LSE vs HEC vs EDHEC vs Others
Hello all,
I have been a lurker on these forums for quite some time, but decided to create an account to get some advice from you awesome people.
I am applying to do an MSc in Finance (already made the bulk of my applications but am still making more). I wanted some advice from you guys on the following programs:
LSE MSc Finance
HEC MSc International Finance
IE Business School MSc Finance
EDHEC MSc in corporate finance and Banking - (accepted with 30% scholarship)
ESADE MSc in Finance - (Invited to interview)
Imperial College MSc Finance
Warwick MSc Finance
London Business School Masters in Financial Analysis
A bit about me:
I am a South African and graduated from UCT with a Bachelors in Finance and Accounting. I did quite well during my undergraduate with a cumulative GPA of 79% (according to some online GPA calculator, my marks converted to a 3.9 GPA but I'm not sure how reliable that site is). I do not have much internship experience: 5 weeks at a boutique consultancy and PE firm (very small CFA Level I exam. I also hold an Italian Passport so I have the right to work in Europe after the MSc.
My ultimate goal is to work in Investment Banking, specifically on an M&A team at a BB in London.
I'm thinking it goes:
LSE>HEC>IE>EDHEC>ESADE>Imperial>Warwick>LBS
Some might feel LBS should be higher but the MFA program is quite new and I'm not too sure about it.
My main goal in pursuing a Masters is to obtain a deeper knowledge of corporate finance while adding a top brand name school to my CV to help me get some interviews at BBs in London. What do you think about these schools i.t.o getting a job in M&A in London?
Would you change the ranking I provided? Would you recommend any other schools? How could I strengthen my profile for M&A in London?
Any comments or suggestions are welcomed.
My ranking would be LSE > HEC > LBS > Imperial / ESADE / IE > EDHEC > Warwick
Just my 2 cts. I would actually aim to get into either LSE, HEC or LBS given that it will be more difficult for you to get a job as you are not a EU citizen.
Thanks for your response. Do you feel that brand name > course content? The MFA at LBS doesn't seem to be as targeted at IB entry as the other programs, but I'm not sure how much course content actually matters in the recruiting process for BBs.
If you want to get into M&A in the City, the London-based schools will give you the best opportunity. It's almost superfluous to rank these schools, they're all good and will give you a good shot at landing a spot. If you made me, I'd say LBS / LSE > Imperial / Warwick for the London / UK unis, irrespective of the programme you're enrolling in.
Thanks for your response. So if I want to work in the City, I should ignore unis outside of London? Also the FT rankings place almost all of these schools above Imperial/Warwick. Do you think this matters at all in the recruitment process? Or does the proximity to City firms of these schools trump any argument for better programs at the other schools?
Rankings are completely irrelevant. In my humble opinion. I wouldn't ignore unis outside of London entirely. In the UK, all Russell Group unis will give you a legitimate shot at IB, e.g. Warwick. The thing about London unis is that they are very much focused on getting students into investment banking and therefore cater to the needs of banks in how they structure their progammes. I would say this is less so the case for unis outside of the City.
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As mentioned above, rankings really don't matter much at that level, they're all excellent schools.
I know you've now accepted an offer from LSE, congratulations! For anyone else looking to do IB in London the same, my 2c would be only consider English universities (unless you want to work for say M&A in London but with Italian companies, etc. In which case that example Bocconi would be good as well). Oxbridge, LSE, LBS, Warwick, Imperial and UCL are all top choices, you should be able to get in from any of them if you play your cards right.
There are a tonne of good business schools in the UK, not as good as those aforementioned but still strong and providing you have a good background you'll still have a shot at IB: Cranfield, Cass, Durham, Manchester, Edinburgh, KCL... (I mention KCL because it has a good overall reputation and it's in London, I know the business school still isn't excellent)
Hi there,
If you are talking about M&A career in London for a non-EU student, the first thing you should consider is the Visa sponsorship. In my cents, LSE=LBS>IC>UCL>Warwick>all other schools when it comes to career in London for non-EU students.
Gap year setting of HEC, EDHEC can also be helpful to enhance your profile before getting a M&A job, in which case HEC is absolutely a better school in both reputation and corporate finance. EDHEC and IE are also decent school, and have a good number of alumni working in London, but not that strong to compete with HEC.
42% of LBS' MFA went to IB. I don't know which program you ended up choosing but LBS' MFA has already proved itself. It's on par with LSE.
Their first year placements report is out. Go, check it out.
beware of placement reports as such also include interships/FT offers you have received before entering the program, so it might mislead you. I know some guys from the LBS MiM/MBA who have received offers/already worked for GS/McK before they started their MSc/MBA at LBS, but still the LBS included it in its survey report (but i guess this is common practice) ... you cant do anything wrong with LBS MFA as the name of LBS will carry you.
Nevertheless: i would say: LSE > HEC > LBS > Others. IE is top ranked (FT) but heard from people that recruitment was suffering during the last years. HEC places very well (UK & continental) but not speaking French is a major disadvantage for living/studying in France/HEC.
The best thing to do is a Linkedin search and you will noticed that most of the M&A analysts come from the LSE, followed by HEC, Bocc., ESCP, WHU, etc.
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