LBS vs. UT McCombs
I am lucky enough to have been accepted into two terrific MBA programs: the London Business School and the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. Back when I was first applying, my wife and I agreed that we’d prefer LBS. Now, we’re not so sure! We would benefit from outside perspectives. For context, I am based in Washington, DC, making a career change from governments/politics to (hopefully) international management consulting in the energy industry.
Originally, we had preferred LBS for its international reputation and network. Living/working internationally is our top professional/personal goal, so LBS made sense. Furthermore, we love London and the UK for a host of personal reasons (food, churches, public transportation, traveling within Europe).
As time has gone on, however, a few developments have occurred to boost our estimation of UT. First, they offered $10K/year in scholarship on top of in-state tuition. Second, we were made aware of instances where students spent half of their time in the UK for the UT MBA at LBS or LSE.
There are a couple other complicating factors related to timing (close friends’ weddings, wife’s job) that would make a transatlantic move difficult, and I do not know how accommodating LBS would be about deferring a year. Those variables aside, any insight as to which program might be a better career move?
Thanks, all!
The 2 schools are very different. UT is a very local school (2/3 of grads stay it the southwest, only 3% take international jobs) while LBS is very international (60+ nationalities, placement all across the world). LBS also places significantly better into MBB and consulting in general and is a much better school. If you truly want an international career, I would think the $10k scholarship might not make much of a difference (I don't know how much is the discount for in-state tuition, I assumed it's minimal at MBA level), especially since the pound is at historical low and would suggest LBS.
As I mentioned, working abroad is our top priority, which would give LBS an edge. One question we’d wonder, however, is if McCombs might possibly open doors for a strategic corporate position at an international energy company, with which McCombs is particularly well-connected, that could eventually place me in an international office. Thus, we’d attain the desired outcome of working abroad while saving money on the front end (aforementioned scholarship/in-state tuition) AND hedging the risk of having a less US-recognizable LBS degree in case I am unable to secure an international job post-graduation for whatever reason (e.g., UK/EU economy, visa difficulties). Is that a reasonable strategy? Overly cautious? Of course, it delays living internationally, but maybe only marginally.
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