LSE vs Kings
Hi everyone,
I’m currently a BSc (Hons) Media and Communications student at Loughborough University and aiming for a career in management consulting. My degree isn’t directly related to this field, but I’ve built relevant experience: I worked as a Lead Product Manager at an ESG tech startup and as a funding strategy consultant for a children’s educational startup. I’ve also gained strong leadership skills through university roles.
I’ve received offers for two Masters programs:
- LSE: MSc in Innovation Policy – offers top-tier ranking and brand prestige, which could stand out on my CV.
- King’s: MSc in Management and Technological Change – seems more aligned with my career goals in management consulting.
I’m torn between the prestige of LSE (which might open more doors) and the course content at King’s (which feels more relevant to what I want to do). I aim to do some internships during my masters to also gain some work experience on my CV in relevant industries (probono consulting roles most likely). For those in management consulting or with insights on these unis/programs, what would you recommend? Does prestige outweigh course fit, or should I prioritise alignment with my goals?
Thanks for any advice!
Prestige is all that matters although the degree relevance matters a bit at the postgraduate level. However LSE brand will overshadow it since the brand will signal to the interviewer that you are a business minded person regardless of the degree.
And LSE masters is a target for the top consulting firms while Kings is a semi target. Not even a strong semi. Again, they dont care about the degree when they screen out the majority of the applicants.
I'll be honest, the degree type does not matter much at all.
And I have seen much more LSE than Kinds grads at my MBB (though that could also be because of self selection to some extent)
from what I've seen, a large amount of King's social science grads have ambitions to enter Finance/Consulting, most are relegated to regional roles/returning to their home country. So less so self selection and more so just King's not being a great name for Finance
LSE without a doubt. King's is a semi-target for recruiting at ug, for Master's it's essentially a non-target. LSE is a Tier 1 target at both ug and pg. King's business program is also very new, which explains why the curriculum seems more interesting: they have freshly hired professors creating brand new lesson plans etc. tailored to the industry today. While LSE has definitely not invested as much in their Business programs in the past few years, they are more recruiting employability focused rather than academic to an extent. However EOD King's is investing so that they can attract students away from other London unis, given their poorer overall reputation, so there is a direct trade off of more interesting course content to employability.
Also, What the comment below said is not completely accurate, yes the degree itself doesn't matter when pre-screening, interviewing etc. However, a MiM degree for example from LBS, or a MSc Finance from LSE would be a much more reputable/powerful degree than MSc in Innovation from LSE, so when it comes to actually progressing through interview stages - candidates with those other degrees WILL have a leg up on you, however it's certainly not any massive advantage.
Just echoing what was just said to me in my post on a similar subject (go check it out it's quite informative), UK MBB tend to heavily favor Oxbridge plus ICL grads for whatever reason, so coming in from LSE vs ICL/Cambridge/Oxford also puts you at a bit of a disadvantage however that gap is far far smaller at LSE than at King's
Thanks for your comment. I had a brief read through the post you mention, and I would've never thought they'd value ICL over LSE. I do think traditionally 'smarter' people go to ICL and they're known for their research, so it does make a little bit of sense. Whereas LSE is purely focussed on employability prospects.
Anyway, I think my decision is made. LSE bound!
Glad to be of help, in terms of the difference between LSE and ICL - as an academic institution LSE is much more research and social science oriented, while ICL is much more science, math and heavily practical applications / case work in their curriculum. Essentialy that means ICL grads coursework is directly preparing them for MBB case studies and applications and I'm sure those who end up placing are more prepared for the role itself, while LSE is a bit more theoretical.
I’d add that if you’re looking to go to MBB, you probably don’t have a chance (until you get to the experienced hire position) but it’s very possible to go to a tier 2 type firm from a university like Loughborough, particularly with your work experience. If you’re not MBB-or-bust, consider if you really need the Masters. You may be better off pushing for an MBA.
I’m definitely not limiting myself to just MBB. The challenge is that I’ve been applying to a wide range of places, but I can’t seem to get past the video interview stage—at best. I’ve prepared as thoroughly as I can, yet I still haven’t been able to break through that barrier. I know pursuing a master’s isn’t a direct solution to this, but from what I’ve heard from friends on placements, it’s tough to return to academia once you’re settled into a job. A master’s is something I’ve always wanted to pursue regardless, and now that I have this chance at a prestigious institution like LSE, it’s difficult to pass it up.
An MBA also interests me, but I’d only consider it if I were already working at a company that could cover the costs.
If you’re getting interviews, it’s not your CV that’s the problem. Once you get to the interview stage, your uni makes very little difference. It’s basically a way to screen people out from having to interview them.
Strongly suggest you hit pause on this uni hunt for a bit and reflect on your interviews. A Masters at LSE isn’t going to stop you getting rejected at video screens. You’re doing something wrong in your interviews. Fixing that could save you one year + course fees + opportunity cost of salary and experience.
This has been said a lot already, but LSE is definitely the right choice as far as consulting recruiting is concerned. The brand is simply much stronger. At my MBB, there are far more LSE than KCL grads.
I will add that (at least at my MBB), where you do your Masters is far less important than your undergrad with the exception of it being a particularly hard Masters i.e a Masters in Innovation Policy at LSE will probably only marginally boost your chances, but a Masters in Maths at Cambridge would make a big difference.
This is probably not what you want to hear, but is unfortunately the truth. However MBB are increasingly hiring from "non-targets" so it absolutely is still worth applying. I would use it as motivation to boost other parts of your profile as much as possible (get involved in some interesting and impressive extracurriculars, make sure your casing is on point).
Finally, even for those with the perfect background, MBB is a long shot. I would apply for as many T2s and boutiques as you can find, and if you're really determined for MBB then lateralling in is still a possibility at any point in your career.
interesting. How does that translate to these rankings ive found on wso:
Tier 1: Oxford MFE, LBS MFA, LSE MFin, LSE MFin & PE, HEC MiF
Tier 1.5: Imperial MFin, LBS MiM
Tier 2: LSE MFin & Acc
Does a semi-target ug with a tier 1 finance masters have a substantially better shot than op at consulting? How about Tier 2? I'm guessing Innovation Policy is a tier 3/4 no?
I think trying to rank them like that with regards to consulting recruiting is kind of pointless. I'd be surprised if recruiters even think about it with that level of granularity. Part of the problem is that there are so many masters courses available in random stuff (e.g. innovation policy lol) that it's hard for them to assess which are genuinely rigorous, competitive courses and which are mostly cash grabs from the university. I imagine this is why there is more focus on UG as recruiters have a better understanding of the courses. It also explains why things like MFins are valued, because they're fairly standardised and recruiters know that they're competitive and somewhat intellectual. It similarly explains why something like a maths masters at Cambridge would also be valued.
I would ask the question: does this masters signal someone who is a top student. The two things that will answer that will be the university and the course. The problem with things like Innovation Policy at LSE is that it's hard to assess the Innovation Policy part, but the LSE brand can only help you.
In regards to your question about a "semi-target with a tier 1 finance masters"- I'm not too sure how to answer since I don't know what you consider target, but I'd assume Loughborough is a semi-target and yes I'd consider Innovation Policy below the ones you've listed, so I think that student would have better chances than OP. Hard to say exactly how much difference this will make. OP would honestly be somewhat of an outlier at MBB, but outliers exists.
Ignore title - Its a shame it has to be this way but the raw value of having LSE is something you’d be a fool to pass up.
They say 5-20% of your degree is all you’ll ever use in practice anyway, if you pass up the opportunity to go to LSE you may never get it back.
My opinion only now (didn’t go to lse):
For our fields, LSE is the most prestigious university in the world. Take any course they offer you
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