Hi,
 
I am new to this forum and I was trying to find more information and insight with regards to Todai's International Program in Economics (UTIPE) which is offered entirely in English. 
 
I found an old thread from 2012 and was hoping that some of you would be able to provide me with some guidance and advice as I am considering applying to this Master's program in the next months.
 
A little background:
 
I am Canadian and I have graduated from McGill University (generally considered with University of Toronto to be the best universities in Canada) with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (weak GPA of 3.2/4.0; to be honest Engineering was not my thing). I went on to complete an MBA a few years later (GPA of 3.9/4.3 with Finance Major GPA of 4.2/4.3) and receive two scholarships. 
 
I recently scored on the GRE a perfect score on the Quant portion (170) and 160 on the Verbal portion (85th percentile). I know that they do not accept the GMAT as a substitute to the GRE, but I scored 740 on that exam (97th percentile).
 
I also hold the CFA designation (Chartered Financial Analyst) and currently work in the Capital Markets group of one of the five largest Canadian banks.
 
I think that my background would generally be considered atypical for such an economics program that tilts more on the academic side, but I was wondering whether this would actually be perceived as negative by the Admissions Committee. As the school accepts only 10 students per year, I was wondering if anybody had a sense of the level of competitiveness (I think my profile's major weakness is the undergrad GPA, although this was more than 10 years ago). If anybody could shed some light on North American candidates vs. rest of Asia candidates, that would be useful.
 
I have read that this program is heavy in maths (their website mentions Calculus and Linear Algebra and ideally some programming), but I was wondering how technical the program actually is (for example, compared to Electrical Engineering). I am more interested in acquiring a strong conceptual understanding of economics and finance than delving too much in mathematical derivations (I understand that this degree is technical, but I wanted to clarify that I was not interested in pursuing PhD studies subsequently).
 
My interest in this program is based on a few reasons: Today's strong reputation, my desire to work in finance in Asia afterwards (Singapore, HK, and less realistically Tokyo due to language barrier – I’m starting to learn Japanese as I love the language so it would take a while), better comprehension of macroeconomics which is important in finance, and better understanding of Asian economies and dynamics.
 
Any insights or tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure whether I'll get replies here specifically for this program, so I will post this on other forums too.
 
Thanks guys,
 

[Zgarbas]

Do you want to go there with mext or on private funding?
So long as you explain things the way you did here, i don't think it will be a problem. You'll have to take the same exam as everyone else, though, which is what makes tokyo so competitive.

My best advice ==> If you want to work in finance in HK or Singapore, you should network with 10+ people on the ground in Asia to get their views on your background, your plans for a Masters degree in Tokyo, and your plans to work in Asia. Use your work and university alumni databases; use linked-in. Get on the phone now.

Other observations ==> A few years back, an economist with a with a PhD from Harvard (who became a close friend) provided me some career advice that you may or may not find useful. Use it as one data point rather than gospel.

He noted that PhD track economics was extremely quantitative and strongly favored students with deep math skills; most everyone else just got left in the dust. His thought a masters degree in economics was not a particularly useful degree because many economist-employers just saw that as a failed PhD effort (which he said was often but not always the case). This was further compounded by the large number of economists vs limited number of good jobs, making for challenging job prospects for the economist with the masters degree. His strong recommendation to me was a good MBA. He strongly recommended against a masters degree in economics but said a strong PhD would open doors in a very competitive job market.

I think your engineering degree, MBA, CFA certification, and bank experience are credentials enough. Will another Masters degree make that much of a difference? Importantly, the finance and job markets will be at a different part of the cycle (better?). And you will be 3 years older, which matters to some people, unfortunately.

Also note people in Japan generally hold an undergraduate degree from Tokyo U in high esteem. Many of my Japanese friends have mixed feelings about various Tokyo U graduate degrees, however. I don't know the reputation of UTIPE in Japan or in Asia.

Finally, as you alluded, getting a good job in finance in Tokyo is difficult. The language barrier is a major issue. And most major international banks and asset managers have rebalanced their staff to other Asian countries (Partly due to the rapid growth of China and Korea, on a relative basis).

Good luck...

(2016-04-19, 1:09 am)Zgarbas Wrote: Do you want to go there with mext or on private funding?
So long as you explain things the way you did here, i don't think it will be a problem. You'll have to take the same exam as everyone else, though, which is what makes tokyo so competitive.

I plan on studying while self-funded.

My understanding is that for this specific program there is no general entrance exam (it's instead similar to applications in North America, where it's based on the application itself and at times on an interview).

Thanks

(2016-04-19, 11:36 am)scooter1 Wrote: My best advice ==> If you want to work in finance in HK or Singapore, you should network with 10+ people on the ground in Asia to get their views on your background, your plans for a Masters degree in Tokyo, and your plans to work in Asia. Use your work and university alumni databases; use linked-in. Get on the phone now.

Other observations ==> A few years back, an economist with a with a PhD from Harvard (who became a close friend) provided me some career advice that you may or may not find useful. Use it as one data point rather than gospel.

He noted that PhD track economics was extremely quantitative and strongly favored students with deep math skills; most everyone else just got left in the dust. His thought a masters degree in economics was not a particularly useful degree because many economist-employers just saw that as a failed PhD effort (which he said was often but not always the case). This was further compounded by the large number of economists vs limited number of good jobs, making for challenging job prospects for the economist with the masters degree. His strong recommendation to me was a good MBA. He strongly recommended against a masters degree in economics but said a strong PhD would open doors in a very competitive job market.

I think your engineering degree, MBA, CFA certification, and bank experience are credentials enough. Will another Masters degree make that much of a difference? Importantly, the finance and job markets will be at a different part of the cycle (better?). And you will be 3 years older, which matters to some people, unfortunately.

Also note people in Japan generally hold an undergraduate degree from Tokyo U in high esteem. Many of my Japanese friends have mixed feelings about various Tokyo U graduate degrees, however. I don't know the reputation of UTIPE in Japan or in Asia.

Finally, as you alluded, getting a good job in finance in Tokyo is difficult. The language barrier is a major issue. And most major international banks and asset managers have rebalanced their staff to other Asian countries (Partly due to the rapid growth of China and Korea, on a relative basis).

Good luck...

Hey Scooter,

I agree with what you said.

This said, my desire to study at Todai is not just in order to boost my career; I think that I am already able to apply directly to jobs in Singapore in finance (without getting another degree).

Thing is I actually do want to study and I'd like to sharpen my economics foundation (macro mostly). I don't mind the 20 months off work, I'll have the rest of my life to work and pile up that cash .

I also thoroughly want to live in Japan for a few years (for the personal experience) and my alternative options would be to try and find a job there (as already mentioned very unlikely to succeed), or to enroll in a language school (I'd do it, but I find that studying at Todai is a better option). Furthermore, I'm too old for the one-year Work/Holiday Visa between Canada and Japan.

I'm not willing to join any study program in Tokyo though, the ones that interest me a lot are UTIPE at Todai, Master of Public Policy at Todai, and Msc Finance at Waseda (considerably more expensive and rounds me off less than Economics or Public Policy).

Thanks for your feedback!