Financial Economics – (M.Sc.)

Requirements

Admission requirements for MSc in Financial Economics applicable for the August 2012 intake.

1. Requirements related to the Bachelor’s Degree

A successfully completed Bachelor’s Degree (180 ECTS credits) in the area of economics and business administration, or a successfully completed Bachelor’s Degree (180 ECTS credits) in finance. Applicants with a different, but strong quantitative background and some previous exposure to business and/or economics, can also qualify for admission.

2. Grade requirement

The minimum grade requirement is a Grade Point Average (GPA)* of at least 3.50 on an ECTS scale where A=5.0, B=4.0, C=3.0, D=2.0 and E=1.0
Applicants with the grade D or lower in individual courses can be refused admission on the basis of an overall academic assessment. Among other things, it will be taken into account whether the grade applies to a course that is considered to be of particular relevance to the programme. Courses of particular relevance to the programme are courses in finance, business economics, quantitative methods and economics.
Diplomas and transcripts using other grade scales than A-F will be assessed and compared with the Bologna A-F grade scale

*Calculation of GPA based on diplomas with alphabetical grades:
Each alphabetical grade is substituted by numerical equivalent, A=5.0, B=4.0, C=3.0, D=2.0 and E=1.
The numerical equivalent is multiplied by the number of credits for the course, and the individual products resulting from the multiplication of the credits by the numerical equivalent are added up for the courses that are included.
The product total is divided by the total number of credits for the group of relevant courses.
The quotient is calculated with two decimals.

3. Additional tests for applicants who do not hold a Bachelor’s Degree* from a Norwegian institution

GMAT or GRE

A good GMAT or GRE score is required for applicants. The minimum test score required for admission is:
• GMAT – a total score of 600
• GRE – a score of 660 (old scale)/152 (new scale) on the quantitative reasoning section and 570 (old scale)/158 (new scale) on the verbal section.
The Associate Dean of the programme concerned may exempt applicants from the GMAT/GRE requirement. As a general rule, exemptions are given to the following categories of applicants:
• Applicants with a CAT score from India of minimum 90%
• Applicants with a degree from a Swedish, Danish, Finnish or an Icelandic institution
• Applicants with a degree from a partner institution
Applicants can also apply for GMAT/GRE exemption on an ad hoc basis.
Deviations from the general exemptions stated above may occur, as it is the prerogative of the Associate Dean to grant or decline the exemption. Applicants must apply for an exemption from the GMAT/GRE requirement and it will have to be confirmed by BI.
* or a Master’s degree, should that degree be the degree qualifying for admission

TOEFL or IELTS

Applicants must take either TOEFL or IELTS. The minimum standards for test scores acceptable for admission are:
• TOEFL - a total score of 575 points for the written test or 233 for the computer-based version or 90 points on the internet based test
• IELTS- a score of 6.5
Exemptions are made for applicants:
• whose native language is English
• who have two years or more of higher education where the language of instruction was English
• from a country which is a member of the EU/EEA and/or the Council of Europe/UNESCO-Cepes and have English as the first foreign language taken over a period of at least 7 years in primary, secondary school and upper secondary education

4. Ranking of applicants

The admission requirements are minimum requirements that do not automatically give applicants a right of admission. If the number of qualified applicants is higher than the number of places, the applicants will be ranked according to qualifications. Applicants will be ranked on the basis of grade point average. If the grade point average is the same, applicants with a better GMAT score will be prioritized.

5. Special Assessment

In special cases the Associate Dean for the programme may approve other documented qualifications that are fully or in part equal to the admission requirements referred to above for academically strong applicants.

One-year add-on programme

Applicants who have completed the four-year Master in Business and Economics with a specialization in finance can apply for admission to a one-year add-on programme (+1-model) with the following structure:
• One core course (usually GRA 6038 Applied Business Ethics)
• Six courses from the course portfolio for the Master of Science in Financial Economics
• A thesis of 18 ECTS credits based on the thesis in finance from the four-year programme.