What UK quant program should I apply to?

[Andy Nguyen]

I wish it was ! He (it is a he) was a little friend I met during an internship in Cameroon two years ago.

I always thought you had a HUGE hat/coat on all this time. Now, I look closely and see it's not a hat

 

[drjmpc]

I would really appreciate feedback on the University of York as well. I am considering doing the M.Sc. Mathematical Finance & EngD in Systems Engineering [Computer Science - LSCITS {that's BASICALLY Cloud & HPC for the uninitiated of which I doubt there are many on this forum}].

 

[Flex]

As I said before I got an offer from Warwick.
The problem is: I need to accept it and they must have received my deposit within the next 10 days.

I am still waiting for Imperial. I submitted my application on April, 30th. They said that I will definitely get a decision by May, 23rd but that's too late because if I get rejected I have also lost my opportunity to study at Warwick.

I think that my deposit for Warwick should not take more than 5 days but I am wondering if Imperial will give me a decision in the next couple of days. I wrote them an email on Monday but I didn't get an answer yet. There application tracker says that my application is under consideration by the departement but it said the same 3 weeks ago.

What should I do?
I mean: There is no way to get my 1000 GBP deposit back from Warwick if I accept and than would prefer to go to Imperial a few days later, right?

Should I call Imperial and repeat what I wrote in my email?
My concern is quite urgent but I'm afraid that the likelihood to get rejected increases if I bother them too much with emails and phone calls.

I hope you guys can help me out.

 

[kuberkhan]

Is the offer at Warwick conditional or unconditional?
What I did for Imperial is I accepted the conditional offer and delayed fulfilling my conditions(Original degree transcript should reach them) of the offer. This way I bought some time to know other admit results. And they take some time to generate the invoice and all that. So you can steal some time there.

 

[Flex]

The offer is conditional.
I have to meet all conditons by August 31th.

I don't see the chance to get some time this way.
The only way would be accepting both programs (if I get an offer from Imperial) and then trying not to fullfil one of the conditions of Warwick. But that could be a risky plan because there are chances that Imperial tells me to fullfil the same conditions as Warwick.

Should I call Imperial?
I looked at the Quantnet Application Tracker and none of you guys waited more than 35 days.

BTW: Do you think it is a good or a bad sign that my application is under consideration for such a long time?

 

[kuberkhan]

@Flex,
How many days since you applied? 35 days is the days to result. Don't just go by that and moreover I applied in First round.
After getting the result I requested them to push the deadline to accept the offer by 2 weeks. I got that.
Then I realized that for accepting the offer, I need not pay any amount till I recieve the invoice. And I'll recieve the invoice only after 3 weeks after I fulfill the requirements. Even at Imperial you have to fulfill the requirements by Aug end. So login and check if it is similar for Warwick too.
Send a mail to Warwick and request them to push your deadline by a week or two and request them for more information you need to know like placements, job profiles, an alumni contact request etc etc. Mail Imperial and request them for a possibility of early decision.

 

[Flex]

thanks for your help! The problem is solved! Please look at my new thread ;-)

 

[bassem]

I think I'm giving nothing away to say that I wouldn't have Manchester at #3., and ekta has a point about Imperial

What about MSC mathematical finance at King's college london?

 

[RedL]

The only UK programs that are really worth considering are the ones offered by:

Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
Warwick
Imperial
And, of course,
LBS.


And, maybe,
Cranfield and Manchester, too.

The rest may be are good, but not stellar.

 

[F.Fontana]

The only UK programs that are really worth considering are the ones offered by:

Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
Warwick
Imperial
And, of course,
LBS.


And, maybe,
Cranfield and Manchester, too.

The rest may be are good, but not stellar.

The computer science department of UCL has the strongest machine learning research centre in London.

 

[PhDWill]

Newcastle Uni: Quantitative Finance and Risk Mngt

 

[Tini]

As far as I know there are also :

Financial Computing and Analytics at UCL
MathSys at Warwick (not really finance oriented but still there)

Do you think this two programmes are good too?

 

[Michael Coulon]

Can't help but add to this list with the program I'm involved in and have worked hard on:

MSc Financial Risk and Investment Analysis (FRIA) at Sussex

Not such a big name uni, but in my view a very good mix of practical markets stuff and quant techniques, since we're based in business school but taught by people with maths background. Take a look and apply for this year if interested as we are still taking applications! (happy to also answer questions if you like)

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

Imperial Program is like factory. You have a mass of Asian students and the faculty to student ratio seem abysmal. Discount the brand and the educational standard is pathetic no where near top US program.

As I said before I got an offer from Warwick.
The problem is: I need to accept it and they must have received my deposit within the next 10 days.

I am still waiting for Imperial. I submitted my application on April, 30th. They said that I will definitely get a decision by May, 23rd but that's too late because if I get rejected I have also lost my opportunity to study at Warwick.

I think that my deposit for Warwick should not take more than 5 days but I am wondering if Imperial will give me a decision in the next couple of days. I wrote them an email on Monday but I didn't get an answer yet. There application tracker says that my application is under consideration by the departement but it said the same 3 weeks ago.

What should I do?
I mean: There is no way to get my 1000 GBP deposit back from Warwick if I accept and than would prefer to go to Imperial a few days later, right?

Should I call Imperial and repeat what I wrote in my email?
My concern is quite urgent but I'm afraid that the likelihood to get rejected increases if I bother them too much with emails and phone calls.

I hope you guys can help me out.

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

Michael,

Under a choking Visa Regime how can Sussex be appealing to International students. I dont see the University having enough brand equity to overcome that hurdle . The value of course content is marginal if you don't have the oppourtunity to apply those learned skills.

Can't help but add to this list with the program I'm involved in and have worked hard on:

MSc Financial Risk and Investment Analysis (FRIA) at Sussex

Not such a big name uni, but in my view a very good mix of practical markets stuff and quant techniques, since we're based in business school but taught by people with maths background. Take a look and apply for this year if interested as we are still taking applications! (happy to also answer questions if you like)

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

The only programs worth the $/effort is Oxford & Cambridge.

LSE is a rareified diploma mill and have come across folks who had no clue how to even use bloomberg. LBS curriculum is a joke, you go there to get stamped but they do put an effort to get their students placed like American Schools.

The only UK programs that are really worth considering are the ones offered by:

Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
Warwick
Imperial
And, of course,
LBS.


And, maybe,
Cranfield and Manchester, too.

The rest may be are good, but not stellar.

Newcastle Uni: Quantitative Finance and Risk Mngt

 

[Michael Coulon]

Hi Philip,
It's definitely a challenge. Brand equity takes time to build up with help from alumni network, etc., so we certainly don't have it yet (have been running 3 years), but are giving it a go. Location is not London, but still within reach. Content and faculty are strong. So, we'll see how things develop. Regarding international students, get a high majority from China on some of our other degrees, but on FRIA (with far more selective entry) so far we have had about 60-80% home/EU students each year. I'm not surprised you're skeptical, and agree we'll never compete with Oxbridge, but I think there's still room for a program like ours. (depending of course on the financial industry itself to a certain extent!)
Best,
Michael

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

Michael,

How does the program rigor compare to Berkeley/UCLA MFE types ? What's the stats of ex international students who graduated out of program ? Where would you place your Program in the league of US Schools... Rutgers, Stevens ?

Hi Philip,
It's definitely a challenge. Brand equity takes time to build up with help from alumni network, etc., so we certainly don't have it yet (have been running 3 years), but are giving it a go. Location is not London, but still within reach. Content and faculty are strong. So, we'll see how things develop. Regarding international students, get a high majority from China on some of our other degrees, but on FRIA (with far more selective entry) so far we have had about 60-80% home/EU students each year. I'm not surprised you're skeptical, and agree we'll never compete with Oxbridge, but I think there's still room for a program like ours. (depending of course on the financial industry itself to a certain extent!)
Best,
Michael

 

[Michael Coulon]

Philip, these are not easy questions as I don't know the US programs that well (apart from the one I graduated from, Princeton's MFin, which I definitely liked). I guess you could indeed compare Sussex to somewhere like Rutgers/Stevens, in that we aim to be top of the second tier, i.e. those with somewhat lesser known names. But one other thing I should point out is that we are really not a classical MFE. We are definitely still quant, but not pure quant, and in my view a nice balance that is not easy to find in many programs. So if your question about rigor of Berkeley/UCLA MFE is based on things like advanced coding and serious stochastic calculus, then no we can't compete. But that's not the aim and we teach a lot of useful markets knowledge and quant techniques especially geared towards risk management and investment management (hence the name FRIA). Probably the best way to get a feel for it is from the list of core modules/courses:

Essential Quantitative Finance • Advanced Quantitative Finance • Equity Investments and Foreign Exchange • Institutions in the Global Financial Market • Interest-Rate Sensitive Instruments • Commodities and Alternative Investments • Swaps, Futures and Options • Market and Credit Risk Analysis • Portfolio Management (note: the last two count double)

Finally, your question about stats on placement of international students… I honestly don't know. Overall (including home/EU), we definitely have some students getting competitive offers from top banks, etc, others doing something a bit less mainstream, but sample size for international is not so high anyway so far and I don't know about all of them (some have returned to their country), so I really wouldn't like to say. But generally I think our employment record is improving and certainly very respectable.

Anyway, thanks for your questions and interest! Hope it's helped catch a few others' attention.

 

[Philip_Mitterrand]

To not rain on your parade but I don't see any Strategic positioning. You are competing in the galaxy of infinte starter programs where the cost to differentiate is much higher in terms of resources rather it entails a blue ocean strategy.

The Pre experience Masters is highly staurated and wouldn't it be better to compete in the Post Exp market ( like offering a tangible substitute for CFQ with all the marquee faculties you got ) which is highly underserved and emerging as a key player. Cambridge MFin, LBS are only few players and with all resources you are committing it would me much easier to make a dent in that market..

P.S. I think the alumni strenght is overated. Darmouth has the thinnest alumni but the most commited whereas Wharton much larger but not so comitted.

Philip, these are not easy questions as I don't know the US programs that well (apart from the one I graduated from, Princeton's MFin, which I definitely liked). I guess you could indeed compare Sussex to somewhere like Rutgers/Stevens, in that we aim to be top of the second tier, i.e. those with somewhat lesser known names. But one other thing I should point out is that we are really not a classical MFE. We are definitely still quant, but not pure quant, and in my view a nice balance that is not easy to find in many programs. So if your question about rigor of Berkeley/UCLA MFE is based on things like advanced coding and serious stochastic calculus, then no we can't compete. But that's not the aim and we teach a lot of useful markets knowledge and quant techniques especially geared towards risk management and investment management (hence the name FRIA). Probably the best way to get a feel for it is from the list of core modules/courses:

Essential Quantitative Finance • Advanced Quantitative Finance • Equity Investments and Foreign Exchange • Institutions in the Global Financial Market • Interest-Rate Sensitive Instruments • Commodities and Alternative Investments • Swaps, Futures and Options • Market and Credit Risk Analysis • Portfolio Management (note: the last two count double)

Finally, your question about stats on placement of international students… I honestly don't know. Overall (including home/EU), we definitely have some students getting competitive offers from top banks, etc, others doing something a bit less mainstream, but sample size for international is not so high anyway so far and I don't know about all of them (some have returned to their country), so I really wouldn't like to say. But generally I think our employment record is improving and certainly very respectable.

Anyway, thanks for your questions and interest! Hope it's helped catch a few others' attention.