London Comp so low
I have received offers from Lse Bsc Management and St. Gallen Economics.
And from what I've seen online (and LSE's own releases) starting salaries in the UK are recognizably lower than in Switzerland.
LSE says average alum makes 35,000, while St. Gallen says 70,000 francs.
So I'm unsure, is it worth it to spend 120,000£ on tuition as opposed to 21,000 francs on the UK if salaries are seemingly lower?
I really like LSE as uni and course but I just struggle to see arguments to justify the high price for internationals.
Thanks for any help
£35k is like big4 salary. Obviously front office finance will pay more. You'll be better off net of tax in Switzerland, but you forego right tail outcome potential by not being in such a large financial hub like London.
Edit: sorry didn't address unis. Uni choice is more location and language dependent, they're both good institutions. If you speak German and are fine with working in German locales, then St Gallen. And vice versa.
The key is to not be an average student
you'll make more than 35k out of undergrad from LSE if you go into IB/S&T/anything high finance.
also CoL is absurd in Switzerland even when compared to London (which is obviously quite high too).
Switzerland is only more expensive than london when it comes to service usage only (uber, eating out, etc). However, for everything else especially when you factor in rent, then london is still more expensive overall even in zurich. Eating out is not really a norm there so can save you a big chunk
fair enough. from what friends have said, eating out as you mentioned and groceries are much more expensive there. by comparing expenses with them i thought it was more or less the same dependent on where you live etc.
Your analysis is correct, the only thing you shave off going to Switzerland is the uber tail outcomes in your 40s. Ultimately, it comes down to a lifestyle decision you need to make as economically London will not make sense versus Switzerland/Zurich.
The Swiss Franc has more than doubled against the British Pound since 2007 and salaries haven't really caught up.
As other commenters have said, the tail end of the distribution is still worth aiming for - you can easily move back to Switzerland if you later realise you are 'average'.
Well not sure about easily moving back especially at a senior level, market is tiny and edge in finance roles by nature heavily skew towards local relationships which you just wouldn't have. If you don't speak German also you are completely toast by default needless to say. You can still try London for a few years and see how the trajectory looks before dipping relatively junior - say at around VP.
All the more reason to start in London. Switzerland is sleepy, small and cliquey.
I’m sorry but that’s the reason why we cannot trust wholly on stats. Most above average to top performing lse kids already secured places in high finance + top consulting and law firms which obviously pay a lot higher than £35k (double to triple that amount minimum). £35k is basically big4 pay lol so the key here, as someone said above, is not to be an average student. The same also applies to St Gallen as well.
Also lse is a top target school in Europe and lse can take you further from just the name itself. London is also financial centre so there are much more opportunities than Switzerland counterparts and lse is a much bigger name than St Gallen here.
Nothing stops you from studying in London and recruiting in Switzerland afterwards..
yes, but then you've spent 120k on an education which is equally highly regarded as the one for 20,000. So if I'd want to do that LSE would not make sense.
St Gallen is not as equally regarded as LSE in London
OP @lu07 If you value St-Gallen more, then you have the answer to your dilemma.
Agree, probably the best hedge situation. Have to think about how few spots there are. The optionality of being UK based and recruiting London/Swiss is not the same in reverse.
I don’t really understand why you are using the average salary after grad as an indicator. You don’t have access to the actual primary data nor do you know how it was compiled. The fact of the matter is LSE is more prestigious across the world and even within Switzerland. That and the alum base is what you are paying for. My school also publishes post grad salaries but none of my friends in PE/IB nor I inputted our salaries. The big four accountants did.
The front office starting salary is similar across both locations but it is a lot easier to move from London to Zurich than vice versa. The ceiling in London is also a lot higher.
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