New FT Rankings

Kimbo Slice:

eh, insead at 7? a little questionable.

Why is this questionable? It's a great school. Particularly strong in consulting. Also, the international diversity and language requirements give it something unique compared to most US programs.

I never get too caught up in who is number 7 or number 2 or number 1. I like to think of it in tiers. And while, INSEAD is not with Wharton, Harvard and the super elite, it is definitely in the tier one notch below...whether US people know it or not.

by the way, I did not go to INSEAD and I am American.

mean_reversion:

Seriously, I think rankings are useless. It just seems to me that everybody agrees the rankings are the following :

US : HBS Stanford, Wharton Columbia, Chicago

Europe :
LBS Insead.

What do you guys think ? I mean, if you are going to drop 150K on an MBA, you want your degree to have some weight. I personnally would not want to do an MBA at any school outside of these.

I am not trying to be a dick here. Nor am I implying that I think I would easily get into any of these schools. I just honestly feel that paying so much money at any other school would be a bad investment.

I went to b-school solely to break into banking. For that, there are probably 8 schools worth attending, the ones you listed plus MIT, NYU, Kellogg, and maybe Tuck. I would never go to European b-school. I want my degree to have some weight in the U.S.

Kimbo Slice:

I'm sure INSEAD could place more grads in banking than say cornell, but more than stern? highly unlikely.

For New York, sure, Stern will beat the Euro schools.

As an example, a recent London summer associate class had as many people from ALL US MBA programs combined (HBS, MIT, Chicago, Duke, Wharton...NOT NYU though) as LBS and INSEAD combined. Then there were a few people from the smaller EU schools.

Kimbo Slice:

I'm not dissing the euro schools, but i do think grads from top american schools have a much easier time getting IB jobs in London than european grads have in NY.

I would agree with that. The one thing I will add, however, is that the majority of people I know from US MBAs who work in London are actually European.

For an American who wants to work in London, I would go to a Euro school (LBS in particular), rather than a US school. It's a harder sell for an American from a US MBA to convince the recruiters that they really want to be in London or will fit in there.

fp175:

I think an American who chose to go to LBS or INSEAD would not have a harder time getting IB jobs in New York than someone who went to an American business school. However, a European who goes to LBS or INSEAD would probably have a harder time. Same in reverse: a European who studies in the US won't have a harder time getting an IB job in London. I went to a university with a top b-school (think Harvard/Stanford/Wharton) and the MBA alumni club in the UK is packed full of bankers.

An American who wants geographic flexibility in where he works after his MBA should choose LBS or INSEAD. The Visa laws will work in your favor in that regard--an EU degree will get you preference for a work permit in Europe, and your American citizenship will allow you to work in the States.

or "spot on" for those of a UK persuasion

while it's tough for an american with no ties to europe to get a job in london, it's certainly possible.

fp175:

Hmm I've met quite a lot of Americans in banks here in London. They were all transferred over from the US with the exception of one who went to HEC Business School in Paris.

It has to do with the Visa laws. To get a work permit you have to prove that the position could not be filled by someone who is either an EU citizen or has studied in the EU. That's pretty tough to do. The only other way an American could really get in is 1) summer associate at a banks London office and then take the offer or 2) apply for the Highly Skilled Migrant Program, get a Visa, and then come and look for a job.

FP,

You are indeed right that most Americans come to London via transfer from the US.

I was only talking about MBA's. The American's I know in London (myself included) hired into London directly after MBA are almost all from European MBAs. While the people I know hired directly from US MBA schools, are more often than not European.

Thanks for mentioning the highly skilled migrant worker program. This is great way to get a work permit and thus, remove one more excuse the banks might give you for not interviewing you.