Good Finance University for foreign student

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi all!</p>

<p>I am new to this forum and feel very lucky I ran onto it! I am a Dutch student and currently planning to study in the United States one year from now, for probably just one semester. I have got a Bachelor's degree in Business Studies, and am currently busy with my Master which theoretically would take me one more year. Here in the Netherlands having your 'Bachelor' implies having finished a 3-years during study program; I think it is about the same as be(com)ing an undergraduate in the USA? I do not really know the system in the US though, so please help me out here :). </p>

<p>Anyway, my own University has several exchange programs with Universities in the USA, these are displayed next:</p>

<ul>
<li>UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IOWA</li>
<li>PURDUE UNIVERSITY, WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA</li>
<li>UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON STATE</li>
<li>UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA</li>
<li>MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN</li>
<li>UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, GAINSVILLE, FLORIDA</li>
<li>MOORE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, COLUMBIA, SC</li>
</ul>

<p>Now I know these probably aren't anything like the 'top Universities', but I'd like to have your opinions on them. I would like to do one semester of some kind of Finance or Invesment Master (or do you call this differently?; A 'Finance graduate level courses' maybe?), so I'd like to know what would be the best University for Finance courses from the list above.</p>

<p>I don't want to rule out going to Canada though, so if one of the Universities below (with which my University also has exchange programs) actually does offer rather good Finance programs, please let me know!</p>

<ul>
<li>SCHULICH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, YORK UNIVERSITY, NORTH YORK, ONTARIO</li>
<li>McMASTER UNIVERSITY'S DeGROOTE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, HAMILTON, ONTARIO</li>
<li>UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA</li>
</ul>

<p>Besides that, I would really appreciate it if you guys and girls could recommend me a few other (good) Univerities for Finance (graduate?) programs where I as an exchange student would have a chance getting into. Here in the Netherlands we don't work with GPA or stuff like that. I have an 7.8 average, which probably is the same as an A- or B+ GPA. Money isn't too big a problem by the way.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot in advance for your insights and comments!</p>

2

<p>ps. ISEP (isep.org) is a certain 'general' exchange program which has connections with the Universities below that all do offer Finance courses on graduate level. Maybe by coincidence any of those is considered a 'good', or even 'top' (Finance) University??</p>

<p>California State University--Bakersfield California
University of Denver Colorado
Valdosta State University Georgia
Idaho State University Idaho
Roosevelt University Illinois
Indiana State University Indiana
Iowa State University Iowa
University of Iowa Iowa
Kansas State University Kansas
University of Kentucky Kentucky
University of Mississippi Mississippi
Northwest Missouri State University Missouri
University of Montana Montana
University of Nebraska--Lincoln Nebraska
New Mexico State University New Mexico
Appalachian State University North Carolina
University of North Carolina, Greensboro North Carolina
Clarion University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Tennessee Technological University Tennessee
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Tennessee
Texas A&M International University Texas
Old Dominion University Virginia
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Virginia
University of Wyoming Wyoming</p>

3

<p>The U.S. schools you have listed are all excellent public universities (from your first post). They are comparable as well in terms of academic quality. Since you're out to the U.S. for likely just a semester, I would choose a school based on its location and student life versus academic prestige.</p>

<p>University of Washington has a beautiful campus, and is located in the cosmopolitan city of Seattle. UW is also likely the most prestigous academically.</p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

4

<p>Undergraduate Finance rankings from USNWR:</p>

<ol>
<li>University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) </li>
<li>New York University (Stern) </li>
<li>University of California–Berkeley (Haas) </li>
<li>University of Michigan–Ann Arbor<br></li>
<li>Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (Sloan) </li>
<li>University of Texas–Austin (McCombs) </li>
<li>U. of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) </li>
<li>Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley) </li>
<li>University of Virginia (McIntire) </li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University (PA)<br></li>
<li>Ohio State University–Columbus (Fisher) </li>
<li>U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign<br></li>
<li>Boston College (Carroll) </li>
<li>Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison<br></li>
<li>Pennsylvania State U.–University Park (Smeal) </li>
<li>Univ. of Southern California (Marshall) </li>
<li>Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) </li>
<li>Univ. of Maryland–College Park (Smith)
18. University of Florida (Warrington) </li>
<li>Emory University (GA) (Goizueta)
21. Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN) (Krannert) </li>
<li>University of Illinois–Chicago<br></li>
<li>University of Notre Dame (IN)<br>
21. University of Washington</li>
</ol>

5

<p>Consider Bentley College. They specialize in finance and have a very strong masters program and great trading room.</p>

6

<p>I think UFlorida and UWashington stand out from the others.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Since you're out to the U.S. for likely just a semester, I would choose a school based on its location and student life versus academic prestige.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>@ UCBChemEGrad; Thanks for this tip! I had more or less forgotten that for me indeed the experience itself should be the main reason to go abroad. I guess as long as I won't get to Harvard, Berkeley or any other similar 'real top' University, my future employers will probably not know the University anyway, even if it would offer quality Finance education.</p>

<p>Yet, I of course still prefer high over low quality Universities. </p>

<p>Considering the 'Undergraduate Finance rankings' posted above, how do those rankings relate to 'Graduate Finance rankings'? I namely remember to have read that quite some Universities only are high quality concerning either undergraduate or graduate programs, but generally not concerning both.</p>

<p>Then finally, I would still appreciate it a lot if some more people could tell me what they feel would be the best choice from the list of Universities above (particularly the U.S. Universities from my first post)! Which University do you think offers the best graduate finance courses/programs? And if you still would advise an other (namely not 'the best finance') University, why? </p>

<p>Thanks again in advance for your help!!</p>

8

<p>Michiel, the graduate rankings are similar, but include more schools. This is because more universities offer graduate programs in business/finance than undergraduate. </p>

<p>The most prestigious grad programs in finance are the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) and the University of Chicago. Additionally, more Ivy League universities are included in the graduate list.</p>

<p>Out of the schools your university has exchange programs in place, all are comparable for graduate programs as well. Personally, I would choose a school from that list since it will likely make your transfer easier. </p>

<p>If I were you, I would choose University of Washington - especially as a foreign grad student. The university is located in Seattle, a large cosmopolitan city, as I mentioned before. The other universities are in smaller towns.</p>

<p>What kind of experience do you want to have while in the U.S.? Do you prefer a smaller college town? Or, do you prefer access to a larger city with an airport to travel more easily to different destinations? Do you have a preference for a geographical location?</p>

9

<p>All else equal I guess I would prefer a big city (with a nice skyline) and a University that consists of these rather 'old' buildings. It gives a certain cachet :).</p>

<p>A question about the University of Washington; Do students live there on one big campus? Or do they live scattered over Seattle? In the Netherlands we actually don't have these 'campuses' where only students live... Is this common for the U.S.?</p>

<p>Still, if some other people could give their opinion about the Universities above (and University of Washington in specific), please do not hesitate!</p>

10

<p>Ok guys, I badly need your advice again. </p>

<p>Unfortunately I cannot participate in an exchange with the University of Washington because I am a Master student and my university apparently only has an agreement on Bachelor level. Now my university says "We believe that the Moore School of Business (University of South Carolina) would be a great option for you." What do you think about this possibility? Would it be a good alternative?</p>

<p>If not, what about these to other possibilities:
- North Carolina State University
- State University of New York at Albany </p>

<p>And finally, I could also go an a so-called ISEP exchange which means I would no be able to pick the exact university I would want to go to, but that I am only allowed to indicate which of the universities I would prefer the most. I would then be placed at one of those universities, but not necessarily at the one of my number one choice;</p>

<ul>
<li>Utah State University </li>
<li>San Diego State University</li>
<li>Bellarmine University</li>
<li>Indiana State University</li>
<li>Iowa State University</li>
<li>the University of Montana</li>
<li>University of Tennessee, Knoxville</li>
</ul>

<p>Are there some (really) good universities in this list? </p>

<p>FYI: I would like to go to a university with academic prestige on the graduate level field of Finance, one with a beautiful campus, one where you can have fun with fellow-students, and one that is located in a nice environment (near a big city??).</p>

11

<p>The Moore School of Business is a good school, but does not have the academic prestige in finance that Wharton, Berkeley, NYU, or Michigan would give you. However, it definitely is the best option, from your list of schools.</p>

<p>I was looking at your posts, and Berkeley does have a one-year masters degree program in financial engineering. It is quite competitive for admission, but could be something you're looking for:</p>

<p>MFE</a> Prospective - MFE Home - Haas School of Business</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

12

<p>Uni of Florida and Purdue are the only ones that stands out imo.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
Uni of Florida and Purdue are the only ones that stands out imo.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Unfortunately also my university's exchange programs with those universities are on Bachelor level only. My only options for an exchange via my university are given in the reply: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/397593-good-finance-university-foreign-student.html#post4904486%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/397593-good-finance-university-foreign-student.html#post4904486&lt;/a> above. (Of course I could also go as a 'free-mover', however that would result in a hell of a lot more paperwork.)</p>

<p>How do you think about those universities, Nabu?</p>

14

<p>my pick would then be Univ. of South Carolina–Columbia and if you stay there and don't like their reputation/prestige/whatever, transfer out after a good year of college.</p>

<p>The school is in a city setting (columbia, SC) with a decent size student population of 25k+. Other decent picks would be Univ of Tenn and NC State. </p>

<p>Have you considered taking some time to visit these schools to see which one you like best or at least look through the brochures.</p>