3 DAYS LEFT! Need urgent help! Columbia MIA vs. LBS MiM

Hello friends,

I am an undergraduate in management from Germany and currently facing a tough decision between the Master in International Affairs at Columbia University and the Masters in Management at London Business School. As I just finished my undergraduate studies, the MBA does not apply to me.

The program at Columbia would take 2 years and the one at LBS only 1 year. Moreover, the MIA at Columbia is a post-experience program with the class average being around 26 years. The MiM at LBS is a pre-experience program. I talked to several people and some would say that I should definitely go with Columbia as it is a huge brand worldwide, while others think that LBS would place better, especially as it is a very common program for management students in Europe...

Link to both programs:
https://sipa.columbia.edu/academics/programs/master-of-international-af…
http://www.london.edu/programmes/mastersinmanagement.html

What are your thoughts on both programs? If there's anything further I need to clarify please ask. Thanks for sharing your opinion with me!

 

the thing is, you shouldn't confuse the MBA with the MiM. If we would be talking about MBA at LBS this would be a no-brainer. but here it is the pre-experience MiM vs. a post-experience program. And quite frankly, here in europe, when people here "columbia" they have this "wow" effect. not so with LBS...

 
Best Response

What kind of internships do you have on your resume right now? What do you have lined up for the summer?

If you have solid experiences on your resume already and/or something solid lined up for the summer than I would probably lean toward LBS simply because of the opportunity cost of the second year at Columbia.

However, if you don't have anything lined up for the summer or a lot of quality experience on your resume then the opportunity for a structured internship between your first and second year at Columbia may prove to be valuable.

I suppose my advice is to reflect on whether you think your current resume (including what you have lined up for the summer) is going to be good enough to get you where you want in fall recruiting. If yes, I'd lean heavily toward LBS. If not, I'd think long and hard about Columbia. Of course, this is irrespective of location preferences.

[quote=patternfinder]Of course, I would just buy in scales. [/quote] See my WSO Blog | my AMA
 

SIPA isn't so bad if you're interested in the coursework at all, it can be pretty great if you want to work in new york, it'll give you a strong network- plus, columbia has good recruiting

i would in generally go with the group and say LBS, unless you'd really like to work in new york/america

.
 

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