I think I'd accept NHH and then see if you get a better offer, but you have to wife's opinion to consider as well. Good luck!

So Robaroo
Where are you finally going

Also I would advice look for Scholarships as well. At 740 GMAT you will easily get full tuition scholarships at many schools.

There are not many full scholarships available at these European state universities with low tuition fees. Most scholarships come from much more expensive programmes, typically those with low GMAT scores. A few places where I have seen candidates get full scholarships with strong GMATs are Politecnico di Milano, Iowa, Warwick, Bloomington, McCombs.... generally not places in the Netherlands or Norway.

Hi Duncan/Raka,

Below are the updates.

Duisenberg - accepted with 40% schol
UVA MSc Fin - accepted (schol awaited.. slight chances of full tuition waiver)

ABS MiF - accepted with ~50% schol
NHH - still waiting for schol to cover living expenses

Duncan, please let me know your views.. Which one should I join?

Couldnt apply to RSM as the process got closed 1.5 months prior to the deadline!

Couldnt apply to RSM as the process got closed 1.5 months prior to the deadline!

There are not many full scholarships available at these European state universities with low tuition fees. Most scholarships come from much more expensive programmes, typically those with low GMAT scores. A few places where I have seen candidates get full scholarships with strong GMATs are Politecnico di Milano, Iowa, Warwick, Bloomington, McCombs.... generally not places in the Netherlands or Norway.

The website says the deadline is on the 15th http://www.eur.nl/english/master/programmes/econometrics_management/factsheet/

yeah its open to apply.. ? was inadvertently put in my last post.. what is your take on UVA, DSF, Erasmus (all quant fin starting Aug 13) or RSM MBA (starting Jan 14). I am not considering VU, Tilburg anymore as they will start Aug 14. .dont want to wait 1 more year..

I have admits to UVA & DSF. Let us assume I qualify for RSM & Erasmus also

An MBA is quite a different direction. HEC also has a January intake, and I think that's a better investment than RSM. DSF is excellent. Much better than UvA, but that's better than the Erasmus MSc.

Hi Duncan,

DSF offered me more schol.. so my latest standings are:

NHH - Accepted no tuition fee by default
UVA - Accepted with 100% schol
DSF - Accepted with 50% schol

Do you think 2nd is better than 3rd?

So it's the finance MSc at DSF versus the BEF MSc at ABS? The finance MScs are slightly similar at the two schools. You can see that the DSF MSc is similar to the ABS MIF, but you can see that DSF is better than the MIF because the computing is part of the pre-programme rather than an option at the end (as it is on the ABS MIF)- showing that DSF students are using computation from the start. And you are looking at the more academic, pre-experience BEF programme which has a very light course load and is centred on exams rather than academics.

Given the choice between the MSc at DSF and the ABS MIF, then DSF would win by a slim margin, but the BEF programme is at an even lower level and should not be considered.

Thanks for the quick revert.

But my research shows that ABS has very weak or no placements and BEF is much stronger in terms of employability. Further, I have talked to graduates of both DSF and BEF, as expected all advised the other school from theirs and BEF reputation seems good.

Also, do you think that I should target courses starting in Jan '14 if that helps my career. I am open to MBA also for that matter. But target country is Netherlands only.

Both BEF and MIF are ABS programmes, so I am not sure what you mean when you say that BEF is stronger than ABS. I would certainly expect placement to be higher from the BEF programmes because most of the students will be Dutch and they will be much younger, so it's easier to place them. The MIF is aimed at people with experience, and the cohort is more mature. It's clear from the curricula that the MIF and DSF masters are for more qualified students. Those people are harder to place, but obviously they will get more senior roles.

However, my recommendation is DSF rather than either of the ABS programmes.

There are not many courses starting in January. In Europe, the academic year starts in the autumn.