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I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Columbia's MIA program but if you want to enter MBB/IB, why on earth did you apply to Columbia's MIA program vs. a more relevant school / degree towards finance / consulting (i.e. Columbia's MS in Financial Engineering for Finance or Columbia's MS in Operations Research for, potentially, consulting, or to state the obvious, Columbia Business School's MBA program for either route)? I guess the point that I am trying to convey is that if you come out of the Columbia MIA program, you definitely will not have as attractive skills (relative to Columbia MSFE or CBS MBA students) to make you attractive for an investment bank, and I'm not sure that your skills will be relevant for a consulting position. Also, MBB / IB firms recruit either primarily from Columbia undergrad or Columbia Business School (and quant roles for Columbia MSFE) ... not from the SIPA school

It seems like you're an intelligent and accomplished person because you got accepted to these programs at Columbia / LBS, but if your thought process was to apply to a less competitive degree (relatively speaking) to gain entry into a strong institution, that logic is probably pretty unsound. Recruiters know which programs are difficult to be admitted to + which programs churn out students with skillsets relevant for their respective firms.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from either program - I am sure these are both amazing programs because they are at great schools. I'm just trying to clearly elucidate that you're not going to (unless you worked in IBD/MBB prior to the program but I'm guessing not) get MBB / IB from the Columbia MIA. (disclosure: i am a recent CBS admit and a 1st year associate at a BB IBD firm. i did meet a Columbia SIPA student who summered at my firm but ended up not getting the full time offer because, well, he had limited technical skills).

I have not heard of the MiM program but it seems slightly more tailored / relevant for consulting, so perhaps this degree can get you an entry level job in consulting in London / Europe.

Edit: Apologies - reading comprehension fail on my end. Apparently you are an undergraduate / recent grad so MBA programs are currently not in the picture.

Don't go to Columbia for the MIA - you will be at an extreme disadvantage vs. top-tier U.S. Masters in Finance / Masters in Management programs.

 

Thanks for the additional clarity! Okay, so it's apparent that you have the requisite skillset and your inquiry is whether the Columbia MIA would lead to interviews with MBB / BB IBD.

Based on anecdotal evidence, I think that the answer is, unfortunately, no. The person that summered at my firm interned within the Corporate Bank at a BB (not Investment Banking) and was definitely the exception, not the norm. He was the only non-CBS intern that I encountered from Columbia (and I work at a BB that is second-tier, Barclays / Citi / DB / CS / BAML so it's probably even easier to get a job here) and he previously worked in commercial banking to my understanding (so pretty relevant experience for Corporate Banking). Also, glancing over the program's website (but clearly, I am no expert on the matter) it seems like the MIA has historically placed at the following firms:

Turkish Government, the Congressional Research Service, U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, the World Bank, McKinsey and Company, Deutsche Bank, ABC, Proctor and Gamble, The Conservation Fund, Open Society Institute, Population Services International, Japan Society, and Community Counseling Service and Horn Relief in Africa,

McKinsey and DB are obviously listed but as you can see, the vast majority of the placements seem to be at public policy / intergovernmental organizations. I would surmise that the McKinsey / DB candidates had to do significant networking outside of the program in order to lock down these positions (and working at DB in a middle office role or at a random division is much different from getting a DB IBD front-office role; the website doesn't seem to clearly identify what the actual job is).

I am matriculating at Columbia and I am enamored with the school - I love the place. But even so, I would probably not recommend the MIA program if your goal is an MBB / IBD placement (on the other hand, it apparently can place you at awesome places like the World Bank). Think about it from the recruiter's perspective. Columbia is definitely a target school, but they will visit the undergraduate colleges for entry level positions, the MS in Financial Engineering for quant roles, and the Business School for Associate-level hires.

The LBS program, according to the placement report, seems to have a greater concentration of consulting / IBD firms so I would choose this over the MIA !

 

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