Rather than go into financial services firms, I think older people are more likely to go into accounting firms or corporate finance.

Thank you for your replies. I don’t know why I got no notification that someone posted new reply to my post from Find MBA.

I have a 36 years old friend doing his MSc in Finance in Lux at the moment. Having no work experience in Finance, he is really struggling with finding an internship. I am old too but luckily I have been in the Finance industry for almost 4 years. I am wondering if I should apply to one or more schools to widen my choices. Warwick still accepts applications but it seems like I ended up falling in love with Durham. I dont plan to find job in the UK/EU so what I really care is all about the quality&cost of the program.

I have a Japanese friend who also wants to apply for a UK MSc in Finance (2018/19). Based on his research and personal preference, he will apply for
- List 1 (Ranked high): Warwick, Durham
- List 2 (Ranked good with financial aids): Andrews, Loughborough, Exeter, Leeds (his favorite school in this list), Sheffield

If he wants to get into tier 2 banks (Japanese banks in UK for example)/ good financial firms (Like Big4), do you think those schools in list 2 are good enough? Are there other schools that you suggest? Is Imperial College London super selective/competitive to get in?

He should aim at better schools in the FT MiF ranking, and should not use undergraduate rankings (which he must be doing considering that list. St Andrew's is a odd MiF choice) . Maybe Exeter would have been okay a few years ago but the others are have never had a strong MiF. He can email the ranked schools an outline of his background and scores and they will give him an honest assessment. A Japanese candidate will be interesting.

PS there is a huge gap between Warwick and Durham. He should aim between there.

Tell your friend to sort the ranking by salary: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-finance-pre-experience-2015

Only the top 40 schools can be placing people into good roles. The average salary at Leeds, which has dropped out of the ranking, was under the threshold for a visa. Henley, Durham, Cranfield and Lancaster jump out as schools with good outcomes which are easier to get into than the top schools (London, Oxford, Warwick, Imperial and Cass).

Since my friend doesnt have an account to reply to this post, I help him ask Duncan a question that he cant answer by himself.

Do you think that if my friend doesn't get into a top 1 program in UK as you listed above, should he choose a good program at a top university outside the UK, such as Ghent in Belgium, or even tier 2 program in UK is still bettet than Ghent, for example?

If he wants to work for in UK banks then I guess it depends on the role. For a MiF-type role in the UK he should aim for a top 40 programme in the UK, ideally one also in the CFA partner orogramme. Ghent etc will not get him there as the experience in Luxembourg suggests. If he cannot get into a too 40 school, then perhaps it is not realistic to think he is good enough for investment banking or financial consultancy. Perhaps an accounting qualification or corporate finance is the way to go.

PS as my earlier reply says, your friend's idea of tier 1 is mistaken. The top 40 is very open.

Thank you Duncan. I think he has a high chance of getting admission because most of people working for Deloitte in Japan graduated from top local universities.

Duncan, may I ask you some more questions? These are actually the questions from my friend who prepares to apply for a MiF in 2018 Fall. I am curious to know the answers too because we share similar backgrounds.
1. There are both 1-year and 2-year MiF programs in the Europe. It seems like a 2-year program requires more credits to graduate than a 1-year program. A 1-year program in many schools offers 8 classes in 9 months + graduation thesis in 3 months. Do you think that there are a huge gap between a 1-year and a 2-year program?
2. Does a graduate from a 1-year MiF in the UK have enough knowledge&skill to start his/her professional career in corporate finance? Should he/she just do and get CFA1&2 because it’s enough for a career in corporate finance?
3. As a tax advisory at Big 4 and is over 30 years old, do you think that my friend should aim at top 1-tier MiF programs, or just a program from 2-tier schools is enough if his plan upon completion of the MiF is Corporate Finance, not investment banking?

1. Two year programmes are a better fit for people with less experience who need more time to network into the local markets. Academically, I don't think there's a big gap.
2. That depends on their goals. A CFA or accounting qualification is always helpful.
3. For the best careers services, they should get into the best school they can.

Thank you Duncan for your answers.

Hello, I am tqkhanh’s friend. I would like to ask if anyone knows University of Groningen. The tuition fee of a MFin course in the UK is high so I am thinking of applying for a course in the Netherlands. Moreover, the Dutch are so good at English compared to other European countries

Groningen is one of the world's top 100 universities. I am sure lots of people know of it. Do you have a more specific question?

I am sorry for not being clear in asking. I want to apply for the Mfin at Groningen. Do you think Groningen and its Mfin are good enough? I want to apply to more universities in the Netherlands but it looks like Groningen is one of the best (I might be qualified for Gmat exemption). My career goal is inhouse's corporate finance at Japanese companies either in the EU or Tokyo.

How good Groningen is compared with Ghent that tqkhanh said above? The tuition fee of the Mfin in Ghent is only about 5000€ and in Groningen is 14200€.

Duncan advised that people should go for top 40 in the FT ranking. I will look and make a list.

Use the FT ranking and use LinkedIn to see where in Europe those Japanese companies hire from.

RSM is the only school from the Netherlands on the FT 'Pre-experience' MIF list, but they have Amsterdam Business School included on the 'Post-experience' MIF ranking that was published last month (but only has 6 schools listed).

Thanks Duncan and mcgr. I have been looking at FT ranking, picked up and contacted some schools in the list to ask if I am qualified to apply. I haven’t finalized yet. Can someone shed some light on:
- Top Mfin are good for fresh grads without work experience. Is it worth paying a high tuition when you are over 30 with years of work experience?
- Do companies in the EU care about ages and number of times that people change their jobs?