I guess all programs have their strength.

Thanks to Veegan and Primin for their replies, I should have added that I am from Pakistan and I plan to work in Dubai after the completion of my degree. I have an offer from ISMA in their M.Sc. ISIB programme that commences in October 2002, but for both LSE and Warwick I have to wait for one full year. I was wondering whether this one year wait is worth it?

Dear Mortal, LSE and especially Warwick offer far better programmes than ISMA.....Based just on that I would reject ISMA, but on the other hand what are you going to do for one year?If you have a job then you might wait....But if not then definetely take up ISMAAnton

hello PirminI have received an offer on the ISIB course and was interested to read your comments about the ISMA centre. Why do you think the lectures and classes are on a low level and are not worth the money. What was your overall impression of the FEQA course? What did you think about the ISIB course and how has the FEQA course benefited you? I would appreciate your response.

I'm now completing MSc in Fin Math at Warwick. The best lectures are Nick Webber, Antoon Pelsser (visiting) and Stewart Hodges (programme director). Though Nick Webber course took just a couple of weeks (unfortunately he doesn't have enough time for teaching). Overall, it's quite a tough programme, courses are just packed into 1-year term. You have to become a night owl, if you think about Warwick in serious.Good luck

Olenka,Could you tell me how you work through Prof. Hodges? Did he mainly follow the required textbooks very closely? Studying those two books he used is not a trial exercise.Could you tell us what textbooks you mainly used in your program?Cheers,

About ISMA Centre: I have studied at the ISIB course 3 years ago and would like to point these: 1) if you want to study finance choose a course from LSE or CITY since they have better reputation in investment banks 2) the fees are NOW exaggereted for what the course offers 3) if you have a strong mathematics background choose FEQA which opens more doors in banks. I hope this piece of advice will help. In case you need more information do not hesitate to contact me. Antonios

Hi Vasos,Sorry for the late answer. I can't really judge the ISIB course since I did the FEQA but I think ISIB course is good for setting up a nice network with other students and investment banking professionals.As for the FEQA, I was a bit frustrated because ISMA set out in the course requirements that potential applicants have to have a degree in a quantitative topic. It turned out, however, that only have of the accepted students had such a background, when I did ISMA. That's why, I was a bit frustrated since most of the lectures were not as advanced as I had expected after having consulted the FEQA curriculum.But, most likely they have changed some stuff, because our class (2000/01) complaint quite a lot. Let's hope that future classes may benefit from our attempts.cuPirmin

Is the MSc FEQA still available in ISMA Centre ?Because on their web site only ISIB is proposed : www.ismacentre.rdg.ac.uk

Velkro,ISMA has combined its three MSc degrees into a single MSc ISIB entity with a more modular structure. Essentially, the modules which used to constitute the FEQA still exist for study, but mostly as optional modules. It seems that the ISMA centre has focused on the flagship ISIB - hardly surprising since it was by far the more popular course. I guess the FEQA still exists of sorts, but minus the snazzy 'Financial Engineering and Quantitative Analysis' title and in more of a quantitative support role for the ISIB.RegardsVeegan

Thank you Veegan !So this new MSc is between a quant Fin and a Fin...What do you think about it ?More valuable than the former ISIB one ?

Well it's not really new. The ISIB students used to be able to choose freely the modules designated as compulsory for the FEQA students, and vice versa. And so the new modular ISIB is actually just the old ISIB - the same module options are still available; it's just that you can no longer pursue the FEQA (or indeed, the other MSc Financial Regulation degree) specifically by name.Therefore, the MSc can have a Finance or Quant Finance emphasis depending on module choices. And, unless I have overlooked some more fundamental changes, I assume it's just as valuable as it's previous incarnation. For more opinions (including my own) on the ISMA course see the other thread from last year: 'Reading ISMA vs. Warwick'. Given the above, the comments in the thread are still valid.RegardsVeegan