Hi guys,

I would appreciate a lot if you give me a piece of advice since I am completely confused. I got an offer from Lancater for MSc International Business, Sthrathclyde for MSc International Business with Finance and Warwick for MSc Management.
In fact, I have chosen Warwick earlier, but then read very bad reviews about its management program on this forum. In addition,its tuition fee is significantly higher than the fee of the other 2 universities mentioned above. So now I am totally confused. What should I do?
I appreciate any info.

I think you should go with warwick business school. They are ranked very high in most rankings I have seen. Most 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Moreover, a lot of reputable firms attend fairs at warwick compared to the others.

Next choice might be strathclyde, which is also ranked high and is also triple accredited (EQUIS,AACSB, AMBA). Finance program is ranked high in UK and scotland.

Lancaster is my last choice. Trust your heart.

Thank you for your advice. :)
I thought the same about Warwick, but the thing is that WBS is ranked so highly because of its MSc Finance degree which is very reputable. But I could not find its MSc Management in any ranking. It's so strange...

Yes, I noticed that too, but it's not strange. Its MSc in management seems very academic.

Duncan, thanks for your answer. In fact, I found that WBS MSc Management doesn't have lots of course to choose from. Perhaps, it is not supposed to.
So what program among these 3 would you advise me to choose taking into consideration quality of education and opportunities after the graduation? Thank you!

Is it the MSc International Banking and Finance at Strathclyde? I would generally put that course at Strathclyde before Lancaster.

Even before Warwick Management program?
Yes, in Strathclyde, I applied for both MSc International Banking and Finance and MSc International Management with Finance.

I think their MSc in Business and Management is the best programme because it can be converted into an MBA. If the FT ranking is correct (http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-management), then Strathclyde students earn one-third more than Lancaster graduates. Warwick is not in their ranking, and their course doesn't look great. Remember, you have to choose the programme, not just the school.

Personally, I would not like to study in Glasgow. I would be more interested in Bath, Durham or Nottingham, all of which alos have a better gender balance in their MSc courses.

Duncan, thank you for such a valuable advice! I thought carefully and said 'no' to Warwick. Between Strathclyde and Lancaster, the first looks more advantageous.
You mentioned that Strathclyde MSc in Business and Management can be converted into an MBA. Thank you, I actually didn't know about it.
I have also been accepted for Loughborough MSc in Banking and Finance and Henley Business School (Reading University) MSc in Securities, Investment and Banking, MSc Investment Management. What do you think about the schools? I don't know anything about Loughborough school, but according to the FT ranking, Strathclyde is a better option. With respect to Henley, I read contradictory opinions, though its FT ranking looks pretty good. Thank you again. :)

Yes, Strathclyde is good. There's three parts to the 'New' Henley: the legacy Henley, actually in Henley; the ICMA centre at Reading, which is also great; and the old Reading management school which s hum-drum. The ICMA centre is better if you want a narrow focus on Finance.

Thanks again!
Yes, I was talking about ICMA centre. I was accepted there for 3 programs, but as you say, all of them are quite narrow which narrows the opportunities after graduation.

Strathclyde MSc in Business and Management is a great choice, and I'd put that top. Henley, I'd imagine, has great networking and recruitment potential. The MSc in International Securities, Investment and Banking looks more flexible, in terms of electives, than most ICMA cources.

Thank you for your answer!
ICMA's MSc International Securities, Investment and Banking was my priority, but the problem with this program that it limits after-graduation opportunities to Investment Banking. Though electives do look very tempting.
What do you think about Strathclyde's MSc Finance program?
By the way, I also heard from Grenoble Graduate Business School (MSc in Finance), which is ranked highly on the international level, but in the UK it's run in collaboration with London School of Business and Finance. I read bad reviews about the latter. Is it really that bad?

Hello Duncan,

I would like to know why you would personally not like to study in Glasgow? Also, what steps would you recommend for international students to take in securing a decent job after graduating from an Msc programme in any business school in the Uk?...e.g learning another language, voluntering..etc

Hey Xenia,

Looking at the FT ranking (http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-finance-pre-experience-2011) ICMA is ahead on salary, value and employment. It is a super-strong school with massive scale in finance on a beautiful campus. Reading is just half an hour from London by train. The Grenoble course gets great results, but I cannot think that the outcomes are the same in London and in Grenoble. GGBS and LSBF are not so well known, and ICMA and Henley are really strong brands in Britain. Actually, I don't see how GGBS can maintain its place in the rankings.

Hey Bibby,

In my limited experience of it, I've found Glasgow to be a cold, wet, dark, poverty-stricken, depressed, post-industrial hole. And If I had wanted that, I would have stayed in Manchester ;-)

Duncan,
Is it? So it sounds that ICMA should be my top priority. If you didn't tell me that, I would not consider it probably. In fact, one of my career interests is Corporate Finance. Do you think with such Master's degree as MSc International Securities, Investment and Banking I will be able to enter this field?

The MSc Investment Management at ICMA will be better for corporate finance than MSc International Securities, Investment and Banking. In fact the IM course seems to give you almost all the same courses as their MSc in CF.

However, don't let my opinion of Glasgow get in the way too much. In an intensive course like this you will be in the school more than in the city. But (contradicting myself) just comparing the finance MSc at Strathclyde with ICMA I feel the difference is pretty self-evident. ICMA is at a much higher level of scale and specialisation.

Thanks again! You are right.
I wrote to ICMA today asking if I can switch to MSc Corporate Finance, let's see what they answer.
Do you know which school is respected and known more among the employers?

Well, with the ICMA Centre you have three brands to deal with: Reading, Henley and ICMA. Reading is one of the world's top 200 universities (http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/about-facts.aspx#leaguetables). Henley is a world class school, and the ICMA Centre has a good profile at firms like Citi, HSBC, KPMG, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse.

As universities, Reading and Strathclyde have similar networks in corporate finance. Reading has an especially good network in the corporate finance teams of the big accounting firms. Strathclyde does as well, and it has good connections with the RBS group.

As business schools, however, there's no comparison: Strathclyde Business School has much less buzz than Henley.