Bocconi BEIF on a full scholarship vs UCL Economics

I met UCL offer today, I am a non-EU citizen. So UCL will cost me around 140k $ (tuition + living expenses), while Bocconi would cost around 40k.

If I went to Bocconi, I would have the opportunity to pursue an MFin at UK top targets or Bocconi MFin as a fallback option. While I can't do that if I went to UCL.  Is UCL worth the risk, or would I be better off saving on tuition and getting a top masters while also having a brand-name bachelors degree? 

Why do you want to MSc given that you haven't even started your BSc? If it is for finding a job, Bocconi should give you enough leverage to get SA role at London. In case it doesn't you don't need to take the GMAT and just need decent grades in your undergrad to get into the MSc Finance scheme. This is 5 years at Bocconi, if this doesn't get you the role you want nothing else probably will. Given the costs involved, the uncertainty around Brexit and the overall experience given that if you work in IB in Europe you will eventually end up in London, I will go with Bocconi.

I am not entirely sure BSc from Bocconi is enough, I would certainly apply to spring weeks and SA positions during my bachelor's. But from what I've heard, and using LinkedIn, most Bocconi bachelors (who get placed at BBs or MBB) tend to do MSc either at Bocconi or HEC Paris/LSE/other top targets. So I want to keep my MSc options open, by saving on tuition money.

I'm considering the course my self as an international. If I'm a decent candidate (say top 25-30% from UCL Econ if you had to rank on the basis of technical knowledge, preparedness for interviews, grades, and other recruiting-related factors), is there a high chance of me breaking into BB or EB banking?

Most Helpful

It's hard to give an advice but as a starting point be confident that both paths hold very good odds of landing you an IB gig. My sister is finishing her 3rd year at UCL BSc Econ while I attended Bocconi. So, at undergrad level UCL is much better than Bocconi, I would say that in terms of placement UCL BSc Econ is comparable to the Bocconi MSc Finance. At UCL there are tons of events every weeks with banks coming to campus for presentations, societies inviting speakers, etc and my sister got 4 spring weeks her first year and interviews at top BBs for summer internships. At Bocconi very few people end up in IB with just the BSc mostly because many don't apply to spring weeks and because you have the entire MSc Finance class applying for summer internships and they have more experience and more education (they cost the same to the bank, so why should they hire a bsc student over one with the msc?). 

So overall:

finding a job with just a BSc -> way easier from UCL (also if you don't get into London IB, the place where Bocconi places best is milan, but you generally need to speak italian to work there, while UCL's natural ground is london. In continental europe they are comparable). But placement with Bocconi bsc + top msc is better than ucl, but you study more years

quality of teaching -> probably UCL bsc econ is a bit more rigorous

chances of getting into top msc -> comparable from both uni. Probably easier from UCL as it's equally prestigious and you have less competition (at bocconi everyone and their mother applies for MSc in UK/EU even though candidates with top grades usually get into the best european masters)

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