LBS vs UCL vs Imperial for IB
I have been fortunate enough to receive offers from all 3 (MiM at LBS and UCL and Wealth & Investment Management at Imperial) and need to quickly decide where is best. I want to go into investment banking. I hope to start an internship in Beijing China next week, having already received an offer but the timing might be an issue since the earliest programme begins in late August. I desperately want to do this internship because my latest work experience was in summer 2017 and this might be deemed too distant for some banks/firms.
Both UCL and Imperial are often talked about as 'targets' and almost everybody talks about LBS's prestige, even at the MSc level, so it is very hard for me to make any choice based simply on reputation. If there is a distinct difference, then please do let me know. The main pro of each option is as follows:
Imperial: Course is more directly related to Finance.
UCL: Starts in September and so grants me more time to do my M&A internship.
LBS: Has an optional 4th term which apparently allows students to apply, not only for grad schemes but also for summer analyst positions.
The question I want to ask is: what is more important for someone looking to go into Investment Banking:
a) Studying a pure finance course?
b) Possessing very recent, solid M&A experience which can be detailed and written about?
c) The chance to complete an optional 4th term and so apply for easier (?) summer internship positions rather than grad schemes?
I am in a bit of a tight spot and any and all help is much appreciated. Regarding the optional 4th term at LBS, if anybody with personal experience can offer advice, I will be very grateful.