated with a very high first.. Try to manage the GMAT and break into a top tier uni ie Oxbridge, LBS, LSE.. Is not to late to try to get a summer internship I guess, or maybe try to get an internship in a non finance related position
Btw, If your goal is to be hired in London, I believe there are much better programmes to accomplish that. My opinion is towards a solid MSc in Finance at the best schools which should be, relatively, within your reach since you were able to gain admission at UCL. The entry requirements shouldn't differ too much and you would've been studying a popular programme with already proven results based on the alumni network. Those are seemingly unknown, I keep myself informed and I had never seen them until they were brought up in here.
Well, I got offer from MSc in Finance as well but they're expensive and I don't want to study again what I did during my bachelor. Furthermore unfortunately I applied really late, and don't want to waste another year in France. I applied to those programmes cos CASS program in energies is really well renowned (not unknown, tbf), while UCL has a great brand and an exciting department (chemical engineering and school of management).
I ended with an Italian 2.1
What grade did you finish with? If you got a 70% at least and providing you crack the GMAT you can make your way into those schools as well, I believe.
Cass is decent, but UCL is far better with a more prestigious brand name (top 15 in world rankings) + it's a massive feeder into IB & Trading on par with Oxbridge/LSE (at least in undergrad).
What is UCL?
UCL is University College London in the United Kingdom. One of the five main targets in the UK (Oxford/Cambridge/LSE/Imperial/UCL). Good rankings with it being T15 in the world, pretty much where Oxbridge rejects go (US equivalent would be Columbia).
They seem to not do to shabby on front office recruiting.... https://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/199099/top-50-universities-get…
Exactly. Unfortunately, UCL at postgraduate level is not as target as he is for UG..
Interesting. It's ranked #22 by US News. Frankly shocked to see it that high.
Are these 1 year programs or 2 year programs? Are you planning on paying out of pocket or taking loans?
1 year, and I'm gonna take a loan mate
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