LBS MFA or LSE Finance
Got an offer both by LBS MFA and LSE Master's in Finance, holding a Bocconi Undergraduate.
What would be the best option?
For what I have heard:
LBS has a slightly better placement, and the fact that requires very low academic effort allows you more time to network and use your time for application, but at the same time, everybody knows the low effort that LBS students make on studying and this is not well regarded by some employers.
In general, for one looking for a career in Investment Banking and PE, what school would you recommend?
LBS , better brand name and more practice oriented :)
LBS has better placements
Both are good choices but would go for a true university (i.e Oxford, LSE, Imperial). It will be recognised globally, outside of finance and seen as academically rigorous. Just my two cents.
That’s quite the dilemma, isn’t it? The trade off here is that Lbs has a better placement, while lse as an institution is more recognized. I mean if I wanted to transition to anything that is not finance lse would be better. I don’t think I should think at this aspect though. Usually masters are meant to get you into a single field and I should choose the one that helps me the most getting offers from financial firms.
Firstly, his is a good problem to have, well done! Here is just my two cents;
Seeing as you have quite the academic background from Bocconi, it kind of clears that air in respect to the nuances between the academic differences between the two institutions (no one will think you are dumb...). In all my ACs this cycle there have been equal amount of LSE and LBS students in each one, literally. A question I got asked in many interviews was in fact, why LSE and not LBS? which is where I swung the "more academic" card which was always accepted. Similarly, the LBS response could just be "more applied and thus more useful", it really does not matter in this respect.
I would say the most important factor here is your previous experience. Both places will (should you do well on OAs and CLs, and of course most importantly, luck) get you to interviews. From then on it will not matter. But the marginal assistance that LBS provides in getting through these processes is beneficial if you lack experience in the field and/or lack experience in UK application cycles - in which case I would say go to LBS. If your prev experience is good, I would say go to LSE so you can get that little 'academic chip' on your shoulder (if it matters to you) BUT this all goes out the window if your ultimate goal is just to break into IB because then just simply take the spot with better placements, i.e., LBS.
P.S. one last point - at LSE you will be competing for school allocated slots with undergrads whereas with LBS there is no undergrad (albeit I have no idea on allocation for schools but just guessing).
Hope it helps :)
Great insight. Does the fact that there were an equal number of LSE and LBS students in your ACs is a big pro for LBS as there are way fewer students there?
Not really, still the numbers were even in the sense that they were LSE grad students. Only in two were LSE undergrads there (this is just my experience, the wider experience is unlikely to be the same).
But what I will add to my post is that a friend of mine at LBS told me that about 50% do not have roles lined up which certainly isn’t the case for LSE’s MSc Fin
Hey, can I pm you?
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