LSE MSc Finance or LBS MFA

Hi all,

Background:
- UG in Management from semi-target in UK (High 2:1)
- Experience at BB in investment management
- Secured SA offer at a BB for summer 2019
- GMAT: 700

Which programme would you say is better from an academic point of view?

Having been lucky enough to get a summer internship out of undergrad I am not looking to do a master's to get my foot into the industry, i.e. the careers services offered are not important to me. I am really just looking for an intellectual challenge.

Thanks in advance!

 

Since you're looking for an academic challenge, I would highly recommend going for the LSE programme. Depending on how serious you really are about going into depth, you might want to take a closer look at the LSE MSc Finance and Economics.

LBS programmes can generally more be seen as very applied and less theoretic whereas LSE always aims to have a focus on the theoretical foundations (although the LSE MSc Finance also has a significant portion of more applied content)

 

Many thanks for your reply!

I guess what I was trying to say is that I am primarily looking to learn vs get a job.

The F&E programme looks really interesting. Unfortunately, it is unlikely I will be considered by the admissions committee as I didn't study a quantitative subject in my UG.

 
Most Helpful

Also last time I checked you needed a first to be eligible for the Finance and eco programme, correct if my wrong though

In your case, I would suggest you to go to LSE, much more ‘intellectual’ and academic oriented than LBS. LBS is a great school that opens many doors and give you access to top tier 1 companies and jobs. LSE also gives you this but it is more aimed at developing PhD candidates than LBS if you want to pursue that path it’s easier at LSE. This is my opinion, and it’s based on what you say you want to do, if I had 2 offers from those programmes I would go to LBS because of the exit opps in IB

 

I think the two institutions, LSE and LBS, are somewhat similar in terms of prestige (for a career in finance, in academia LSE wins no doubt). For the two programmes, I'd lean towards LSE MSc Finance though, because it's LSE's flagship programme (for finance) and it has been around for a long time, whereas LBS' flagship programme is the MBA.

 

I'd say that LBS, under the academic/PhD/faculty point of view for the MFA is the best choice.

But mate, if you want better exposure to global markets, though I would advice you to take a look at LSE's MSc Risk and Finance (former Risk and Stochastic), Oxford's Financial Math, Imperial's Financial Engineering and RM, UCL's MSc in Computational Finance or Cass's Math Trading and Finance... Definitely better academic experience than the plain vanilla finance courses!

Ngl, I met a few ppl at AC coming from plain vanilla finance courses and they didn't even know how to program (and I'm not talking about Matlab, but classic VBA) or how to compute basic log norm return, to say few

 

Aut tempore quis quae porro quo quas amet. Dolores ullam est nam. Repudiandae atque ipsa nihil. Dolores unde nemo ad rerum ex consequatur est.

Rerum nesciunt accusamus ducimus unde est molestias nulla. Commodi explicabo molestiae eos possimus maiores ut. Occaecati neque praesentium consequatur unde.

Voluptate dicta officia tempore earum. Corporis nihil maxime cum in. Provident quas labore aut aut explicabo.

Harum dolorem et qui ut vel. Quis ex sunt ratione maxime ea id. Alias ut est nam sint voluptatem quasi. Aspernatur consequuntur vel officiis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners New 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 01 98.3%
  • Harris Williams & Co. 24 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 19 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.9%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners 18 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 16 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (22) $375
  • Associates (94) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (69) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (206) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (149) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”