LSE Msc admission

I am a Bocconi University undergrad in Economics & Finance and I am soon going to apply to LSE MSc Finance and MSc Accounting & Finance. Do you think I will have a shot given my stats?

  • 3.83 GPA in Economics & Finance at Bocconi
  • Exchange Program in a top US Business School
  • 4.0 GPA at LSE Summer School
  • 700 gmat score
  • Founder of a finance-related student association
 

You too at Bocconi? Btw you have a very strong profile, the problem is that a ton of people apply from bocconi, and most have good exchanges and lse summer school. So it all comes down to 2 points: when you apply (if you apply earlier than your mates) and who has the (best) internships. Did you intern somwhere? Cause if you don't have any internship the lse msc isn't such a good choice IMHO, you wouldn't qualify for FT recruitment. If you linkedin a bit you can find a lot of people who did LBS MIM or LSE MSc and had to come back to milan because it's the place where most off-cycle internships are. e.g seen a lot of bocconi + lse grads going back to italian branches of rotschild or BBs). HEC 2 yrs MIM is different.

 

You have decent chances, but as you have no internships, a 1-year program may backfire. If I were you, in case you could not secure any summer internship, I would focus on MiM programs (HEC, LBS, Essec are the first ones I would consider).

Almost all the Italians I have seen (not many) who attended 1-year Msc programs with no previous experience had to come back to Italy..

 
TheChimpConnection:
Is it possible to be qualified for a summer internship at a bank the summer after his program is over?

What would be the advantage of going MiM instead?

If he will attend a masters program after graduation, he is eligible for SA positions (at most banks actually, not all).

The advantage of a MiM program is simply its duration: being 2 years long you have plenty of time to find relevant internships. Some business schools such as HEC also feature the opportunity to have a gap year between the two years, so it could become a 3-year program...

 

Ask people at bocconi or even lse: they will all tell you that the career service is useless when looking for IB grad schemes. It may be useful if you want to end up in a traditional company or maybe Big 4, but for ib you network on your own and apply online. Only useful thing are the on campus events hosted by banks where you can actually meet bankers. If i had to do a msc finance i'd do something on the lines of this: apply mostly to SA positions and some off-cycle internships, then if i get a SA i try to convert and if i convert i ask if i can start earlier or i go on vacation untill FT starts in february - march.

 
Best Response

I should clarify my original post and edit it actually - I was referring to getting a FT position from the MSc programme. You are right in that the person could apply for summer internships during their MSc. I know some people who are doing just that. Not all banks allow it (some are pretty strict on the 'being in your penultimate year' rule) but I suppose they could instead apply to off-cycles at those places should they offer those. The problem with going down this route is not necessarily being able to start the Analyst programme straight after your internship. You might have to wait anywhere between 3-12 months afterwards. Though, that might not be a big deal for the poster. I agree with what Real Marcus Halberstram is saying about the 2 year programmes though - that they could potentially be better suited to applicants who lack the relevant experience. LBS MiM and Bocconi are two excellent programmes in that regard,

 
FinanceGrad:
LBS MiM and Bocconi are two excellent programmes in that regard,

LBS MFA's length is identical to the MiM (includes summer). Let me throw LSE GMiM out there as well. Most underrated program on this board, sursprisingly. And lastly, SSE M.Sc., Finance is also a 2-year program.

Here you go OP. Plenty of choice right there. :)

 

Ok, i see. Lbs mim isn't necessarily 2 years though, it's usually 12 months, but it can be extended to 16. Anyway i guess that bocconi msc finance and lbs mim are 2 very good choices, both have around 25 - 30% placement in London IB, with lbs being stronger in consulting(i recall another 30 - 35%).

 
Real Marcus Halberstram:
For placement nothing's better than LBS. And they started to send kids to NYC as well as other big hub despite Brexit stuff. Clearly, London remains on top

Where did you find such info? I did some research on LinkedIn and apparently many 2017 MFA graduates still have no job

 
Real Marcus Halberstram:
For placement nothing's better than LBS. And they started to send kids to NYC as well as other big hub despite Brexit stuff. Clearly, London remains on top

According to an official at LBS who was interviewed by the Financial Times a couple years ago, the LBS MiM (which - let me remind you - was launched & had its first cohort in 2009) had, at the time of the interview, 50 LBS MiM almni working full-time in NYC. I found the number quite impressive, tbh.

(It's fair to assume, logically, that most of them were American alums, though.)

 

Don't know what's the issue with people saying don't go to LSE because of the 1-year program. LSE > LBS and LSE is THE top target for finance/business jobs in Europe/Asia.

Most people just say they expect to complete another masters afterwards when applying for SA roles. It's really not a big deal.

But definitely do secure a nice relevant internship before your masters though.

 

I am in an MSc program at LSE and interviewed with 6 BB's for SA IBD and have accepted an offer at one already. Trust me, based on personal experience, I can tell you you are competitive to both programs; it just comes down to your internship experience. Best of luck.

 

I'm an international student and my offer is for Hong Kong. But in the EU, most banks allow finalists to apply for their summer analyst programs.

Even at the stricter banks, I just put expected Masters and received interviews. Afterwards, you can always tell HR that you changed or mind, or just say you decided to intern somewhere between the SA and Full-time conversion period. If you're good enough to get hired, I doubt HR will care much about the penultimate/finalist status. Other students in the UK have explained to me that banks are rather lenient.

 

Hi,

It would be really helpful if you could evaluate my profile for the Master in Finance program at LSE.

Undergrad: Bachelor of Commerce from an Indian University CGPA: 5.9/6 GMAT: 700 (48Q,38V) Internships: 1) 1 month in the corporate finance Department of a Big4 2) 6 weeks in an investment management firm 3) 2 months in the accounts department of a mid-sized firm Other activities: 1) Student teacher at the university 2) 2 years of volunteer work 3) 2 years in the university Editorial

 

I'd say stats-wise you would be pretty competitive for MSc Finance at LSE. Nevertheless, with an admissions rate of 6%, it's really a crapshoot tbh.

I suggest you apply for programs like A&F, with an admissions rate of 11-12%. You can take the exact same courses, and I can guarantee you through first-hand experience, that recruitment is the SAME for all programs. Good luck.

 
TalentandHardWork:
Nevertheless, with an admissions rate of 6%, it's really a crapshoot tbh.

I suggest you apply for programs like A&F, with an admissions rate of 11-12%.

Would you possibly be in possession of the LSE GMiM admission rate? I'd highly appreciate if you could share it, please.

 

1) Take the real GMAT 2) You have an IBD internship, have you thought about networking and applying to boutiques vs getting your MS degree 3) Are you looking at any other schools. There are plenty of well respected graduate degrees in the states which you sure would qualify for.

 

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