Best schools for MS in finance

Question

Hi,

Can anyone suggest the top ten schools in US for an MS in finance.

evanstripp · Answer

In no particular order:
Princeton
M.I.T.
Vandy
BC
Villanova
Tulane
Florida
Rochester
Washington, St. Louis
George Washington

That should get you started on your search.

I suggest you also look at schools in the UK, i.e. LSE, LBS, Oxbridge, Warwick, etc.

fluidian · Answer

I'd probably look into the Master of Financial Engineering as well. If you do that, definitely at Haas (Berkeley) to the list.

evanstripp · Answer

MFE is a totally different monster. Although I will say that Princeton, M.I.T., and Washington, St. Louis are very quant MS Finance programs. Vandy has a quant track as well. However, if you are looking into a MFE program, then you will want to look at Haas certainly, Columbia, NYU, etc.

meeta1710 · Answer

Thanks! That was helpful

hokie123 · Answer

I agree with most but Villanova? Their averages are definitely below all these schools....I wouldnt call them a best school

futurestrategist · Answer

CMU, Berekeley, NYU (not NYU-Poly), Columbia (OR program)

aniec · Answer

I think MIT is the best

avn0903 · Answer

How hard is it to get into these school? I am a recent college grad w/ 3.2 GPA, 760 GMAT and a summer interning at HSBC?

kp007 · Answer

I would recommend the universities / b schools for ms finance in the order as follows -

1) London school of economics and political science(LSE) or London business school(LBS), UK (LBS recommended)
2) HEC Paris, France
3) University of oxford Said business school, UK
4) University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA
5) George Washington university, Washington DC, USA
6) Grenoble Business school, France
7) Cranfield school of management, UK
8) Imperial college Business school, London,UK
9) Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

One can also have a look at MASTER IN FINANCE at the following universities in asia / australia which are REASONABLY GOOD and where one can expect a good future on graduation. The order is

1) Hong Kong University, HKSAR, PRC (master in finance) (HKU is the no.1 university in Asia as per QS rankings)
2) Singapore Management University (Master in applied finance) ( A good b school having a good name in asia oceania region. Not ranked as it is small to be ranked. This is a singapore government funded university. I would recommend everyone to consider this over HKU as Singapre is still developing and Hong Kong is already over-crowded. Singapore is emerging as a financial hub)
3) Chinese University of Hong Kong, HKSAR ( The advantage here is that they have a mock stock exchange facility where one can groom himself / herself to get into investment banking)

Please consider this before deciding between Hong Kong and Singapore - 
Hong Kong is the investment banking hub in Asia and opens doors for a career in the growing economy of Mainland China

GROUND RULE : CONSIDER A UNIVERSITY THAT REQUIRES COMPETITIVE SCORES FROM EXAMS LIKE GMAT. PLEASE DO NOT JUMP INTO A UNIVERSITY THAT HAS NO GMAT REQUIREMENTS OR REQUIRES ONLY IELTS / TOEFL SCORES.

howardforever · Answer

Dear KP

Many thanks for your description of the various ms finance programs offered specially about the choice between singapore and hongkong. CAn you please share some insights about the job prospects in the financial sector both in singapore and hongkong. As you mentioned in your posts that hongkong is overcrowded.. How is the job market there for people with 1 yr of expereince. I would like to study full time or part time , but i have to earn as well. How likely is to find a job in the financial markets. Kind regards . Ali

kp007 · Answer

Hi Ali. Thanks for your compliments on my post.

If you ask me personally, I would always prefer Hong Kong over Singapore. I am a Chartered Accountant fresher from India. I have been to Hong Kong twice already. Hong Kong is a lively place. All the investment banks in the world like Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC etc have their asia pacific headquarters there. As you may be aware, Mainland china uses Hong Kong as a base to raise funds from overseas investors. So, it is a very active financial market. More active than Singapore. Singapore is a financial centre of south east asia. South east asia economy is growing at a fast pace and there is scope for more and more growth in the coming future. Many upcoming countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei etc use Singapore as a finance base. 
You would also agree that currently the chinese economy is larger than the south east asian economies put together. China has contributed on a large scale to Hong Kong's development. Hong Kong is technically a part of china now, but it has the freedom to make its own laws and governs its own economy ie it is a democracy unlike mainland china. Hence, many westerners prefer to go to Hong Kong as they can get a window to participate in the mainland china growth story and at the same time live in a westernised atmosphere in Hong Kong which offers good quality housing and other facilities which serve as a reminder of the british days. 
One must also understand that Hong Kong has become overcrowded. It is very difficult for a foreigner to get jobs in Hong Kong nowadays because many companies would like to employ someone who speaks mandarin well as they have a china focus. My own relative from London Business School tried to get a job in Hong Kong but was told by the companies that since he did not speak mandarin, they are unable to consider him. But, all his chinese classmates at LBS got good jobs there as well in in the mainland. This is a risk you will have to consider if you want to go to Hong Kong and study as after all you must get a good return on your investment in education there. The english language is getting eroded slowly.

If you have still decided to study in Hong Kong, I would advise you to get enrolled into a basic chinese language class. In your university, you will have a lot of classmates from the mainland and networking is a good way to build a successful career in a foreign country. Just good grades do not matter solely. Out of HKU and CUHK, I would recommend the msc finance offered by CUHK as they ask for a GMAT score. The HKU does not ask for a GMAT. This is despite the fact that CUHK is 40th in the world ( 5 in asia) and HKU is 23rd in the world ( 3 in asia). Always look at the course content. The university's overall ranking does not always matter but the quality of the course and the entrance requirements are valued on a higher scale by the corporate world. CUHK has a mock stock exchange trading system which i have already spoken about. HKU does not have this facility.

Singapore is expected to replace Hong Kong as an asian financial hub. There is still a lot of scope for development in singapore. Because of this, singapore encourages immigration as its sparse population needs people from abroad to help it develop. There are many american and european corporate powerhouses in singapore. A degree from singapore will enable one to get a decent job of course not only in singapore , but also in nearby countries like indonesia, malaysia, vietnam etc which are fast growing. I have seen people who have studied at SMU and being successful in their careers in countries like Jakarta, Indonesia and Malaysia. SMU has a msc finance which is inspired from the american system. It is a govt funded institution. It is still unranked because it is far too small to be ranked with others. The msc finance is called master in applied finance which is practically the same thing.

I would suggest you to visit the websites of SMU and CUHK and read for yourself about the master in applied finance and msc finance respectively on offer there. Based on the course content and the other things i have written above, make a final decision. Also, consult good professors and senior corporate executives in your contact for a well informed decision. I would personally recommend singapore management university based on the research and enquiries i have made even though i like hong kong and its people more.Wish you all the best.

howardforever · Answer

Dear KP
Thank you very much for your detailed post and time. what i have come across is that MS from CHUK and HKUST is relatively less expensive as compared to one offered by SMU and one would like to have a facility such as mock exchange . however as you mentioned finding a job in hong kong is difficult these days.Do you think Chuk or hkust graduates are recognized globally
 I was thinking if Chuk or Hkust graduates can find jobs at other places such as singapore, indonesia or in the US market. Also, i came across few US schools that have reasonable tuition cost . one of them is temple university's fox school of business ms in finance program. the location is as at philadelphia. do you think its a good program?. they have good facilities. However one needs to see about the placement. Thanks again.

kp007 · Answer

Hi Ali. 
 You are talking about HKUST which is Hong Kong University of science and technology. I spoke about HKU which is Hong Kong University. Talking about HKUST, it is the no.1 university in Asia and 33 in the world as per QS rankings. They have a master in financial analysis and a master in investment management at HKUST business school which is a part of HKUST group. But both of them are part time courses. So, you need to have a proper job and a work visa of Hong Kong if you want to study part time and work. The master in finance course offered at HKU is full time as well as part time depending on your choice.HKU is no.3 in Asia and 23 in the world.

Judging from your question, I think you have made up your mind at studying in HK. Well, good luck. I would ask you to evaluate full time and part time courses and arrive at a carefully planned decision as you first need to find a suitable job in Hong Kong. As said earlier, I will suggest choosing the master in finance offered by Chinese University of Hong Kong(CUHK). They ask for a GMAT and they have a mock stock exchange. CUHK is also a Hong Kong SAR government funded institution like HKU and HKUST. cuhk IS NO.5 in asia and no.40 in the world. Please keep my earlier post in mind about corporate preferences as far as ranking and course quality and entrance requirements goes.
 Good luck for your ambitions to study and work in Hong Kong. I pray that you may succeed there. And guess what.....you might find me there in the future as well ( ha ha ha). Cheers mate.

kp007 · Answer

As far as the program in the US is concerned, my personal opinion would be to avoid the US as they are getting increasingly strict about foreigners working in the USA. So unless you are an american, I would opine that it is better to look for study elsewhere for the moment. Asian countries especially China (Hong Kong included), Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand etc promise good growth in the near future which is why it is better to go to these countries and do some groundwork if we want to make it big. 
Examples of famous foreign business personalities living in China -

1) James Mc Gregor - American Author of the famous book "One billion customers". Lives in Beijing with his family. If you want to know about how businesses function in China, read "one billion customers".

2) Tim Clissold - British author of the famous book "Mr. China". Currently lives in Beijing. Started his foray into mainland china from Hong Kong where he used to live and advise foreign investors about investing in industries in mainland china. At that time, Mainland china needed a lot of capital for industrial and infrastructure set up and he used to help foreign investors in their investment decisions in the mainland.

bhs · Answer

Hi KP007,

Thanks for your earlier posts. They were very helpful. I too am a Chartered Accountant from India currently working with one of the Big 4 accounting firms with almost a year of post qualification experience. I am interested in pursuing a Masters in Finance/Masters in Financial Engineering. I just wanted to understand what is the extent of pure math involved in these courses? Would I be required to re-visit my 11th & 12th Calculus?

Thanks, 
Bhavana

MSFHQ · Answer

MSF programs usually only really require some stats and calc. Maybe knowing a little higher math might help here and there, but it will be marginal. MFE programs require you to have advanced math skills though.

Nehatantia · Answer

Which are the best universities in Europe for masters in finance other than hec Paris and lse?

Posted from my mobile device

kp007 · Answer

Hi Bhavana

Maths is significantly involved in GMAT. Since you are a chartered accountant like me, It is better to shape your math basics. You may buy a book from Kaplan for those who are not in touch with school / college math for a reasonable time. 
In India, you will get them in crosswords.

Also it is necessary to shape english grammatical skills since most people find english difficult rather than math.

Regards
Kartik

kp007 · Answer

Hi,
In Europe other than LSE and HEC, you may check London Business School ( LBS ). It is ranked number 1 by Financial Times magazine. They require a GMAT score ( above 700 preferred ). It is considered slightly better than LSE and HEC owing to its practicality approach and research facilities.

But watch out for UK immigration policies. Things are not rosy for a foreigner in Britain anymore. As you may have heard, a nationality from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh , Nigeria etc will have to shell out a 3000 pounds as deposit to the British consulate which will be refunded when you return to your home country after achieveing the purpose of your visa be it study, tourism etc.

As mentioned in my previous posts, do check out reputed universities in Asia like HKU, CUHK, HKUST, SMU etc.

Regards
Kartik

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