Prestigious Business Schools

shangobango

I am considering doing a Masters in Finance or an MBA.
The problem is who do you apply for?
The league tables suggest somje are harder to get into than others.
But how do I gauge the standard of college to apply for, and therefore save money in the application fee required.

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-finance

mono627

shangobango wrote: »

I am considering doing a Masters in Finance or an MBA.
The problem is who do you apply for?
The league tables suggest somje are harder to get into than others.
But how do I gauge the standard of college to apply for, and therefore save money in the application fee required.

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-finance

Depends on many factors:

• Country you want to apply to.
• Your college grades.
• Your ability to pay the fees (finance in general is very expensive to study at postgraduate level)
• Your current degree programme
• If you want to study an MBA or straight finance. There is some overlap between the two courses but are certainly different.

shangobango

Hey Mono

Ok, so I got for example a 2.2 in primary degree, yet have completed all my ACCA exams. So if I apply to LBS and can afford to pay - will I be admitted?

I'm aware of the various factors you mentioned Mono, but I am still unsure as to where to place my ability, or more to the point the schools view of my ability against the top100 european schools.

I'd study anywhere, as long as the course is in English as most are. Though I do speak German anyway and a bit of Chinese

mono627

shangobango wrote: »

Hey Mono

Ok, so I got for example a 2.2 in primary degree, yet have completed all my ACCA exams. So if I apply to LBS and can afford to pay - will I be admitted?

I'm aware of the various factors you mentioned Mono, but I am still unsure as to where to place my ability, or more to the point the schools view of my ability against the top100 european schools.

I'd study anywhere, as long as the course is in English as most are. Though I do speak German anyway and a bit of Chinese

Well I'm doing a Masters in Finance in Trinity and I'd highly recommend it, so if you have any questions about the course I'd be happy to answer.

AFAIK, most postgraduate finance courses require a 2:1 to get in. Some course directors said they would admit students with a high 2:2 as long as they had a significant amount of work experience and demonstrated a genuine interest in applying, so contacting the course director of the course you want to apply to should be your first port of call.

If you are looking at a good school like LBS/Oxford/Cambridge, you would more than likely have to have a 1st class honours to get accepted. I've heard of LSE taking on students with 2:1's though.

As well as that, you will have to complete a GMAT (standardised test for business school admissions).

If you want to pursue an MBA, you won't be accepted without a number of years of working experience. It is a pre-requisite to being accepted.

What subject was your primary degree in? Was it from a good college?

shangobango

hey Mono

Ok, well I did a BSc in Management (Business Studies) in DIT and majored in accounting. And regarding the MBA, work experience is a prerequisite. I have 5 years project managment experience in construction. Due to the obvious downturn in the industry I am now looking to change career.

Although my 2.2 wasn't great, I feel I have applied myself more this year and have worked hard in my ACCA exams and hope to have them all completed by June. Surely this will stand to my application.

I've heard about the GMAT, I need to research this further. This is probably the best route to applying for a programme abroad.

shangobango

Did you do a GMAT for Trinity??

mono627

shangobango wrote: »

hey Mono

Ok, well I did a BSc in Management (Business Studies) in DIT and majored in accounting. And regarding the MBA, work experience is a prerequisite. I have 5 years project managment experience in construction. Due to the obvious downturn in the industry I am now looking to change career.

Although my 2.2 wasn't great, I feel I have applied myself more this year and have worked hard in my ACCA exams and hope to have them all completed by June. Surely this will stand to my application.

I've heard about the GMAT, I need to research this further. This is probably the best route to applying for a programme abroad.

Yes, that will certainly stand to your application. What courses in particular were you looking at? I've a fairly decent idea of the requirements for most courses as I did a good bit of research into it before choosing which one was right for me.

More importantly, what career are you looking to pursue? You should pick your course based on what career you want to pursue.

No, Irish students didn't have to take a GMAT for Trinity. Not sure about international students.

cerebus

Some quick thoughts:

Some form of standardized test will be required for the majority of business schools. Most US, and a large number of European, schools use the GMAT. The GRE is now also being accepted by many US business schools.

Work experience is not a pre-requisite for an MBA in many good schools, but you'll need to be a pretty strong applicant to get in without it.

MBA and a Masters in Finance are two quite different animals. Depending on where you go to school though, an MBA can be pretty finance heavy. (Full disclosure: I have an MBA from UPenn/Wharton, which is on the FT list you linked to - it has a good reputation in finance, for example).

In terms of whether to do an MBA or to do an MSC in Finance, mono627 had some great advice - ask yourself what you want to do afterwards and how you see your career developing in the future. That should help guide your decision making.

mono627

cerebus wrote: »

Some quick thoughts:

Some form of standardized test will be required for the majority of business schools. Most US, and a large number of European, schools use the GMAT. The GRE is now also being accepted by many US business schools.

Work experience is not a pre-requisite for an MBA in many good schools, but you'll need to be a pretty strong applicant to get in without it.

MBA and a Masters in Finance are two quite different animals. Depending on where you go to school though, an MBA can be pretty finance heavy. (Full disclosure: I have an MBA from UPenn/Wharton, which is on the FT list you linked to - it has a good reputation in finance, for example).

In terms of whether to do an MBA or to do an MSC in Finance, mono627 had some great advice - ask yourself what you want to do afterwards and how you see your career developing in the future. That should help guide your decision making.

+1

Cerebus knows his stuff OP, gave me a lot of good advice when I was researching these programmes.

I should have elaborated a little more about work experience as a pre-requisite, as cerebus said, you can get accepted into good programmes but you will have to be a strong candidate.

shangobango

hey guys

I have to say - thank you very much for your advice. It is greatly appreciated.

I'm busy sorting a list of courses right now and will let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Shane