Master in finance pre-experience: help!

Question

Hi everyone!

This is my first post in gmatclub forum (hope this is the right place for the post).

I'm 21 and I'm going to finish my bachelor degree in July.
I'm interested in continuing my studies with a Msc in finance. I do not have work experience (just a three months internship in a small investment firm in Italy), my gpa is 3,9/4, and my gmat is 720.

As I said, I want to start a master in finance pre-experience but I do not which are the best schools that offer such a program.
I know that it is a bit late, but I do not have a clear idea about which school is better than others. I have looked at the FT ranking, but I don't know how much I can trust on it.

In your opinion which schools have the best pre-experience master in finance program? Until now, I'm considering to try to apply to Bocconi and Hec program.
But what about the LBS master in finance and accounting? Or LSE, IE, and so forth? Which are the pro and the cons?

Thanks in advance for the help!

epo8 · Answer

I were in a very similar situation and at the end I opted for the Hec MiM program with specialization in International Finance.
Having no work experience, a one year program would be too much tough, so you would not enjoy your university life and no matter how good you are at the end of the program you will not be on the top of your class. Originally my first choices were LSE MiF and HEC MiF but after some insights I changed my mind.
Obviously, if you plan to stay in Italy you cannot go wrong with Bocconi also.

frank17 · Answer

If I understood well, you chose the Hec MiM with a finance specialization mainly because it is 18 months instead of the 10 months of the HEC and LSE MiF. But don't you think that the LSE and LBS have a kind of "preference channel" to the best investment firms? Moreover, I think that studying finance in London could be highly beneficial, primarily with the regard to the post university placement.

Anyway, I agree that 18 months of tuition is more complete, especially for students, like us, without a working experience. This is why I'm seriously considering the 2 years Bocconi master (not because it is in Italy, Italian or abroad universities are the same for me). But maybe, a one year program followed by a one year internship could be enough.

What do you think?

epo8 · Answer

Mah, of course LSE and LBS have a preference channel in London and UK finance sector, but I in my opinion the main problem at the beginning is the first screening step of recruitment. After that your skills, experiences and knowledge are more important than your university' brand or than the people you know in London. HEC is just behind LSE and LBS about placement in London and UK, so I think that 90% of the cases it is good enough to pass through the screening step and after that having a longer preparation with an/more internship in the middle would give you much more chances in my opinion. For Bocconi the question is very similar, with the difference that it is probably slight better than HEC in Italy but not as good as HEC if you want to go abroad (of course still a top university). I would suggest you LSE/LBS only if you are already extremely focused on working in top big investment banks in London. If this is the only goal of your master course, LSE/LBS worth their cost. Anotherway in my opinion no. However we are both italians, so it is pretty strange talk in english on a forum. Send me a PM if you are interested

Master in finance pre-experience: help!

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