MBA or MSc Given the Circumstances
Hello,
I recently graduated from a semi-/non-target university with a Finance degree in the UK and am 5 months into a 2-year rotational commercial banking graduate program in a high street/commercial bank. The experience hasn’t been amazing and only my 3rd rotation may be a deal team, so given I’m aiming for IB/MC, it doesn’t feel very relevant. Thus, I’m considering the following options:
- Go for a UCL/Imperial/LSE masters this September and drop the graduate program, I’ve got 655 on the GMAT focus which I hope would help.
- Go for a masters but in September 2026 instead in order to finish the graduate scheme and apply for summer internships (if I’m allowed to apply for them?)
- Suck it up, try roll off into a LevFin/Structured Finance position in the bank, then do a US MBA in 4-5 years.
I’ve seen a lot of people here saying MBA is always better but given my current experience may not be relevant enough for a good program, I'm not sure if this holds.
I’m not sure what the best option is so hoping to get some advice, thanks.
Honestly, getting a masters will be expensive and you won't necessarily land a role in IB/MC. Issue with IB recruiting in the UK is there is very few FT/grad role/analyst positions, the chances of landing them are very low. If you did a masters your best strategy is to apply to summers and bs the course is 2 years - that way your eligible. However i have heard recent stories about this backfiring for certain banks when it comes to conversions.
Your in a solid position given the UK labour market and imagine your paid well relative to your peers who have graduated. If your deadset on IB apply to off cycles whilst completing your grad role, and see if you have any luck there. Internal moving depends on your bank, but both levfin and SF are solid careers.
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