A few weeks ago, I spent over a week in London to visit some family. Because I’m looking into studying in the UK for my MSc in Finance in a year or so, I thought this would be a great way to visit some schools there. I picked some of the obvious choices, including London School of Economics and London Business School, as well as a couple of not-as-well-known schools, including London Metropolitan University and Birkbeck, University of London.
I tried to fit in Cass as well as Imperial College, but I didn't have a chance to really meet anyone from admissions, so those posts would’ve been me stating information that you could easily find on their website (or on ANT’s site). I spent a few days to look around some campuses, do some research on the programs these schools offer, meet some people, shake some hands, etc., etc., etc. After all of this, I thought this would be a great thread to read for anyone who is interested in going to the UK for grad school. My main point for this thread, however, is…are these schools really worth it?
Are they worth the sometimes ridiculous costs for tuition as well as paying for living expenses in one of the most expensive cities in the world? This week, I’ll be talking about London Business School and I’ll be keeping the thread going through May
London Business School:
Well, what is there to say about London Business School's Master's degree programs that haven't already been said. The first thing one should know is it's been named the number 1 Master's in Finance degree program in the world by the Financial Times.
It prides itself in the programs it offers, including an MBA program as well as the MSc program, which is different from other institutions that offer several finance-based degrees. The main hurdles for people who want to be accepted are cost, GMAT score, and entry requirements. For the 10-month full time masters program, it's 33,950 pounds, which comes to a staggering $53,650. As for entry requirements, they expect a 3.5/4.0 undergrad GPA as well as 2 years of meaningful work experience in finance.
Finally for the GMAT, although the website says they accept people above 650, when speaking to their admissions office, they stressed that they prefer their applicants have at least a score of 700.
As with the other schools I covered, the main point of the trip was speaking with someone in the admissions office and getting as much information as possible. My discussion with a counselor started with the program in general. She stressed that people who succeed there must have finance-based work experience simply because the program is tailored that way. Most of the students there have up to 6 or 7 years of experience and as a result, some with less with 2 find it hard to follow the program and contribute to it. Also, anyone with less than 2 will find it very hard, sometimes impossible, to get accepted.
We then switched to recruiting and networking. Virtually every financial firm and/or corporation you can think of comes for on campus recruiting and she made a point to stress that. Many of the jobs available, like for LSE, were for jobs not just in the UK or Europe, but for the US, South America, Asia and everywhere in between. Apart from the usual recruiting season, the school offers so many on-campus presentations that students will always have opportunities to network. Just to give you an overall idea, attached is their latest placement stats.
So my take on London Business School? In my opinion, if you truly have the opportunity to go, do it. This school is the HBS of master's programs in finance. The school offers everything that a student would want in terms of recruiting, networking, job opportunities, etc. LBS really deserves to be number 1 in the world for this program. If anyone else has a different opinion or were a student there and have some stories or useful information on the school, throw it on the board.
So there’s my take on London Business School. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions. I still have that contact in the admissions office so if you want, I can relay your questions to her. Next week, I’ll be writing about London Metropolitan University.
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A colleague of mine is doing their executive MFin, says it's pretty tough and that he's probably not going to graduate on time due to work commitments (he's been to Oxford etc. so isn't a stranger to academic rigour). However, he has sung the praises of the institution big time, frequently mentions the quality of the teaching.
In addition, his GMAT was 680, but he has a very good story.
Thanks for sharing Mike.
Mike, Big thanks for visiting these schools and posting your findings. Defn I think the career and network aspects of LBS are great. But, for you and the rest, here is another perspective I found very interesting in making my decision to join a MFin program: http://finantic.blogspot.com/2008/04/first-impression-london-business-s…
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