LSE MSc Finance vs HEC MIF
Hi all,
I am fortunate enough to be in the position to choose between two excellent masters. I am leaning towards LSE as it is my aim to work in London. However, I have heard that LSE's placement in recent year has declined (no idea how true this is) and HEC has an overall better placement (maybe MiM bias?).
My current WE is 1 year as an IB analyst at a regional shop in Europe (no-name but has closed a few deals). I have a high GPA in Economics at a semi-target in my country.
I hope some of you can share insights on the pros/cons of each to help me make my choice.
Went to LSE Mfin, and had no trouble getting interviews from top BBs/EBs/MFPEs. However, when comparing my class vs. HEC, it seems they had better placements
How much better placement - would you say there was a significant difference or just luck of the draw?
I am wondering if it mostly a function of the fact that many studnets go the MiM route (so they have 1 year to take an internship, and then recruit on their final year) vs the actual 1 year MIF.
From my what I saw in my LSE Mfin class, those who got into IB got into a low to mid tier BBs/EBs, while only very few got GS/MS/JPM, can only remember 1 landing a MFPE (BX/KKR). Also a small (but still significant) portion didnt get into IB/PE at all, but unsure if they simply didnt want to
In comparison, when I come accross HEC profiles, Ive seen more GS/JPM/MS type profiles
I think one of the issues could be internal competition. LSE has the MFin but also MAccFin, MFinandPE, MFinandEcon plus the bachelor degrees (Econ, Fin, Math and Econ, and so on), so if a bank says "lets hire 20% of our class from LSE and the other 20 from HEC", then it becomes much more competitive at LSE
I didnt know abot the MiM route, could definitely play a big role into placement
Yeah HEC's MiF has strongly improved in recent years, but LSE remains a better brand name if you want to stay in London long term.
Thank you for the input - you have any first hand experience with the placement between the two?
I attended another school but have plenty of friends from both -
You are splitting hairs here, so wouldn't really take placement into account (my 2 cents). If you can't find a good gig from either of these, I would assume there were other issues unrelated to being at LSE or HEC.
Few things to take into account:
1. If you are French or come from the French sphere of influence (e.g. Benelux), I would go with HEC. You never know when you may want to go back home and having HEC on your CV will help. Otherwise, LSE carries more weight globally - nowhere close to Oxbridge, but still better than European schools which are all lumped together to an extent (HEC but also HSG, Bocconi, etc)
2. HEC will be a much more practical education, courtesy of LSE's theoretical approach, which will be a plus if you are looking for jobs in M&A / corporate finance (can't opine on quants but would assume LSE works better there). HEC also rewards much more previous experience at admission which is why placement may seem a bit better at first glance. My fund do not hire analysts but if I were to pick a HEC candidate with previous 6 months at a bank vs the LSE candidate looking for their first gig, the choice is obvious. There is therefore some bias here - if you have experience (which I see you luckily have) I would assume your prospects to be the same from either school
3. LSE is in a great spot in Holborn. Jouy is anything but exciting - unless you're keen on campus life, chances are you won't like it
Thank you for the profound insights - would you be willing to PM me? I would like to speak with a working professional, if that is okay with you.
Sure, PM-ing you now
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