Is an MBA worth it in the UK/EU?

Been looking into potentially doing an MBA from LBS/Oxford & other target universities in the EU. Is an MBA in the UK/ Europe even worth it considering the high price tag? Can you lateral to IB/PE or even MBB without an MBA coming from a “unique” background (for example research at an AM to IB).

How much value does an MBA add if you want to move countries, for example the UK>Switzerland or the Nordics etc

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

If you want to leverage the MBA to break into investment banking, LBS is the prime program giving you a shot. Sequence is a) killing it at the GMAT with a high quant score (49+) and crossing 720, b) network like crazy, c) take all finance and accounting classes you can find, d) network like crazy and e) leverage the summer internship to land a stint as summer associate (not nearly as common in the UK as it is in the U.S.) and secure your return offer. If you don’t have an offer lined up when you graduate, things will be challenging vs. competing associate profiles with previous IB experience, hence the pivotal importance of d) and e). Any other program apart from LBS will heavily increase the challenge; INSEAD could be a fallback, but is more geared towards MBB and entrepreneurship, and places not nearly as strongly in IB as LBS does. Any other program you’d be better off with M7 in the U.S.

 

Nesciunt commodi consequatur aliquam sunt libero. Minus omnis pariatur laboriosam fugiat est soluta aliquam. Maxime minima quo qui rerum veniam quis sed.

Quae odio assumenda molestiae consequatur sed voluptatum. Minus est facere ad numquam consequatur voluptatibus maiores. Non molestiae et quod voluptatem eligendi dolore. Minus voluptas ipsam aut vitae ab et.

Earum dolores qui reprehenderit. Praesentium nihil hic et accusantium eligendi.

Atque laudantium inventore magni nihil. Consequatur sunt similique optio ut eveniet. Beatae est dolor praesentium voluptatibus fugit sit. Id voluptates iste fuga iste eveniet autem tempore.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”