Cambridge vs. LSE Masters

Cambridge MPhil Real Estate Finance vs. LSE MSc Economic History

Please provide yours views.

Aim is IBD (LDN/Frankfurt/Zurich) -> PE/SWF (ideally ME/Asia)

REPE would be an option, but not dead-set on the field.

 
Best Response

Both have slight signalling issues when it comes to IBD employers, i.e. expect to get asked why IB if you did a MPhil in Real Estate or a MSc in Econ History. The Camb programme is the less relevant of the two. However, with that being said neither should be an issue for IB recruitment. If I was going for IB I'd personally opt for LSE but that's only due to preferring a city environment and preferring a university which has a larger postgrad student body. You can't go wrong with either on the employment front*, so I'd take environment and subject interest into account.

*On the careers side, it also partly depends on how many Real Estate Finance programmes you'd consider applying to. In the UK, I can only think of perhaps 4 RE companies offering IB experience (CBRE, JLL, Cushman, EastdIl - Wells Fargo). I applied for one of those and having a RE-focused degree would've helped for those guys. Otherwise, the same jobs are available to you from both programmes and I'd guess employment prospects are pretty equal.

 

Is it ideal? No. However, it isn't as big of a deal as it is in the United States. I had plenty of friends get offers in IBD or management consulting after reading PPE, Classics, Geography, and even History of Art.

 

If you want to work in IB, go to LSE, 100%. The City is filled with LSE grads and its not just finance and economics guys but also people who studied political economy. Also, at least the LSE program contains the word economy which already sends a positive signal. Just make sure you're well prepared for FT recruiting (learn your finance technicals very well) and you have a decent shot for sure.

The way you state it I'd definitely advise you to go to LSE.

 

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