Advice for consulting and VC: LBS or Imperial?
Hello everyone,
I’m desperately in need of your input here. Any thoughts you have would be fantastic and much appreciated. I’ll cut to it.
Background:
USA, completing my undergraduate degree(s) from a midwestern state-school. Performed well on GPA/GMAT. I graduate in May.
Goals:
“Ideal goal” = Venture Capital. I think getting into VC would be very exciting and still personally appealing, as I have a strong passion for entrepreneurship.
“2nd best goal” = Consulting. Have a tiny bit of experience and enjoyed it. Wouldn’t mind continuing, plus I enjoy the travel aspect.
“3rd best goal” = Investment Banking. Truthfully I don’t think I will be very good at this and therefore it’s in third place.
Dilemma:
Option 1 = “Masters in Management” from LBS.
Option 2 = “Masters in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Management” from Imperial College London.
Considerations:
“Culture”: When I visited both institutions, imperial felt like a better “cultural” fit. I loved the campus and environment. That said, it might have been the undergrad-portion that was attracting me, and therefore not be relevant.
“Foreign Language”: LBS requires the learning for a second language, something that is a major negative for me. I have struggled with it in the past and know that, for me, it will be a massive amount of work.
“Travel”: I do plan on working abroad eventually, therefore international brand recognition is important to me. Specifically, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.
“UK-Opinions”: The impression I’ve gotten so far is that Imperial is more well known to the average person within London (and maybe the world), but LBS is regarded as “better” strictly within the realm of business/mba-folks globally.
Conclusion:
Again, any thoughts you have here would be very useful. Thank you for the input.
Since getting into VC straight of of uni (even out of an MSc) is almost unheard of, the most probable route would be MC -> VC or IB -> VC and in both cases LBS wins. ICL is a great school but a consulting/business semi-target (some say a target but if so, it's on the lower end of targets after Oxbridge, LBS and LSE) both in the UK and Europe. From experience with friends that have been through all the ranks at ICL (UG, MSc and PhD) Imperial's atmosphere can be toxic and hyper competitive to the point where people sabotage each other or don't help out. This was mainly for STEM subjects so it may not apply to the B-School but I doubt the change would be radical. LBS in competitive but very well organised and they care more about their B-School students because business is their core offering (at ICL you play second fiddle to engineers and scientists). Having said this, culture is subjective so if it seemed like a great fit for you personally then go for it
Regarding the other requirements here are my two cents: Language: It's 2019. Unless you want to work for the rest of your life in the US and only do mid-market domestic deals you will have to learn a second language in your life. You don't need fluency but B2/C1 is achievable for everyone no matter how poor your language learning abilities are. A 2nd language is PARAMOUNT for working in Asia/Europe/Anywhere else except the US so you may as well. Find one you like, is easy or you have incentive to learn (e.g dating someone who speaks it). Travel: I think international reputation in MC or IB is more for LBS and in Asia I think that is true too. People will know ICL like they will know UCL or KCL but the recruiters will most likely have an eye out for the usual UK targets. UK-Opinions: Yes, it is true that LBS is well know for business because that is what they offer. For working in the UK, LBS would attract more attention for MC and IB than ICL in my opinion unless you want to do some sort of engineering based job (e.g working at the Seabury Group after having done ICL aerospace engineering and their MFin).
TLDR; Both good choice but since MC and IB are the first step to VC choose based on that. If with that in mind your path is MC, LBS wins.
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