LBS vs Tuck

Hi everyone,

I am an Indian female, Chartered Accountant, and with 7 years of experience in M&A transaction structuring (tax and regulatory) at a Big4. I have received an admit from Tuck (no scholarship) and await an admission decision from London Business School (expected this month-end).

My personal considerations are the following:

- Neutral to working in either USA or UK. Do no know any European Language
- My aspiration is to get into M&A Advisory for which I would like to explore the Investment Banking route and eventually make my way into Private Equity.
- I know and appreciate that neither schools are 'finance focussed' as a Wharton/ Booth/ CBS or Stern. But what I love about both schools and that's a very important personal consideration is that both have a very strong community focus and a helpful and collaborative culture. That's the kind of place I would like to do my MBA from.
- The program of both school's is fantastic in terms of internships, experiential learnings, etc
- With Tuck being STEM certified and London giving a 2 year visa extension, both schools are neutral in terms of residency and work permits in US and UK respectively.
- I do not plan to return to India, so brand value in Asia isn't a strong consideration, but I appreciate that certainly should be a consideration, even if it is valid for Plan Z.

Tuck Pros:
- Excellent curriculum - superb finance professors
- Every student adores the school and the alumni focus is a real thing. The Tuck alumni response rate is less than 48 hours and that is a huge plus.
- Lots of companies from North East US do come on campus. Amazing access to Boston and NYC
- The career services are great - a unanimous story by everyone I have connected with.
- And not a pro, but I can probably change course to reach my PE ambition by starting off with Consultancy (which is a strong advantage of Tuck) post my MBA and use the sector/ domain expertise to land a PE job.

Tuck Cons:
- Not a finance focus school. Although, a Tuck student gave me a very interesting observation that if 30 students from Tuck aim for finance jobs, at least 25 convert it. Which is a really good conversion %.
- Will need a lot of travel to NYC and Boston. (This is not a strong con, but certainly when compared to LBS)

LBS pros:
- It's USD 60k cheaper than Tuck (assuming no scholarship at both places).
- London advantage - a great city, and hopefully with several networking opportunities.
- LBS's flexible curriculum permits multiple internships. This can mean I can demonstrate a track record of working in IB and use that as a stepping stone for a full-time offer from the same/ another place.
- However slim, but LBS does give me chance to apply for PE jobs and probably that MAY (very BIG MAY here) work out. (An Indian got a job in a Tier 1 PE with no PE experience but simply because of his domain knowledge). Basically, a lot of thought needs to go into how to uniquely present your candidacy suited to the need of the job, but even if a 1% chance, it is worth noting.

LBS cons:
- Most students I have interacted with don't sound 100% confident about the school. Someone had some complaints on the professors, some felt the career services wasn't the best, may find it difficult to convert an internship into a job which sponsors the visa, etc. I don't know how unfounded or otherwise this apprehension about LBS is! And would love some insights....
- Not as strong a curriculum as Tuck. Strong curriculum should help develop some fundamental knowledge of Finance.
- London is a great city to settle into, but how probable is it to get a job in London?
- London does not have as many finance roles. There is a need to know a European language, some say.
- Probably the pro in Tuck of choosing an alternative path (Consulting -> PE) may not be as "easy" at LBS because the same concerns on sponsorship and companies as in banking jobs prevail in LBS.

Which one should I be choosing?

Any guidance will be very very helpful!

Thanks much!