Target Schools in Germany

Hello fellow members,

I was wondering if anyone in here is fro Germany or has experience with German universities and which ones are considered "target schools"?

I have read before that most Banks primarily recruit from the following: WHU, EBS, HHL, Mannheim and Frankfurt (goethe)

Thanks

 

Rankings (FT MBA):

Mannheim - 26 University of Cologne - 59 HHL-Leipzig GSM- 70

I know that rankings =/ target school, but it seems to me that Mannheim is probably the best (26 --> 59)

 

Germany is probably one of the countries with the lowest MBA penetration, so MBA rankings are misleading (although the names do not change drastically). A lot of recruiting would happen after masters (with some undergrad), mostly from HHL, WHU, LMU, KIT, EBS, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, etc. Add HSG, ETH and a bunch of other EU business schools like CBS, RSM which place decently.

For non-Germanic schools, as long as it is a good school and you are fluent in German you can get your foot in the door.

 

Yeah I have checked that ranking as well, but there is also a Master of Management ranking publicized by the FT and it has a couple German schools in there as well.

Anyone else? Maybe someone who is currently working in Germany?

Thanks guys!

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

I would not recommend studying finance in germany full stop. None of the schools are nearly as prestigious as the top b-schools in France or England.

For undegrad and masters stick to HEC Paris, LSE, ESSEC, Cass Business School, Oxford, Imperial and Cambridge for Finance.

ESCP, Warwick and Bocconi could also work.

LBS, INSEAD and ESADE for MBAs.

 

Well first of all if you want to work in Germany it makes sense to study there. Dont listen to the rankings above they dont mean anything.

Regarding recruitment for banking you should only consider WHU und EBS. WHU is well represented at any major bank in Germany. It ist the most heavily recruited German University for banking. OCR includes everything from PWP to GS, plus they have one of the best student finance conferences where CEO's of MS Germany, DB, CS etc. will go. They also use this conference as an recruitment tool. (This school is about as target as it gets in Germany). Their recruitment is also very strong for London, even though many people have never heard of WHU in London or on this board, there are alumni everywhere.

Agreed on the comment to consider St. Gallen, probably your best bet for German speaking world and London. Beats out Warwick, Cass, imperial and Bocconi anytime in my opinion.

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

@Smooth_Nico, while I agree with what you said, the problem with the schools you have listed is getting in.

@jmdude, Holland has lately gotten a very bad reputation in Germany, from what I have heard. Oxbridge and LSE would be gold of course, but as I mentioned above, getting in the major issue.

@GBB_19NHS, are you from Germany? Are you currently in Banking in Germany and have you attended WHU personally?

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 
Matrick:
@Smooth_Nico, while I agree with what you said, the problem with the schools you have listed is getting in.

@jmdude, Holland has lately gotten a very bad reputation in Germany, from what I have heard. Oxbridge and LSE would be gold of course, but as I mentioned above, getting in the major issue.

@GBB_19NHS, are you from Germany? Are you currently in Banking in Germany and have you attended WHU personally?

lol except for cass... they were advertising on the underground this summer

 

WHU is very good, goldman frankfurt gets most of their kids from there.

HSG is excellent(altough this is in the switzerland).

Mannheim is decent.

the thing is, if I was a london recruiter Id hire any kid from any of these german unis over any english target. I go to an english target and what we learn in the uk is shit... like utter and completely useless shit compared to any german curriculum.

 

Target Schools in Germany are:

Top Tier: Mannheim (although more renouned for management than for finance), WHU, HHL Leipzig, EBS(Oestrich Winkel), Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

2nd Tier: Cologne, Frankfurt (Goethe), Munich

All of these schools place well in banking in Frankfurt. I am not too sure about London, but should be the same.

Best Regards

 

@Matrick Are you German or do you come from an English speaking country? What is your mother tongue? Do you want to enroll for a bachelor or masters programme? Are you currently studying at a university? Why do you want to work in Germany? Are student fees an important factor in your choice of university?

 

Bankier,

Yes, I am German. I am looking for a Master's program. I graduated in May from a US university. I want to work in Germany, because it seems to be the easiest for me. They are not the determining factor, but I would like to be in the "European range".

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

I personally would try get an analyst postition with the education you already have and eventually go to a top ranked business School rather then spending 2 more years at university. Both degrees will cost you 2 years of your life but an MBA from a Top Business School comes with better prestige, networking opportunities with already established professionals from IB/PE/ F500 and a curriculum that is more relevant to the careers within the financial industry. Also I would much prefer the interactive teaching method of a case study oriented business school where your professors are people that have had a career outside of the academic realm rather then the dry memorize-reproduce-forget kind of learning environment that dominates the german universities.

If however you want to pursue your M.Sc./M.A plan anyway, I would recommend not to go to Munich as the "BWL" programs there are absolutely overcrowded and also avoid HHL due to its not so good reputation.

On continental Europe I would prefer Rotterdamm, HSG and WHU

 

If it comes to the Banking industry I think the network is the most valuable asset and the privates are strongest at this (WHU and EBS) But EBS def. has suffered recently... I would always chose WHU > EBS. The public ones have a good reputation as well and are for free( for Europeans). Overall I would rank the Business Schools in Germany as follows: (P= private and pricey ;) )

1st tier: WHU(P), Mannheim 2nd tier: Cologne, Munster, EBS(P) 3rd: Frankfurt, ESB Reutlingen,HHL(P) The third has very little advantage over the rest though.

I create nothing. I own.
 

Don't forget the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management - they did an awesome job during the last few years regarding PR and hiring coop partners (all the BBs are having info sessions there regularly). In addition, they provide a study system which is unique in Germany, i.e. studying in for a full-time degree (the courses are aggregated on two/three days) while working part-time and doing an official bank apprenticeship (UBS is offering that while in their Equity Derivatives Sales department).

According to a GS Associate their target schools are:

  • WHU, EBS, Frankfurt School of Finance (all private ones)
  • Mannheim, Frankfurt and Munich

He said that these were the obvious ones of which he is 100% sure, but there might be other ones as well.

 

Tier 1: Mannheim, WHU, EBS Tier 2: LMU, Frankfurt and Cologne

Mannheim and EBS have a very strong position in Germany and are the two top players in Frankfurt. EBS derives the strong position from its alumni base (i.e. source: http://news.efinancialcareers.com/de-de/135700/wie-die-absolventen-einz…)

Mannheim is regarded as more prestigious and better though. They do place well not only in Finance but also other industries and since they are public are still for free.

If anyone has further questions please feel free to ask.

 

Ehh,but the financial center is Frankfurt?WHU and EBS is a little remote.If I want to study finance,is WHU or EBS good enough to cover the disadvantages of the geographic position?Or is the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management better?

 
MatthaeusP:
Tier 1: Mannheim, WHU, EBS Tier 2: LMU, Frankfurt and Cologne

Mannheim and EBS have a very strong position in Germany and are the two top players in Frankfurt. EBS derives the strong position from its alumni base (i.e. source: http://news.efinancialcareers.com/de-de/135700/wie...)

Mannheim is regarded as more prestigious and better though. They do place well not only in Finance but also other industries and since they are public are still for free.

If anyone has further questions please feel free to ask.

Sent you a PM.

 

Private targets: WHU, EBS, Frankfurt School Public targets: Mannheim, Cologne, Münster, Goethe University, LMU

That's mainly for undergraduate, most German students with good grades tend to do their master in other European countries

 

Do u guys recommend Mannheim for Economics (Not Business Administration) for undergraduate? My Highschool GPA isn't good enough for Business there... Heard that Economics>Business in UK/US. Goal is Top-Master in UK/France/Sweden for working in IB/PE/Economic Consulting.

 

Mannheim is most certainly one of the top schools, if not the top school, for Economics in Germany (with Bonn and LMU Munich being good alternatives).

Moving into Finance is not at all a problem. You should take into account, though, that Economics is very math-focused and generally more difficult than BA. Moreover, although you will likely have a quantitative (and maybe analytical) edge as an Econ grad, you will only have little knoweldge of accounting and finance.

However, as you are planning to follow up with a target master in management or finance, this should be of no concern for you. Mannheim will open doors for you internationally.

Just try to secure decent internships during your Bachelors or a gap year as this is at least as important as your academics.

 

Big4 are certainly recommendable. It is possible to break into T2/T1 BB/EB after Big4 TAS/ M&A/ CF if your overall profile is good (i.e. Target University + other internships). BDO will work as a first step, however, obviously does not carry the same brand and will require additional internships. In general, depending on your academic level, "just" one internship might not be enough. But again, this also depends on the banks you plan on applying to.

Big4/ BDO are less picky with regards to universities, however, the TAS/ M&A/ CF departments are among the more demanding ones of the companies. So grades will need to be decent and it will benefit your chances if you have previous internship experience with accounting & finance exposure. For Germany, also always keep in mind that you will be required to speak German fluently simply because the clients are mostly small cap which generally operate in German-speaking regions only.

You might want to share more information on your background to help better estimate your chances.

 

A good friend of mine is from WHU. So I hope I can give you a better overview. At junior level (Analyst, Assoc), you will still be able to find a few WHUlers in London and FFM. However, they normally move to PE/VC/Startups before VP level. So you wont be able to find many WHUlers at senior level (VP above). Think about it in terms of networking possibility.

You wont be viewed as a "real" WHUler only because you do ur master there. This is valid for PE/VC/(high-level)Startups (Co-founder etc) Exit. Compared to your WHU mates who did their Bachelor at WHU, your exit will probably look different. For entry-level IBD job, WHU might still be a good choice.

 

That's a difficult question and obviously depends on your personal background. If the tuition fees around 10k a year pose a problem, then it is clear that you should take WHU and don't look back. If money isn't that big of an issue, HSG may still be worth a thought. If I remember correctly, they have a lot of good partner universities for exchange and a lot of the HSG guys go to Harvard for a semester/year on exchange. Feel free to PM, if you want to discuss in more detail/further.

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 
Best Response

Forget Goethe. Adapted from another post:

If you are motivated and know what you are doing, got to HSG and do the Harvard exchange programme, biggest "wow" factor you can hope to get with continental business schools. If you like to be spoonfed, don't care about academics that much and your greatest dream in life is joining GS, go to WHU. It is a mostly insufferable place with some cool (20%) and many insufferable (80%) people, more of a job academy than a proper university, but, by god, they do place well and have an insanely loyal alumni network. If you are genuinely smart and money is a factor, go to Mannheim, their recruiting has become pretty good for London as well and academically they are the best. Also consider whether you want to study straight business or economics and take some finance courses on the side (less bs, more maths, personal preference really, won't matter much for recruiting, most of the stuff they teach you as a business undergrad is pretty pointless anyways and you'll have to study for your technical interviews yourself no matter where you go (perhaps WHU preps you quite decently in that regard, not sure)).

St. Gallen: Best and most widespread reputation, massive programme with little pre-selection, you are "on your own" but if you do it right it leaves you with the best options. Studying economics rather than business will help you get into grad school in the UK. Their Master in Banking and Finance is a great programme in terms of content, undergrad really depends on which courses you take and what you make of it.

WHU: Excellent banking / consulting reputation, academically mediocre, more of a "banking academy" than a university, however seems to prep people pretty well. People there will not be for everybody's taste.

Mannheim: Most rigorous programmes academically, pretty good placement, perhaps slightly below HSG reputation wise but you can definitely get into London from here. Cheap. Lots of genuinely smart kids. Good academic rep for grad school.

Also consider what happened to EBS. St. Gallen and Mannheim have been around and known for decades, who knows if WHU will still be a thing 15 years down the road? I pity the people that went to EBS back when it was decent and have to carry that place on their CV for the rest of their life.

Also, if you want to work in London, improving your english skills will matter a lot more than whether you went to HSG or Mannheim. Consider doing an exchange semester or full year abroad to get it to a 115+ TOEFL level. (Nobody cares about the TOEFL score as such, but people with mediocre language skills sound less intelligent to to native speakers - work on that, the importance of this is often underestimated, non-native speakers (that is, all Germans you may speak to) tend not to recognise how significant this factor is)

 

I actually thought for a minute I wrote the stuff about the german unis above. So spot on from my point of view. I think the Gap between HSG and Mannheim might be a bit bigger than the post above indicates especially in London but you definitely have your shot from both. For some reason you threw the word "MBA" in there. Was that just a mistake? We are talking undergrad here right? Because for the mba St.Gallen is the only school even worth considering.

 

The main issue is to work in a DACH country, the best consulting firms require your German to be as good as our English. Speaking in internal meetings to my boss/peers, sure I can do this. Creating client deliverables and interacting externally with clients... to me that is a whole new ballgame. Additionally, though this is secondary, starting salaries differ a good deal and as a US citizen, I'll pay US taxes no matter where I work. I'd prefer to work in the states after graduation and only be taxed once.

 

I am an American citizen working at an MBB in Europe. Quite a few coworkers take cases in Germany without German language proficiency. I don't know how that translates to local German hiring, though. Regarding double taxation, there should be no problem. You get a standard deduction of +-100k and the double taxation treaties with European governments will be sure that you don't have any tax liabilities at the end of the year. All three MBBs offer the same starting salary as seen in the US offices (or a bit more, depending on the exchange rate).

Your best bet is to start in Europe then try to transfer. But, if you try to transfer to the more desirable offices (NYC, SF, London) you will have to go through a review and interview process. That process can be much easier/quicker/avoided if you transfer to eg Texas or Atlanta.

 

Local German hiring definitely requires knowledge of German. Are you working in a non-English speaking country? Usually I've seen folks from London going on 1 or 2 projects across other countries in Europe without facing much language barrier.

 

Do you know anywhere I can go to learn more about compensation in different countries? Like some comments below, I was under the impression most EU nations do not pay similarly to the US member firms.

In your estimation, how possible is a "transfer"? Do these happen frequently? I do not have this affinity for NYC and would be happier in a smaller city.

 

While not impossible, the path you are charting is difficult enough that I would dissuade you. If debt is the issue, you can get into MBB from non-top 10 MBA programs. If you are Top 25 (ish), you will have a better chance than trying to fight your way back into the US.

Every year, I see my firm hire "down" (or at least interview applicants from) places like Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Texas, etc. If there are other reasons you want to go abroad, more power to you. Getting into MBB isn't some life goal. But be aware that you are probably shutting this door.

 

Debt isn't so much the issue as the advantage. The program I would attend abroad is heavily subsidized almost to the point of being free. With current savings, I can float living expenses/tuition and come home with positive net worth. I'm not opposed to going up the food chain and taking on student debt, but am not comfortable with the premium pricing of some of the premium programs. Perhaps there are other schools in German speaking countries that garnish respect? One other thought is that I will be completing a semester at either HEC Paris, IE, IMD, or ESADE and was hoping to use the cache of those names to help the recruiting process. would this work? thoughts?

 

i did a lot of research on this (i was going to do a postgrad degree on all the unis you mentioned)... those schools are very well represented in london, you could also add Koeln... Whu is really good... the other continental targets are St Gallen, Bocconi, SSE and HEC

i would go to WHU or Mannheim... WHU for Business and Mannheim for Economics

 

Well, the top German/continental schools may be well represented in London and coming from Mannheim/WHU you should be in a good position to recruit for London banking. You will get an excellent education at very low tuition (if you pick a public place like Mannheim/Koeln).

However, these schools are not well known in the US and have a thin alumni network even in NYC.

If you plan on moving to the US at some point I would go with LSE/LBS, Oxbridge, Insead, maybe HEC (depending on whether you're looking for undergrad or MS/MBA). However, getting into US banking may be easier after landing a London analyst stint and subsequently getting a US MBA.

 

Thank you for clarifying this. I'll try to do what you recommended, gold, since I'm looking for undergrad right now. But is a MBA necessary or will work exp in a BB alone do the trick?

 

Well, getting an MBA will help because you will be part of the campus recruiting. However, the whole visa/immigrations hassle is a big turnoff for firms, especially in junior positions.

I guess jumping from BB London to a job in the US will be a challenge but possible. Don't know what post-analyst job you're looking for though (if youre looking to stay in IB then an MBA will be a natural choice anyway). Not sure what the chances are to move from London BB to major US PE. I know people who are seeking to transfer form London BB into US IB or PE and at the moment it seems to be pretty tough.

 

Pretty sure the public unis (Mannheim/LMU/HSG) require your German be at B2/C1 level to attend undergrad degree. WHU and probably EBS as well have English undergrad programs but cost about €19k a year. At that price you are better off attending a more internationally recognised university in the UK or US.

Finding a job eventually ends up being about your internships and the private unis help secure them through brand/network.

 

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I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

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