LBS MFA vs. LSE F&E
Have seen a lot of threads on here pitching LBS MFA against LSE MSc Finance but none against MSc Finance and Economics. So here goes -
Have got an offer from both places. A little bit about me - Economics undergrad from a top Indian university, graduating top of my class, couple of internships (though only one is even remotely related to Finance). I want to get into IB and I understand that only the brand name of my grad school is not going to help me land a job. Though I aim to work at GS or MS, I am more than happy to start out at smaller firms and gain the requisite work ex.
Coming back to the unis, my concerns are -
- The F&E course seems quite theoretical (it is supposed to be a good foundation for phd as well) as opposed to MFA which is quite hands-on and applied. Hence the skills learnt in MFA will be more useful (?). The courses in F&E do not seem to be something which will particularly help me in my future roles at banks.
- LSE seems to be a much bigger brand name globally (especially so back in India) which can possibly be a factor.
- MFA was launched recently in 2016 whereas the F&E is older and more established.
Any insights on which I should choose? Which school will have me best poised for top investment banks given that I currently do not hold much relevant finance experience. (I will probably extend my programmes at both places for an extra term so that I can do a summer internship).
F&E is a great course academically but it does not compete with MFA if we are talking strictly about placement. If what you care about is getting a job, go to LBS and don’t look back.
Thanks for the reply! Also what do you think about the extra term that increases your programme length to 16 months? Is it worth doing? I think it’ll open more doors for me for summer internships because I can apply to banks which require penultimate year students and since I have no work ex, It’ll be better for me to apply to as many places as I can for the best shot at landing an internship/job. I could be totally wrong tho lol, do let me know what you think!
Agree with the comment above. If you care about placement and getting a job, MFA is miles ahead. If you want to further your Econ study, well it's called school of Economics for a reason..
I think both places will give you great opportunities to land an IB gig. Though from my understanding (as the other commentators have already mentioned), the MFA will just provide you with a more hands-on experience and LBS probably focuses a bit more on placement / career impact. Anyhow congrats on the offers, got my LBS MFA offer yesterday too. Cheers!
See also: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/european-masters-rankings and: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/european-masters-ranking-2020
Thanks a lot for the insight! In the first forum discussion you linked, it is said that most students at LBS MFA have some kind of work experience. Do you think I will be at a disadvantage there then? Because I’ll be competing directly with them for jobs and if they have more experience, they’ll be preferred? And there are only so many people a company can take from a school
Personally, I have not heard that IBs have the policy to just hire x people from a certain uni.
My advice will be to get a relevant intern / working student position before joining either programme. You can obviously be very proud of yourself to get a place at both LBS and LSE though the truth is a place at a great uni simply won't do it alone if you want to get into GS/MS/JPM. There are hundreds of students from top institutions worldwide applying to these limited positions, always keep that in mind. So try to get some finance experience this summer and then pick the programme you think you'd enjoy the most (both certainly will give you chances to get interviews). Maybe as a last point, if you think you won't get any relevant work experience maybe LBS has the upper hand as it seems more practically focused and will give you more hands-on experience during the degree. Either way, best of luck to you and again you can be proud of yourself to be admitted.
MFA anyday, especially if you want to do IB.
Thanks for the reply! Do you have any insights in the questions I asked above in the reply to the other comments? Any help will be appreciated :)
For the 16months thing idk, but yes work experience is preferred. Try to do something before you go to LBS, doesn’t necessarily have to be finance related. But LBS has a strong brand and people without work experience can still get good jobs, its just a bit harder.
There really isn't that much of a difference between the placement of the two courses. Choose the one that you think you would enjoy more. If LSE is a stronger brand in India and you might want to later head home and/or impress friends and family with it than choose LSE.
The two brand names are equal in London, with an advantage towards LSE overseas.
To be honest, LSE F&E is probably the most prestigious and academically demanding MSc at LSE (more so than other Masters programs, which are already very demanding).
To be honest, IB interviews aren’t that hard finance-wise, learn WSO’s IB guide and you’re good to go. Then LSE’s MSC F&E will provide you with a stronger quant story, but be less aligned with IB in terms of learning. LBS will be much less theoretical.
Go with the one you prefer (and possibly the exit oops you’re looking for e.g. hedge funds might require a strong econ understanding vs. Accounting for equity research roles?)
Do you think accounting&finance is strong as well in terms of positions other than m&a IBD?
LSE MSc A&F? It’s the largest master’s from LSE, people mostly go to IB, consulting, private equity, asset management, Big4 advisory and financial analyst positions in the industry (P&G, Amazon, etc).
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