Oxford MFE vs. LBS/HEC 2026
I am fortunate enough to have offers from all the above schools for my Master's degree.
I am now considering whether it is worth paying the enormous tuition fees of over €70k for Oxford, or whether I should opt for LBS/HEC, where I also have a merit scholarship, which would increase the pay gap to over €30k. (I have to finance myself through a loan)
What are your thoughts on this, considering I could secure a SA prior to my Master's? I like the prestige of Oxford, but I'm not sure if an additional €30-35k is worth it, or if I should just enjoy myself for a year at a business school instead of spending the year prior to my full-time work grinding in the library.
Thanks!
Doing the MFE currently, do not come here. The academic content is incredibly difficult to keep up with and the offer rate for major banks / buyside shops is probably equal to HEC, maybe not LBS. Be warned, the university is very rigid and is not flexible at all vs the other institutes you have mentioned.
What is better, hec or lbs?
French speaker - HEC, non-French speaker - LBS
Thanks for the advice!
Setting aside the offer rate, is the academic content so challenging that you can barely find time to enjoy being a student, or is it simply a bit more demanding than the typical exam period at other target universities?
To a certain extent, I enjoy being challenged academically, but I also want to enjoy my Master's degree.
It’s very rigorous, some 15% of the cohort fail from what is already a very rigorous selection. Avoid.
Just my take, all schools are obviously good.
Putting aside the argument that Oxford is more academically challenging, based on placements only I would remove Oxford from the list and focus on HEC and LBS. Oxford is very academic, and puts less emphasis on finding a job. So going for Oxford just for the name is not worth it if you don't place well.
I'm currently at HEC and have friends at Oxford. Oxford has a prestige but the university is not involved in your professional development in Sept/Oct. HEC is excellent for this, and I personally know people with amazing CVs (did the likes of Blackstone, Millennium, CD&R in undergraduate) that are placing in mid-banks after Oxford. Whereas my classmates from HEC with ok CVs are getting interviews at Centerview and all those you can dream of. I think HEC is a good school to get interviews, then it is up to you to perform.
Up to you what you want to focus on, but I can only attest to the HEC name when applying to London. You will not have an advantage for London just because you went to LBS or Oxford (40% of HEC MIF students place in London each Summer). HEC is also the cheapest option, easily 20-30k cheaper than Oxford / LBS when considering all costs for 1 year.
My last comment: if you want to do a quant role, HEC/LBS is obviously not a good fit.
Thanks for the great insights!
Since I have already secured an SA role at a top BB/EB (think BofA, Citi, PJT, EVR), my first priority is to progress personally, build a network and spend a year not thinking about my career 24/7. This includes my academic and personal life, of course. What would you suggest when comparing Oxford and HEC?
Hec
If you’re going to London anyway, spend a year in Paris - great city to live in with materially lower COL.
There are a lot of people also holding offers chilling more that you can have a fun time with on campus or in Paris. Most of my class used to go 3-4 times a week to the city with some people moving to Paris for the Second half of their studies.
People here will focus on applications in Sept-Dec (and program is made so that you have time to do all applications), and as soon as most people have offers (Dec onwards), it becomes really chill. You can then build a network and think about other things completely. For instance, being honest, Sept-Nov everyone talks about recruiting but as of then people are just enjoying and having fun (2-3 parties a week easily).
Also, the whole campus is a benefit in my opinion. I like it because of the network you build; I literally know >70% of my cohort of 180 people by now, and I know this will benefit me in the long-run knowing where they are interning next Summer. This comes from you i) spending every day in the same building, and ii) randomly seeing people in the buildings you live in (so even on weekends you will see/meet new people). I imagine the campus is similar in Oxford, but I believe that because people are spending less time studying at HEC, they connect more with each other.
I believe Oxford MFE cohort is also way smaller (88 vs 180).
Could you elaborate a bit more on hec vs lbs?
Do people there apply for off cycles or ft or sa?
Culture differences? What is better for a non eu international socially and recruitment wise?
Thank you
Don't know too much about LBS to be honest, but I can just attest that HEC places extremely well in London. It is basically as good as a local university in the eyes of the recruiters. I can imagine that curriculum-wise it is quite similar to be honest.
People at HEC are mostly applying to Summers, and then Off-Cycles as of now to bridge the gap between Summer and Full Time. I have friend that directly got FT at BB or MBB, but rather the exception. Most people pass by Summer Analyst positions and convert.
Cultural differences will likely be present, MIF is maybe 30% French people and 70% international. Also a lot of people from Asia, just like MFA. If you want to recruit in Paris and don't speak French, that will not be possible realistically. If your plan is London anyway, there is no difference between LBS and HEC, other than maybe you get a student visa if you do LBS.
Happy to elaborate on other points
Hi mate, would you mind please going to my new post and giving your opinion on it? I am considering my HEC MIF offer, and you definitely have valuable insight, considering you are doing it right now. Would really appreciate it!
I think, try also to see what type of professors you want to surround yourself with. Oxford is likely academics, while at HEC it's a mixture between academics and people that are/were MDs at Lehman/Nomura, worked at MS, JP, Partners at MBB, etc. In my experience, they are better at teaching me relevant material, Try to connect with people on Linkedin from the MFA and MFE to ask them such questions too.
Hec is an easy choice. It's a cohort of like 50 top tier students. LBS is closer to 300 now so the outcomes are a bit mixed. Other really selective MiFs I know are escp and St gallen with very small cohorts and they're a much more practical than Oxford.
I was in same situation as you, with scholarship to HEC. I chose Oxford MFE and loved it. I would choose Oxford in your position as long as you're fine with an academically challenging program and if tuition is not a massive consideration for you.
Oxford then LBS then by pick HEC. Oxford MFE is world class
LBS by far is the best option, as long as you actually make the most of it (network like crazy). It's in London instead of a random village, and has a cohort (including MBAs etc) of genuinely diverse and experienced people you can actually benefit from.
I ended up choosing HEC
I think it was a mistake
What would you have chosen
Only applied to Oxford and HEC (also got the scholarship) and didn’t look into LBS or LSE (so can’t comment on those), but I’d choose Oxford hands down. Several reasons:
Reputation - known worldwide (incl. in the US and Asia if you want to move later). HEC is mainly strong in EU.
Employment - although HEC places quite well, the MFE is clear (simply look at the employment reports, it’s a shame HEC doesn’t publish theirs, maybe that’s a signal).
Cohort Size - not much difference but I think 80 people is perfect because you get to know people in your year a lot better and there’s quite a close bond with previous years and events to reconnect.
The Oxford experience - I really underestimated the whole College experience and traditions, having a membership at the Union, meeting people doing all sorts of degrees, etc. It’s really unique.
Career Support - it’s a lot better than I thought because we shared all industry advisors and mentors with the MBAs, you can book mock interviews whenever you want, and you’ll still benefit from many of these resources after the program. I think some people complained because they thought jobs would be handed to them… Getting into the top BBs/PE funds in London is always going to be challenging.
Network - you get the whole Oxford alumni network. That's something you get for life. I think people underestimate how beneficial this can be (if you make good use of it), especially beyond your first job post Master's.
Teaching - you study a great deal of both finance and economics and the econ profs are really world class. We had 7 of them in just the main econ course. Electives (shared with MBAs) were more applied, you have MDs coming to teach some of the classes, etc.
Intensity - defo manageable and not as bad as some people make it seem. I’d say it’s mostly the exam revisions that were intense. You’re meant to pass your exams. You’ll have time to enjoy the experience and get top jobs.
Cost - yes, Oxford might be more expensive, but worth the investment. I also had to take out student loans. You’ll very likely have no issues paying them back quickly.
Final piece of advice - actually talk to people and try to place more weight on advice from people who are done with the degree, rather than in the middle of it.
I'm sure you'll be fine going to HEC, but the entire Oxford MFE experience is really quite unique. Hope that helps.
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