Forum: School selection (2 Comments)
Need help in selecting the right course n school
Posted by - ashimasood - on 16 March 2012 - 10:39am
Hi all,
I wanted to get a clearer picture about specialization MSc courses.
I completed my engineering in Computer Science in 2010 and currently iam working.
I wanted to do a specialization in IT only and while browsing through the courses i came across some interesting courses which offer IT students to specialize in IT and Finance together.I have applied for the following:-
- University College London(UCL) - MSc Financial Systems Engineering
- Warwick Business School - MSc Finance and IT
- Warwick Business School- MSc Information Systems and Innovation
Course content for all three are good and of my interest. Could anyone please provide me with some guidance as to what choice i should make when it comes to picking the course and the university.
Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 16 March 2012 - 12:27pm
Hi Ashimasood,
first of all, I think you did a great job far. You reflected what you want and narrowed down your options to a selection of schools and courses.
- For instance, you reflected that you want a specialized education vs. a general management education.
- Furthermore, you reflected that you want to deepen and broaden your area at the same time and decided for a mixed Master including IT and Finance. This one is less specific than a pure IT or Finance Master but more specific than a General Management Master.
- Next, you already took a stance towards your potential location of study by choosing the UK.
- Finally, you already compared the content of the courses and found out that this does not help you for your final decision.
In my opinion this is a very good example of a structured approach to a school and program selection and you should eventually profit from a higher satisfaction than by an unstructured approach. Now, for your final steps to take your decision I suggest you this:
- Which program provides you with more career options after the program? Investigate this question by talking to the career service of each school, current students, alumni, and maybe even potential future employers. Where do the alumni end up after the program? How does the career service team support its students? How much experience do they have with people from your country? What does the HR department of a potential employer for you say about the school? How big is the network of the school (and the specific program) and how active is this network?
- At which campus you would FEEL better considering that you will spend a year of your life there? Find this out by VISITING the campus (or at least by talking to alumni on the phone): How do the school reps treat you? Are the other students of those kind that you want to spend time with for a year? Listen to your gut feeling...
I am sure of you keep on investigating based on these two lead questions (career and gut feeling) you will find a decision.
By the way, for Warwick we offer the opportunity to send an email directly to the Master department. Just use the REQUEST INFO Button in the Warwick profile.
Best wishes
Thomas
