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When you consider the opportunity cost of 1 year's associate salary, INSEAD (or other 1yr prog.) seems a better choice over US schools (except maybe H/S/W) given the fact that you want to stay in Europe. Especially since you have IB exp. as an analyst, I presume you would have no problem for London associate recruitment.
Just my $0.02.
FYI: LBS allows you to complete the MBA in 15 months.
I'm sure both will get your foot in the door, but I'd figure a euro school will have much better recruitment for london positions than a US school.
Disclaimer: The post above has been made by someone who is not currently employed in IBD, and has not had an interview yet...
Cost and recruitment are definitely key considerations. I'm definitely considering Insead, but since I've lived in UK+France+Spain, I was thinking that studying on another continent could have some added value.
How about MBA networks in the City though(IB, Consulting & other) - which grad schools have the best ones? Always good to have access to a network of helpful people in top positions for all sorts of reasons...
The banks in London are hiring associates like crazy, and many are continuing to enlarge their associate classes. Not sure what your reason for pursuing an MBA is, but if you just want to go back into London banking, I would seriously try to see if you can join the Summer 2007 Associate class somewhere.
In any case, if you do go the MBA route, here's what I can tell you (having been a summer associate in London myself I am very familiar with this).
They recruit at the top US schools a ton, particularly for Europeans who go there. It is not a bad move at all (HBS, Wharton, NYU, Columbia, Chicago are your best bets, but there are others)
In Europe, LBS without question places the most people in banking (but 2 full years paying Pounds and living in London is very pricey)
IESE is another option, again it is two years (but Barcelona is fun and cheaper than London)
INSEAD is fine, but I give you one HUGE tip. YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST start in the JANUARY class...otherwise the timing won't line up for a Summer Associate Program and you will be screwed trying to get a full-time offer. The banking recruiters HATE that INSEAD does not warn their students about this.
In the end, I'm not sure what your motivations for doing the MBA are. If it's a long term network/gain experience/have fun for 2 years then I say go to the States. If you're doing it because you think you need it to be an Associate, I would say you might not really need it since the market is booming. If you want to check off the box with minimal time and minimal cost start INSEAD next Janauary.
Alex, I appreciate the advice. Such a tough call between all these business schools and "insider info" is priceless.
As for recruitment in London, things are definitely crazy at the mo, and headhunters are going wilde!
However, I' ve been in IB for just over a year so current demand for associates would still have to be alive in 1.5yrs for me to benefit from it. So it's all about timing...
From what I've been hearing things might carry on as they are for another year, probably no more than that. That's one reason for the MBA. In the long term I definitely think access to a powerful network is a big plus, and the opportunity to see whether something outside of IB could be good fun is also attractive. After all, no matter how interesting IB can be, there's a world outside!
Btw, are you saying NYU is better than Stanford for UK IB?
EuroMonkey,
I'll address everything you wrote, but the most important question is first:
You said you have one year of IB experience so far. How much total experience do you have? If you have less than 2-3 years total experience (by the time you start your MBA), nobody is going to hire you as an Associate and you will probably have a tough time getting into a good MBA program anyway.
Related to that, if you were to start an MBA next year (even if it was only a one year program) that would put you at just about the same point where you could be promoted to Associate anyway and have more banking experience.
You raise a good point as to how long things will continue in banking, but believe me, if they do decline by the time you finish your MBA, they will barely be hiring anybody out of school for banking.
In general I think the MBA is good particularly if you have longer term designs on doing something other than IB (though as you mentioned having the MBA network can also benefit you as a Senior Banker). But definitely do not do an MBA with less than AT LEAST 2-3 years experience. I know too many people who got their way into Business School on marginal experience and could not get hired at the level or pay as most MBA's and simultaneously eliminated the MBA as an option for them down the road.
The market timing thing is out of your hands, so you just have to live with that (we all do).
In terms of Stanford for UK Banking, I personally do not know many people in London from Stanford, but I know many NYU people. Honestly I think geography and the banking ties of NYU make it a better "banking school" even though in general Stanford is probably a "better MBA"
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions.
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