Finance

Requirements Finance, specialisation Finance

• I have a School of Business and Economics degree from VU Amsterdam

  As a Master's student in Finance, you need to have a genuine interest in the area of finance, an inquiring mind, the capacity to cope with the rapid pace of work, an aptitude for picking out key points from large volumes of material, the ability to work accurately under pressure, good communication skills and a critical attitude towards your own results and those of others.

  Admission requirements

  BSc Bedrijfskunde:

  • Financieel Management 2 (E_BK2_FINM2, P5), formerly known as Finance II (E_BK2_FIN2)
  • Asset Pricing (E_IBK3_AP, P4); formerly known as Financial Modelling and Derivatives (E_IBK3_FMD, P4)
  • Investments (E_EBE3_INVES, P5)

  Not a strict requirement but recommended:

  • Financial Markets and Institutions (E_EBE3_FMI, P4) or Minor Risk Management for Financial Institutions
  • Quantitative Research Methods III - Economics and Finance (E_EBE3_QRMEF, P4)

  BSc Economics and Business Economics:

  • Finance II (E_EBE2_FINA2, P2)
  • Corporate Finance (E_EBE2_CF_P5)
  • Investments (E_EBE3_INVES, P5)
  • Quantitative Research Methods III - Economics and Finance (E_EBE3_QRMEF, P4)

  Not a strict requirement but recommended:

  • Financial Markets and Institutions (E_EBE3_FMI, P4) or Minor Risk Management for Financial Institutions

  Note: Completion of the Minor Applied Econometrics: A Big Data Experience For All replaces the required course Quantitative Research Methods III - Economics and Finance (E_EBE3_QRMEF, P4)

  BSc Econometrics and Operations Research / Econometrics and Data Science:

  • Finance II (E_EBE2_FINA2, P2)
  • Corporate Finance (E_EBE2_CF, P5)
  • Investments (E_EBE3_INVES, P5)

  Not a strict requirement but recommended:

  • Financial Markets and Institutions (E_EBE3_FMI, P4) or Minor Risk Management for Financial Institutions

  BSc International Business Administration:

  • Corporate Finance: A Sustainability Perspective (E_IBA2_CFSP, P5), formerly known as Corporate Finance in Emerging Economies (E_IBA2_CFEE)
  • Asset Pricing (E_IBK3_AP, P4); formerly known as Financial Modelling and Derivatives
  • Investments (E_EBE3_INVES, P5)

  Not a strict requirement but recommended:

  • Financial Markets and Institutions (E_EBE3_FMI, P4) or Minor Risk Management for Financial Institutions
  • Quantitative Research Methods III - Economics and Finance (E_EBE3_QRMEF, P4)

  Check this document for a complete overview of all the requirements.
  
  Services for international (EBE, EDS, EOR, IBA) students / Residence permit:
  If you are planning to continue your studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam after your SBE Bachelor, please contact the Central Admission’s Support Team of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for further information and specific questions about the offered services for international students like extending your residence permit. You will need to apply for extension of your residence permit if you continue your studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

• I have a Dutch university level (WO) bachelor's degree (VU bachelor's degree, VU pre-master's or bachelor's degree at another university)

  The Master programme Finance, specialisation Finance is open to students with a university Bachelor's degree that provides a thorough knowledge in economics and business. You need to have successfully completed courses and studied literature related to the core of this programme, consisting of (or equivalents of):

  Mathematics

  • An intermediate-level course that covers among others the concepts of i) differentiation and optimization of functions of one and more variables ii) working with limits, sequences and series iii) analytically optimizing functions, calculating (partial) derivatives iv) working with interest rates and discount rates v) the basics of matrices.
  • Example text book: Sydsaeter, Hammond and Strom: Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis, Prentice Hall, or equivalent

  Statistics

  • An intermediate-level course that covers among others topic such as: understanding of i) data and descriptive statistics ii) probability theory iii) confidence intervals, iv) principles of hypothesis testing, and iv) sound understanding of multi-variate regression analysis.
  • Example text book: Berenson, Levine, Szabat: Basic Business Statistics, Pearson, or equivalent

  Investments

  • An intermediate-level course in Investments, covering among others topics such as portfolio optimisation and diversification, CAPM, and factor-based pricing models.
  • Example text book: Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Investments, or equivalent

  Corporate Finance

  • An intermediate-level course in Corporate Finance, covering topics such as capital structure theory and company valuation methods.
  • Example text book: Berk & DeMarzo: Corporate Finance, Pearson, or equivalent

  Not a strict requirement but recommended:
  Financial Markets and Institutions

  • An intermediate-level Course that explains among others the building blocks of financial institutions and regulation, including central banks and depository banks.
  • Example text book: Mishkin, Matthews and Guiliodori: Economics of Money, Banking and Financial Markets, Pearson or equivalent

  Apply for your preferred master programme via Studielink and complete the application via VU.nl to receive an admission decision. This is completely without obligations. If you need to complete additional courses in order to become admissible, the admission decision will explain how you can do so.

  With a bachelor's degree in (International) Business Administration, Economics or Econometrics and Operations Research from a Dutch university you can review your admissibility here.

  Please note: this information is only meant as an indication of your admissibility. No rights can be derived from this table. This document is based on the obligatory courses and does not take electives into account. Students are recommended to apply for the master via Studielink (without obligation) to find out if additional courses need to be completed. Every application will be reviewed individually by the Admission Board. The final admission decision may differ from the indication in this table. If your programme is not listed but contains enough relevant courses, please feel free to apply.

• I have a Dutch higher vocational education (HBO) bachelor’s degree

  You will gain direct admission after completing the premaster’s programme for this master. This is a 30 EC fulltime programme with courses on at least three days a week and runs from February till July.

  Here you can find detailed information about the premaster Finance

• Application procedure with a Dutch degree

  Step 1:
  Apply for the programme MSc Finance via Studielink before 1 June.
  
  Step 2:
  After application in Studielink, you will receive a VUnet-ID and password. Please complete your application in your VU dashboard by answering additional questions and uploading the Master Application File. Download the correct file here. In this file you can see which documents are required to apply for this programme.

  Please note: we can only process your application when you uploaded a complete Master Application File. 

  Step 3:

  The admission committee will assess if you meet the admission criteria and will inform you about the decision via email. 

  For the full description of the registration procedure see the VU website.

• I have an international degree

  Students must meet the following admission requirements: 

  1.  Academic requirements

  Your previous education needs to be deemed equivalent to at least a Dutch academic Bachelor’s degree (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO) obtained at a research university (nominal duration 3 years). Please find more information about your admissibility with a non-Dutch degree here. 

  Professional certificates in finance (CFA, FRM or CF1) are not accepted as a substitute for a qualifying academic degree. In combination with a qualifying academic degree in another field, those certificates may be accepted for meeting some of the programme specific requirements below. 

  
  

  2. Programme specific requirements

  We expect you to have successfully completed courses based on the following literature, or equivalent: 

  • Corporate Finance - An intermediate-level course in Corporate Finance, covering topics such as capital structure theory and company valuation methods. Example text book: Berk & DeMarzo: Corporate Finance, Pearson, or equivalent 
  • Investments - An intermediate-level course in Investments, covering among others topics such as portfolio optimisation and diversification, CAPM, and factor-based pricing models. Example text book: Bodie, Kane, and Marcus: Investments, or equivalent 
  • Financial Markets and Institutions - An intermediate-level that explains among others the building blocks of financial institutions and regulation, including central banks and depository banks. Example text book: Mishkin, Matthews and Guiliodori: Economics of Money, Banking and Financial Markets, Pearson or equivalent 
  • Mathematics - An intermediate-level course that covers among others the concepts of i) differentiation and optimization of functions of one and more variables ii) working with limits, sequences and series iii) analytically optimizing functions, calculating (partial) derivatives iv) working with interest rates and discount rates v) the basics of matrices. Example text book: Sydsaeter, Hammond and Strom: Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis, Prentice Hall, or equivalent 
  • Business Statistics - An intermediate-level course that covers among others topic such as: understanding of i) data and descriptive statistics ii) probability theory iii) confidence intervals, iv) principles of hypothesis testing, and v) sound understanding of multi-variate regression analysis. Example text book: Berenson, Levine, Szabat: Basic Business Statistics, Pearson, or equivalent 

   
  How to demonstrate that you meet the above requirements 

  You are required to indicate in the course description section of the Application Form how you meet the programme specific admission requirements.  

  Whether you meet the admission requirements, is determined by the Admission Board based on your complete application. 

   
   3. English-language proficiency requirements  

  You will have to demonstrate sufficient English language proficiency. You can find an overview of relevant information to demonstrate your English language proficiency on the language requirement page.  

• Application procedure with an international degree

  Application documents

  To apply you are required to provide the following documents:

  • Scan of your passport or national ID card (ID for EEA students only) valid at the start date of the programme
  • Master Application File please download the correct file from this page. In this file you can see which documents are required to apply for your programme.
  • Proof of English language proficiency (if already obtained): upload your proof of English language proficiency or English language test results. Please find the English language requirements here.

  After having prepared the required documents, please follow the online application procedure. 

  Application fee & deadlines

  All students seeking admission to an international Master’s programme with an international degree are required to pay a non-refundable €100 application fee. Only after you have paid this fee will we be able to start the evaluation of your application file. If you are applying for more than one programme, you will only need to pay the application fee once. Your application fee payment is valid for two years.
  
  Information on how to apply with an international university degree and deadlines can be found here. 

  Grants and scholarships

  As an international student planning to study at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you can apply for a variety of grants and bursaries. Detailed information about scholarships and deadlines can be found on www.vu.nl/scholarships or www.grantfinder.nl.

  International Student and Alumni Ambassadors 

  Our International Student and Alumni Ambassadors are happy to tell you all about their experiences with studying at VU Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam.

  • Our Student Ambassadors are current students at VU Amsterdam that represent a wide variety of programmes and countries.
  • Our International Alumni Ambassadors are VU Amsterdam graduates who are currently either working in the Netherlands or abroad, or doing a PhD or (second) Master's.

  You will find the full overview of our Ambassadors here: vu.nl/ambassadors. There you can chat with them directly.

• Pre-master's programme for international students

  Applying for the pre-master's programme directly is not possible. All international students are required to apply for the Master's programme of their choice first. If you do not meet the admission requirements directly, the Admission Board might refer you to the pre-master's programme. After completing the pre-master's programme you are directly eligible for the Master's programme.
  
  The pre-master's programme is a deficiency programme that provides the necessary knowledge and skills to prepare you for this Master's programme. It is a programme of 30 ECTS that is offered in the second semester, from February through July. Content details of the offered pre-masters can be found here.
  
  Admission requirements for the pre-master's programme

  • You have a Bachelor's degree from a non-Dutch university or from a non-Dutch university of applied science (which is equal to at least a Dutch HBO degree).
  • The Admission Board might request to hand in GMAT. This will be stated in the invitation to apply for the pre-master's programme you will receive from the Admission Board after you applied for the Master's programme. Do you want to know more about the GMAT? See GMAT ® - More about - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (vu.nl)
     

  Deadlines and application
  The programme starts 1 February. Because of visa application deadlines, non-EU citizens must have submitted their application before 1 November. EU citizens or students with a valid residence permit for the Netherlands have until January 31^st to complete their application. However, to make sure everything is arranged before the enrolment deadline it is advised to submit your application well before this date.

  • 1 November 2023: Non-EU/ non-EAA students who need visa/residence permit. November 1 is the deadline to apply. Once you are conditionally admitted you have till December 1 to hand in a valid English Language test and GMAT (if applicable)
  • 31 January 2024: EU/EAA students

  Note: When applying, you can find the pre-master's programme in Studielink after selecting Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and by entering ‘pre-master's’ in the search bar.

• FAQ for students with a Dutch degree

  Can I be admitted into an SBE Master with my Dutch university degree?

  The admission board can make a decision regarding your admissibility based on several documents. Apply for the Master via Studielink and complete your application on the VU-dashboard by uploading the required documents. Some Master programmes require additional documents such as an English CV and motivation letter, as well as your transcript of records. You will receive an admission decision within a couple of weeks after completing your application. Registration for the Master via Studielink is without obligation and does not commit you to anything yet.

  I have a higher vocational (HBO) degree. Do I need to complete the pre-master's before I can start with an SBE Master?

  Yes, we require all students with an HBO higher vocational Bachelor degree to complete the corresponding pre-master's before they can start with the Master. More information on the pre-master's can be found here.

  I have a higher vocational (HBO) degree and wish to start with an SBE Master that does not have a specific pre-master's (MSc Econometrics & Operations Research, MSc Economics, MSc Spatial, Transport and Environmental Economics). How do I apply?

  Please send your transcript of records directly to admissions.sbe@vu.nl/ toelating.sbe@vu.nl. Make sure the name of your education and institution are visible.

  I do not want to start with a master in the next academic year, but the year after. How do I know if I am eligible?

  You can still apply for the Master that starts in the next academic year via Studielink. Registration for the Master is without obligation and does not commit you to anything yet. If you need to complete additional courses in order to be admissible, you can do so during the next academic year. Because the admission decisions are valid for one year, make sure to check in advance if the admission requirements have not changed.

  I am already completing a Master at a Dutch university. Can I be directly admitted into one of the SBE Masters?

  You cannot be automatically admitted into one of the SBE Masters. First, your application needs to be reviewed by the admission board of the Master in the same way as all Bachelor students. Please apply for the Master via Studielink and upload all required documents. You can use an online PDF merger to upload both your Bachelor grades and (preliminary) Master grades.