Ivan91 wrote:
Between LSE and Oxford, what did you decide on LSE ? Oxford`s brand seems more prestigious
Although, if u think about it, it doesnt really matter if the average Joe knows Oxford more, LSE is amazing place for studying finance. However, what really set LSE above Oxford ?
" what really set LSE above Oxford ?" - Honest answer: Nothing.
I think they're both excellent programmes. In some particular areas, Oxford will trump LSE while in others, LSE may be a little stronger. But honestly, when looking for a job, the only thing your university really does for you is to help you get an invitation the the interviews, and both LSE as well as Oxford should be comparably helpful in that respect.
Anyway, from the top of my head, here's some differences I could think of. Please do keep in mind, I haven't started studying at LSE yet, so all of those points are just based on what you read and hear.
Pro Oxford- Better reputation in general. "Regular people" who're not working in finance etc. will definitely be aware of Oxford, but many have never heard the name LSE before. As you mentioned, though, it's pretty irrelevant when looking for a job as all the companies that graduates usually want to apply to will
definitely be very aware of LSE, too.
- Man has their institute at Oxford (Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance) and from talking to one of their fund managers, I know they did this mainly to recruit from Oxford grads. So there's some sweet job opportunities right there if you're looking to go into the funds business
Neutral- Oxford seems to be a lot more quantitative. Good if you're looking for a quant job (see Man institute above), neutral or maybe slightly negative if you're looking for other types of jobs.
- Oxford's Master seems to more theoretical than LSE's - could be great if you want to stay in academics or bad if you're looking for a more practical job
- London vs. Oxford. Personal preference where you'd rather want to live.
Con oxford- I think LSE's career service has stronger connections to big financial / London based companies, so job placement should be a little easier at LSE (even though I also heard that recently, around half of the finance course at LSE didn't even get a full time position after their Master but rather some internships, so who knows...)
- Tuition + college fees at oxford are a few thousand pounds higher than at LSE. Then again, living expenses in London are probably quite a bit higher than in Oxford.
- I believe acceptance rate as LSE is lower than in Oxford. This
could indicate LSE's Master is, for whatever reason, slightly "better" as there seems to be higher relative demand. I don't even trust that argument myself, though.
If you do have offers for both, count yourself lucky as I don't think you could possibly made a bad decision there.
Personally, as I don't really have a strong preference in one way or the other, I just didn't see the point in investing a lot more time (and some money) into an Oxford application. Also, I have a scholarship for LSE and transfering that to Oxford
could have been a problem, too. A lot of trouble for what I perceived to be no real benefit. So it's been more of a laziness decision rather than some "I think programme A kicks programme B's butt"-kind-of-decision for me