Brown MS Data Science Vs LSE MS Finance Vs UTokyo MPP

A brief background about me: did undergrad at a non-HYP Ivy, interned at a BB's ER last summer in APAC, but no summer internship in BB this year.

I've been admitted to the following schools and programs for grad school, and I'd appreciate it if you could provide some insights regarding where would be best for me to break into front office roles, preferably IBD (including Capital Markets) in NYC/London/HK/SG/Tokyo.

Brown MS Data Science:
Standard program length is 12 month but can be extended to 16 month, which would then give me a summer for applying SA this year. While Data Science isn't gonna be big plus to my resume (I guess) when applying for front office roles, studying it probably opens the door to fields other than finance like tech in the future.

LSE MS Finance:
One of the best Master programs in LSE? I've heard this is one of the MS that's taken more seriously in the UK. Program length is 12 month but can be extended past summer if secure a summer internship in London (only London, extension not allowed for other places). The Harvard-style teaching format looks nice, and course content is pretty much about case studies.

Also got accepted into MS Finance and Econ (more intellectually and mathematically challenging since it's a bit tailored toward pre-PhD preparation), but I'm probably declining it to confirm my place for MS Finance.

UTokyo MPP (Economic Policy track):
One of the target schools in Japan, but not sure if MPP is a target for Japan BB. Program length is two years, but it's a lot cheaper than Brown and LSE (maybe less than half cost of both). Bad thing is its semester schedule, classes run thru end of July, which means I cannot apply for summer internships in HK/SG that normally start in late June.

I'm leaning toward Brown Data Science, given its flexibility in program length and potential opportunities beyond finance (beyond front office roles, quant, data analytics, etc.), but the development of COVID-19 in US leave me quite concerned - may still be paying same amount of tuition for online classes. OTOH, LSE announced that it'll reopen the campus and the MS Finance (as well as MS finance and econ) will teach in person. The more I read about the modules of LSE MS Finance, the more I like the program, but if I go there, I can only apply for summer internships in London (London is good, but the pay never gets adjusted for post Brexit depreciation, let alone the high taxes)

So all in all, I want to ask which of three programs seem to offer me the best chance to land a front office roles (IBD) in BB?

 
:
Program length is 12 month but can be extended past summer if secure a summer internship in London (only London, extension not allowed for other places).
Do you have a source on this? I can't find it on their website.
 

I presume you're an international student at all three places? My two cents is:

UTokyo: might get limited reception outside Japan. Also presume Japan classes sizes might be quite small. Brown: program length and non-finance option is nice. US front office is notorious for favoring undergrads though, and sponsoring is tough in this environment. But if US falls through you can still recruit for HK/SG LSE: probably the strongest brand of the three on an international level. The program length is a minus though

Overall I'd probably slightly favor Brown over LSE just due to program length. And if your priority is recruiting, I don't think the actual curriculum and whether classes are online should affect your decision too much

 

LSE MSc Finance is notorious for having great placement into London FO roles. Especially given you have a previous FO internship. Go on LinkedIn and look at the placement. Most target programme in the UK.

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