Offer from Imperial College Risk Management and Financial Engineering

[PraveenK]

Hi guys,

So I'm a final year undergraduate student at the University of Manchester and I've just secured a place with Imperial College for the MSc in RMFE. I have just under 4 weeks to accept this offer and pay the deposit which is close to 5000 USD. I am waiting on a decision from Columbia for the MFE and I haven't applied to any other universities as of yet.

I am partial to an MFE in the USA, partly because of the career prospects and headhunting. But I have heard that an RMFE at Imperial gives me a very high chance of getting a job in London. Although after more research, I'm not so confident about this opinion anymore, thinking I might 'need' an MFE to secure a job as a trader/quantitative analyst, given that I am an international student.

Is anyone with some experience able to tell me about the reputation of Imperial College in the USA and whether it would be foolish to reject my Imperial offer and apply to Baruch, NYU and Cornell/Rutgers or alternatively wait on Columbia?

Thanks a lot in advance lads!

 

[mhy]

I've heard it's harder to get a job as an international student in London than it is in NY. Where do you want to work?

 

[PraveenK]

I'll take any job in either country if that answers your question?

 

[mhy]

Yes. But do you have strong feelings toward either?

Can you afford to throw away $5000 in case Columbia replies after the Imperial deadline? Imperial is a great school as well and I have high opinions of my acquaintances who went there. If you end up in a US program you'd be paying (less scholarships) close to 80-100k anyway so you should see this $5k as a small insurance premium.

I'd say for jobs in the US Cornell/Columbia/NYU >= Imperial <=> Baruch > Rutgers. How many do you think you can get into? If you get into one of the top US schools would you go for sure?

Here is how I'd evaluate:

Cost: UK wins by far
Brand name/reputation: Edge to top US programs
Job prospects in NY: Edge to top US programs (but there are definitely UK grads working in NY and vice versa - at least after you get your career started)
Job prospects in London: Edge to UK programs (ditto)

So it comes down to how you assign weights to the various components - location, cost, and how much you value brand name.

 

[PraveenK]

I'd prefer working in the states but I'll take any job in the field in either country.

This is how I'm seeing it. I'm looking at job prospects directly after a Masters in either country. I.e: the job prospects in the states after an MFE vs the prospects in the UK after an Imperial RMFE.

I am seeing the $5000 as a hedge and I think I can get into at least one of Columbia, NYU, Baruch. I would be fine with paying the $5000 and choosing Baruch's MFE.

So I'm basically asking whether I can start an equivalent career in London after Imperial's RMFE as opposed to in NY after a prestigious MFE.

Cheers!

 

[Lee Hsu]

Can anyone shed some lights on this issue? I am in PraveenK's shoes, choosing between top-notched U.K. and U.S. programmes?

 

[TehRaio]

you guise are not the first to ask that question,
it really depends on where you want to work, if your main goal is to work in the UK, go with the UK degree, and if it is the US, go with the US programs.

anyway, after years of experience, anybody should be competitive enough to switch country if they ever want.

 

[Aszx]

If all you care is brand name of the Imperial College, then go (I don't think you have the brand name advantage compared to schools like Cornell and Columbia). Otherwise, consider US schools. The program at IC does not have strong connections and IC is suffering placing its students. If you are international, it would be incredibly hard for you to secure a job. You will mostly likely not end up doing anything other than risk management, and this would be good enough since many international students just can't find a job.