Hi,I thinking of doing a masters in Financial Mathematics at either Kings or City (Cass Bus School). What do Wilmotters think is the better course? Im a little concerned that these courses might not have enough programming content (especially C++,VBA etc) for quantitative roles in IBs. Any advice would be appreciated

have you not thought about imperial, warwick or oxford?

have you not thought about imperial, warwick or oxford?

Cass is shit (just a hook to get mucho foreigners in on and their high revenues).Warwick is best followed by KCL then Imperial.

Imperial has heavy C++ options

Cass is better at MBA level..

KCL was a very good place to study..available professors, rigorous contents and good links with the City sould you choose to work in the industry afterwards.I would say Imperial first, King's second and Warwick third.Compared to IC, KCL has the advantage of having part time students..that means that you gonna seat with professionals already in the market, and good connections are always usefulhope it helps,S

Hi,When is it a good time to apply to these courses for 2005-06 (and PT: 2005-07)?? Is October early (or late) enough ??From the King's website, the Msc Fin Math course is still open but I think this refers to the 2004 intake. I have been itching to apply to Kings but don't want to do it too soon that my application gets mixed up with the 2004 intake class.Thanks.PS: LondonPete: I value your opinions greatly on this site, and would like to know where you would place Birbeck in that list of yours. Worse than CASS? And why? Thanks.

I've heard the course at Kings is more theoretical and not as useful as the City one as it is more practical and better geared for quant jobs. Also how good are the programming content of these courses? I understand Kings do a c++ course and city does have a computer implementation course- but how good are they? Can anyone who has done these Masters or knows about them, comment on this? Any advice would be appreciated- ive got to decide very soon!

Arbitary, there's two issues: getting past HR, getting on the desk. The first is the hardest as they don't properly understand the business needs - they will most likely look at undergraduate rankings of universities at for which City and Birkbeck don't fair too well. As for the more enlightened HR depts. it's a toss-up between CASS who's fees are high and recruit many foreigners as a good revenue generator and University of London Birkbeck night classes, who cater more for evening-learning professionals. I reckon it's a toss-up for both HR and the Desk. For the full-time, there's probably more opportunities at CASS for learning (in terms of talking to other departments etc.) because it operates during normal hours. As for FT KCL 05-06 they start the applications from December 2004.King's (KCL) has a bank of decent PCs for coding on their 7th floor where the Fin. Maths is located, it’s also got good links with the City. Imperial is far better at undergrad maths but I think is on par/slightly lower for Fin. Maths, London recruiters like the Imperial but am unsure about liking Fin. Maths.

C++ course at Kings is a pure C++ course with no reference to financial apps..you learn C and C++ in a 1 semester course..the lecturer is very good and the contents and handouts are pretty good...I doubt that a quant desk would take anyone from Cass when they can take someone with a Ph.d...I see Cass having a competitive advantage to KCL and IC for sales/structuring positions but not for quants...One of the job interview question I have been asked after my MSc was to price an option paying (S^2 - K) in 5 steps...based on what you would learn from KCL you would be able to do it..would a CASS student able to do it? I don't know...of course CASS is giving you much more insight on the practical side and the contents of the courses seem very appealing..maybe even too much for a 1 semester course..but I can't judge...

Stefanone (and anyone else familiar with the KCL programme),I was wondering which of the courses was giving the opportunity to learn C++. Is this in the KCL cursus itself or was it one of the outside courses available through the grey book at IC? I'll be attending this programme this year, having refrained from accepting an offer at CMU over cost / time / hard work / uncertain comparative advantage issues, and I am wondering now whether this actually was a good move...Talking about CMU, I was a bit astonished, when looking at the CVs of students coming in then out of the programme: almost all of them seem to have a BSc in CS, and lots of them seem to end up in corporate finance / non-quant jobs, or relatively smaller firms (not that it is a bad point, still!). Any insight on the kind of people you meet in London U MSc, and the kind of jobs afterwards (the KCL site is pretty discreet as regards placement...)? Also, is the networking with PT students as put forward in several threads so present?Thanks

Quant Msc prgrammes Barclays Global Investors are targetting:http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/storie ... 64.htmlMSc in Financial Maths:http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/masters/cour ... ex.htmlMsc in MTF:http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/masters/cour ... x.htmlCASS courses are expensive, but worth it. I've just finished the Msc MTF and am changing jobs- the degree has paid for itself many times over.