LSE Mfin vs LBS MFA

Unless you have a previous IB internship in LDN it's going to be very difficult to get a FT roles straight from the Masters. FT positions are typically filled with people who did a SA in LDN in a different bank. I've seen cases where ppl have gotten a FT gig with no previous LDN internship but these are the exception rather than the norm. (Your chances are higher if you network heavily or are a diversity candidate). I'm currently pursuing the LSE Mfin and most of my classmates are applying for SA/OCs rather than FT positions.

Regarding both schools, if your sole purpose is getting a job, LBS is definitely better. My decision to go for LSE was more of a personal one rather than an objective one. Anyway, having gone through the recruiting season this year, here are my takeaways of why I believe LBS is better:

1) Less internal competition: Banks have internal quotas by school (not in a strict way but they wouldn't hire 90% of interns from 1 school only). Let's say a bank wants 20 interns from LSE and 20 from LBS. At LBS you don't have an undergraduate department, you are only competing against your MFA classmates and perhaps some guys from the MiM programme. At LSE, you are competing against your MFin classmates, the guys from the MFPE, MF&E and MSc A&F programmes as well as the 2nd year and 3rd year undergrads from Econ/finance/etc. I've seen LSE kids from randoms degrees such as bsc in government break into banking, so yeah the internal competition is harder

2) LBS career service is better: they are ahead of the game and know the importance of applying early. (They start around mid-August). On the contrary, LSE careers was still hosting CV workshops in the last week of September this year. Most banks applications are out by the last week of August /first week of September. It is crucial to apply within the first two weeks after the application has opened, otherwise it is highly unlikely that you will get a first round. Some of my LSE classmates started applying for jobs around the 1st week of October which is too late IMO

3) Optional additional term: LBS has an optional additional term which lets you pass as a penultimate year student. (It extends your programme from 12 to 18 months).This allows to bypass the screening when applying for SA positions + you can also apply for FT/OC. LSE has something similar called "Work Placement pathway" but it only adds an additional summer term and extends the programme from 9 to 12 months. Most of my LSE classmates (including me) lied on the application form stating that we would graduate in 2024. Although I haven't heard of cases where the offer has been rescinded because of this issue, I didn't feel at all comfortable when lying on the application form

4) Fewer visa issues (if you are an international): given that the LSE Mfin lasts less than 12 months you only get 2 additional months as vacation/right to work period. (I.e. you graduate in mid June but your right to work is extended until mid August). This means that my right to work will expire before my SA internship is over (late August) and I will have to apply for the Graduate Visa to extend my stay and complete my internship. According to the Careers service this shouldn't cause any problem but yeah I'll still have to explain to the bank I will be interning at. On the contrary, the LBS programme lasts 12 months and includes the summer as a module-free term so you take the internship. This means that your graduation date is in August and because it's a 12 month programme you get 4 extra months of vacation/right to work period. You wouldn't need to apply for the graduate visa even if you take a 6 month Off Cycle that starts in June