rockofeller

My list is currently:
LSE
Cambridge
Oxford
Johns Hopkins
Washington U
USF

Are there any other programs I should consider? Is it worth it financially getting a lower level British degree, like Imperial, Cass, or Warwick?
Anyone want to suggest any other programs?
I want to work in I Banking (or better yet, VC).
My quantitative background is so-so - 1 semester of stats, calc I and II, basic computer science, accounting...so I have to keep that in mind with the requirements of where I apply. Thanks.

powergrid1990

LSE, Warwick and Oxford are quite popular in the IBanking circles in Europe and in Asia (Manila, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Shanghai, India).

Okay, I've done some research about MS in Finance or MSc in Finance or MSc in Financial Mathematics or Financial Engineering and the top schools that repeatedly come out at the top of the league are: Oxford, Berkeley and LBS. Aside from the top 3 schools I have mentioned above, I would also consider Stanford and MIT (US) and Warwick and LSE (UK) if I were to take up graduate level Finance.

The average GMAT score at Oxford is 730 while its only 690 at Berkeley. Warwick does not require GMAT. The average age at Oxford is 24 and 28 at Warwick.
In terms of career progression, Berkeley has the best record in the US and Oxford in the UK.

If you want to work in the US, I suggest you go to schools in the US. If you want to work in Europe or in Asia, British schools are excellent bets. If you can get into Oxford, you should rather go there. But Berkeley is also quite tempting.

Oxford - Oxford Saïd Business School: Welcome to the Oxford MSc in Financial Economics

UC Berkeley - MFE Prospective - MFE Home - Haas School of Business

LBS - Masters in Finance: London Business School, Programmes - Masters (MSc) in Finance at London Business School

Warwick - WBS :: Masters Portfolio

rockofeller

As much as I would love to do the Berkeley program..I don't have the math background and would thus have to delay my grad school by a year. Having no work experience (full time), LBS is not an option for me. If I get an U.K. degree am I really going to be limiting my job options? With Oxford less so than with Warwick?
I am wondering if the second tier British schools like Cass and Warwick offer any chance of a very good U.S. job. Thanks for the links.

powergrid1990

I cannot answer your question about how marketable British school graduates are in the US but I think Oxford is a pretty huge name in the US and oftentimes, jobs are not hard for Oxford grads to come by anywhere in the world. (Heard of the Rhodes, for instance?) Warwick may not be as popular as Oxford in the US but I think it is respected by those who care and those who has done his homework. But there's no question that Warwick grads are highly respected in Europe and Asia.

BTW, I would not rank Warwick in second tier. Cass and Tanaka are but Warwick is definitely in the first tier along with LSE and Oxford.

powergrid1990

One of the Rhodes awardees of this year is taking up MSc in Financial Economics. Here's the link:

Nicholas Shelly

Yeah, I must agree with you that Berkeley's program requires a solid fundamentals in mathematics and thus, it's better to brush up in math before you embark on the Berkeley program. If I will pursue graduate level finance in the US, Berkeley would definitely be my top choice. And Berkeley's (Haas) campus is fantastic. It's everything what a student would wish for.

iceice678

Oxford is a very big name. Not many people outside the top financial circles know that Said Business School is a fairly young school, and the MFE is a relatively new program.

When you look at the MBA rankings, LBS ranks much higher than Oxford. Take a look at FT rankings for example.

FT.com / Business Education / European Business school rankings
FT.com / Business Education / Global MBA rankings

LBS ranks 2nd in Europe, and 5th globally, whereas Oxford ranks 21st in EU and 19th globally.

So it's a trade off as always. I've just been admitted to the LBS MiF program, and I'm wondering what I would do if I also receive an admit form Oxford. (Those are the two programs I've applied for).

I've been writing about that in my blog, FINANTIC, you might want to take a look at that as well.

rockofeller

Well, as I said, I won't be applying to LBS due to the work experience requirement. I do think I will be competitive for the other programs, my GMAT is looking like itll be in the 740-760 range.

KLLeader

Doesn't Princeton have a good program?

rockofeller

They do, however their deadline was December 1st.

kotchian123

I would also consider CMU MSCF / Cornell Financial Engineering option / Chicago Financial Math / Princton MFE / Columbia MFE / NYU Courant MFE

Good Luck

madcow99

does an entreprenuerial venture or a start up count as relevent work expirience in the above mentioned colleges?