Columbia Business School vs London Business School
I have been fortunate enough to have been admitted into both LBS and CBS. Having a tough time making a decision and would love to hear any views/thoughts on the matter. Cheers.
Background
• Currently in investment banking – looking to explore two career paths, either management consulting or hedge funds/Asset Management.
• Will likely seek to work in London post MBA for a year or two and then return to my home country.
• Columbia MBA is about 7k more expensive – not a lot in the overall scheme of things but something to consider.
I have listed some of my pros/cons for each of the schools below.
Specifically, if anyone could comment on:
1. Recruiting into MBB and asset management from both schools
2. Recruiting overseas (into London) from Columbia and vice-versa
3. Overall brand perception
London Business School
Pros
• Great name everywhere outside of the States (seems to be an ok name in the US but not fantastic).
• International student body and alumni base – with good representation in home country.
• Based in the country I would like to work for a short period post MBA.
• Flexible programme – can do multiple internships.
• Straight forward for partner to get a working.
• Fantastic opportunity to travel around Europe.
Cons
• MBA programme is very much a “US degree” – the learning environment will likely be more intense and rewarding at Columbia (refer to my attachment and some of the comments made by students at both)
Columbia Business School
Pros
• Ivy League school with a great brand name internationally.
• Optionality – keeps options open in the US and arguably only marginally harder to recruit for jobs in the UK relative to LBS.
• Opportunity to live in New York for two years (try something different).
• Can try and do an exchange semester at LBS and get full alumni status at both schools.
• School culture seems to promote idea of in-semester internships (useful for asset management etc.)
Cons
• Potentially slightly harder to for partner to get a working.
• Could be making things harder by trying to recruit overseas.
I would love to hear thoughts of current students/alumni and others who have any views on which school could potentially be better – I completely understand this is a very personal decision but wouldn’t mind some third party validation! Thanks
| Attachment | Size |
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| LBS exchange handbook.pdf 4.25 MB | 4.25 MB |
If you want to work in US, Columbia. If you want to work in Europe, LBS. This is BY FAR the most important determinant.
That's the way that I would look at it. Makes if a difference if you are just a train ride away from grabbing coffee with people...
Agree with OpsDude. Living in NY while applying to jobs in London is going to be a hell with all the flying around.
You want to work in London post MBA - LBS! You want to work in mgmt consulting - LBS!
Dude...LBS is on a different league to CBS! Congrats BTW...
I'm a CBS guy, but this comes down to where you want to work. If US, CBS. If Europe, LBS. Simple here.
Although CBS is mediocre and in the midst of a major decline, if you want to work in the U.S. or Canada, CBS is preferable to LBS. For Europe, LBS wins out (although for europe finance, wharton and booth dominate LBS).
Lol, ignore @"mbavsmfin" - he's a closeted student at Columbia's Executive MBA program and is extremely bitter for having been denied by Columbia's Full-Time program numerous times (as well as other "M7" Full-Time programs). He also goes by Brady4MVP. People on the forum mistakenly assume that he goes to Wharton or Booth. Anyways, he has a sad (and masochistic) obsession with denigrating Columbia.
To your original q: if you want to work in London, LBS makes more sense.
However, here is one small data point (I am in an M7 program): PIMCO recruited this year for Summer Equity Research Analysts only for the London office (there is no hiring need in NYC / CA). The London office actively recruited from both LBS, CBS and other MBA business schools ">M7 schools.
However, the inverse was not true. PIMCO recruited for Summer Credit Analysts for the NYC / Newport Beach offices and while they recruited at MBA business schools ">M7 programs in the US, they did not recruit at LBS.
Going to a US MBA business schools ">M7 program provides greater optionality, in my opinion, vis a vis LBS / INSEAD.
Haha. Some guy who has no idea who I am creates an account and charges that I'm in the executive mba program, which is false.
Regarding my comments on CBS. Multiple other posters such as jtbd, jankynoname, opsdude, etc., have said similar things about CBS but just in more muted tones.
Thanks for your views guys, most helpful. The great thing about LBS is the flexibility of the programme and that you are only a very short flight away from spending a weekend in the south of France or Italy etc.
Agree that being based in London would be the easiest option but can't help but wonder if I could spend two years in New York and then end up there...probably wishful thinking and a costly gamble! However, gut feel is that the CBS programme would be more enriching.
dabears92 - your example on PIMCO is something that keeps on playing at the back of my mind. It's a similar theme to what TNA brought up as well. For a large firm, say one of the big management consulting firms, it seems as though you can still recruit for the London positions from New York without too much difficulty?
I agree in that it would be much harder to recruit/network for the London based hedge funds but would it be fair to say for management consulting it wouldn't be too hard? If you have any stats from your class etc. of students who ended up interning overseas that would be most helpful (can PM if needed).
Thanks again.
I really like LBS, but my opinion on bschool is different. That being said, you get way more classroom diversity at CBS. I flipped though a LBS class book and absolutely couldn't see myself going.
Go with CBS and aim for a US company with a London office. I think that's your best bet. Ultimately you want to change careers and work in the US. Not much sense getting a Euro brand when you ultimately want to be in the US long term.
Good luck though, two great schools.
Adding to what TNA said. I also got into LBS but decided against it for several reasons. First, if you go to LBS or INSEAD for that matter, you really have to commit to staying in Europe post-MBA since it's very hard to get back to the U.S. afterwards. Second, the name brand of a top U.S. program just goes a lot further than LBS, and as someone who wants to stay in the U.S. after b-school, LBS just didn't make too much sense for me.
See, I liked LBS because I loved London, only wanted to do a one year program and wanted to travel extensively. Plus I planned to basically use it as a vacation from work and go right back into the same field. Plus I am open to working in Europe or say somewhere else non USA for a good period of time.
Outside of a very tight constraint like that I think it just always makes sense to go to a US program. NYC is so international also that you shouldn't have much problem getting overseas if you want.
And not to be a dick, but like 80% of lbs is made up of Indian students. Way too many for diversity sake and probably pretty crappy networking amongst your class.
Oh you looked at the MFin program I assume. Yeah that program is VASTLY overrated, almost entirely internationals from random countries, and pretty mediocre job placement and compensation. The MBA program is a lot better, but it still didn't hit the spot for me.
Looked at Both. I know the LBS adcoms on the Mfin side and I got an MBA resume book sent to me. So many internationals. Cool program if you're looking for an education and traveling, but not going to do what a US MBA would for you.
MBA business schools ">M7 guy here:
For HF/AM - forget about landing a gig in the US without having greencard/citizenship. Focus on London, it is a much more international town and sponsoring foreigners is very common. Even at HSW, the amount of HF/AM OCR is a very small subset of the funds outside, recruiting for HF/AM basically means you have to do your own work, which means (1) reaching out to alumni and (2) being present in the city where the funds are. CBS is better in (1), LBS is better in (2) for London, so If you are willing to travel regularly to London I'll do CBS (e.g. spend spring break recruiting in London rather than traveling around w your friends)
For MC - pretty bad gig post MBA, you can land any of MBB from a ton of schools. Again US is harder given that they prefer nationals, and even harder if you come from a non-US school
I'd do CBS
.
LBS guy here:
Recruiting for AM in London, LBS hands-down. If the funds do not have a structured program, networking counts for far more and you would be way better if you're in the same city as the funds. LBS representation in London high finance is pretty impressive. Recruiting for consulting, probably the same.
Overseas recruiting - essential to be in the same city if the firm does not have a structured program (i.e. being in the same city will be more important for PE/AM and less important for IB and consulting). If you are not European, this will be even more important as you can't do an internship unless you are a full-time student.
CBS (unless in UK).
I also want to add a point re: quality of education. From speaking to peers who have gone on exchange, Columbia offers a higher quality and more holistic MBA education. LBS' strength is in AM.
All I can add is that you should have every opportunity to get MBB London (or other non-US locations) from any M7 program that sends a lot of people to those 3 firms. Can't say for Asset Management but since you are coming from investment banking you may want to try to get a pre-MBA internship and maybe do something during the school year. If you want to end up in London it would possibly be easier to do that there, but I'm not very knowledgeable about the landscape there. Your next step should be to contact students,alumni, and both schools' career offices to get a better understanding of how these schools will set you up to achieve your goals.
Something else to keep in mind - many US programs (I know Kellogg does) have structured ways to recruit for abroad jobs. If I wanted to work in Europe or Asia out of Kellogg, there's a structured path I could take and I'd have networking opportunities, and OCR support in many cases. Reverse doesn't seem to be too true from LBS.
I agree with the above - LBS for Europe, CBS for the US. If you are not sure yet, go for CBS. Both schools should be able to land you an interview spot at MBB. After that point, it mostly comes down to you as a person, not to the b-school you attended.
mbavsmfin - for being a student at an 'elite' MBA in the U.S., you have a lot of free time to make ranking-obsessed comments in literally EVERY MBA topic. It's truly pathetic.
Thanks everyone who commented – your views are much appreciated.
Will take a few days off over the new years to enjoy the silly season and then will speak to a few alumni and the respective schools careers office and of course my partner, before making a final decision. Will report back in due course to help anyone else who might face a similar decision.
mbavsmfin – London has probably not recovered as quickly as New York post GFC and that’s probably the reason for weak AM recruiting more recently (not sure, taking your word for it). However, something that was pointed out to me by some alumni was that there are a lot of pretty cool gigs in continental Europe managing the investments of wealthy, old-money families. Slightly less cyclical – so have to keep an open mind of not just looking at London but the whole of Europe.
scarolo – what’s the reasoning behind your statement that CBS is better for reaching out to alumni?
Guys please ignore mbavsmfin He just got a reject from LBS and CBS, that is why using every forum to make a an unsubstantiated point...... I think the point i very clear ..... For US CBS is stronger ...... outside LBS has got really strong name and competes with all M7 .
Between Brady and Shuang this business school forum is practically becoming useless.
Out of curiosity, while the LBS for europe and CBS for the states makes sense, what about the post MBA Visa issue? Just saw in another thread that undergrads had no luck with the Visa lottery after working in the US for a few years. Is such a thing not prevalent at the post MBA stage and have to be factored in?
would also like to know this
Doubt you will get an answer at this point given this was posted FIVE YEARS ago...
Oh don't kid yourself: IT IS (unfortunately) prevalent and remains so "at the post-MBA stage".
Plenty of European graduates of M7 MBA ultimately go back home in Europe and continue their careers there (after the one year of OPT). That's why MBA programs have all gone STEM in the last few years. With OPT extension to 3 years, it gives international MBA grads more changes for the (bi-yearly) H1B visa lottery.
At least here in the states, many companies won't even give you an interview if they realize you need visa sponsorship now or in the future.
Is it bad that I look and laugh? A professor at CBS was cool, and I'm thanked in a paper by the head of the Econ department at LSE. I also co-authored a paper by professors at HBS who were also NBER members.
Congratulations acceptances to two great b-schools.
As many other said, it's really down to location, if you want to be in London post-MBA, LBS / NYC, pick CBS.
Doing an exchange program is great and all, but I wouldn't factor this into your consideration.
It also depends where your 'home country' is. If in Europe, LBS may help more regarding the alumni network.
Good luck!
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