HEC Paris / Cambridge / Imperial

I am hoping to secure a job in investment banking in london

Currently received three master's offers, including

Cambridge MPhil Real Estate Finance HEC Paris MSc International Finance Imperial MSc Finance

which school should i attend in order to fulfil my goal?

i went to a semi-target for undergrad in the UK

thanks for your advice in advance

43 Comments
 

Obviously Cambridge and don't look back.

I myself went to Oxford and work at a boutique IBD in London. If we look at a CV, Oxbridge is our category one above everyone else, then other targets are secondary if we don't find enough good and nice people from Oxbridge.

I'd say in the UK it would be

1) Oxbridge ... big gap ... 2) Imperial, UCL, LSE, Edinburgh, Warwick and other targets 3) Others

In terms of EU universities I have not clue but I can tell you that if you study at Oxford/Cambridge everyone knows that they are the best universities in the world. If you go outside Europe no one ever heard of HEC or Imperial.

 

HEC > Cambridge > Imperial

In in interview: "Why a masters in Real Estate? Why not in Finance?" Then what the fuck are you gonna say.

I know the Cambridge brand is hard to pass up, but if you have 100% decided on IB then I would pick HEC. Personally, I would only pick Oxford MFE/LBS MFA/LSE MFin over HEC.

 

I'd recommend going to HEC as nearly anyone above. It is the best programme to get into IB in Europe imo.

  1. It is a target for all BBs and most EBs in London. Strong alumni network and recognition of the MIF programme.
  2. HEC is a business school not a university (you will figure the difference by the 2nd semester). There is a lot of emphasis put on placement and networking vs reading academic papers.

  3. MIF is an international programme and 50% of your class will move to work in London. The school encourages you to coopeare during the recruitment (share questions, help each other with letters) which is not the case for most of the target schools.

  4. It is a two-year programme (you graduate 2022) so you can take part in recruitment twice.

  5. Culture is more laid back than Oxbridge or any London school - mostly because of campus experience and the fact that it is in France.

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