kdlie wrote:
Hi,
I have to choose between two offers to study a master's in Finance as a non professional: HEC MIF or LBS MFA. I have done my undergrad in London but as a French national I am aware of the strong brand name of HEC in France/ EU and also their master of finance pre-experience is ranked 1st by The FT but tbf I don't know if these rankings are accurate. I would like to start my career in London, ideally in PE, and then study an MBA in the US. Eventually I want to move back to France so I wonder if I should accept HEC's offer, but I am not sure it offers the same perks as LBS in terms of getting to these American MBAs.
Any recommendation on which school might be the best for my profile? Thanks for helping
PS: I am also thinking of giving a shot to Oxford MFE as I believe I have strong chances to get in but appart from the strong brand name of Ox I don't know if it is worth applying. Any thoughts on which of the 3 is better?
Sorry I missed your post the other day. Congrats! Awesome job on the admits!
Masters in Finance not my strength and I have not spent a ton of time analyzing the job prospects. MBA is more of my cup of tea - however agree about the FT rankings sometimes being "interesting" when it comes to ranking methodologies.
If you want to be in London, no better place than LBS to recruit in the city. Keep in mind it is not a walk in the park either to score a top job.
Oxford is a good brand in the MBA world but not very powerful and does not compare to LBS in London. Do you feel it is different in the MiF world? LBS would be an easy choice for an MBA
No doubt about HEC being a good program but you will be wasting your advantage of speaking French by not recruiting in Paris and will be recruiting with all the international students in London.
In terms of what you said about going for an MBA later on - I would not worry about what school you get masters from - all of these are well known. The key to your MBA acceptance would be getting a solid job and a great brand name on your resume because if you work in a nice boutique finance company in London that a few finance folks know in the city, and you plan on working in New York, that name recognition won't be there as it would have been for Barclay's for example, which may be a boring job but it is a strong recognizable brand. When you relocate the power of the brand is often diminished and that will be true for colleges, MBA, and jobs. Similarly if you worked in a niche firm in London and then try to recruit in Paris, it will be hard to get full credit for that work experience.
So not knowing a whole lot about Oxford, I feel LBS is a good match for your goals if you want to be in London.
-BB