London Business School vs Columbia Business School

I have been fortunate enough to have been admitted into both LBS and CBS. Having a tough time making a decision and would love to hear any views/thoughts on the matter. Cheers.

Background
• Currently in investment banking – looking to explore two career paths, either hedge funds/asset management or management consulting.
• Will likely seek to work in London post MBA for a year or two and then return to my home country.
• Columbia MBA is about 7k more expensive – not a lot in the overall scheme of things but something to consider.

I have listed some of my pros/cons for each of the schools below.

Specifically, if anyone could comment on:
1. Recruiting into MBB or hedge funds/asset management from both schools
2. Recruiting overseas (into London) from Columbia and vice-versa
3. Overall brand perception


London Business School

Pros
• Great name everywhere outside of the States (seems to be an ok name in the US but not fantastic).
• International student body and alumni base – with good representation in home country.
• Based in the country I would like to work for a short period post MBA.
• Flexible programme – can do multiple internships.
• Straight forward for partner to get a working visa.
• Fantastic opportunity to travel around Europe.

Cons
• MBA programme is very much a “US degree” – the learning environment will likely be more intense and rewarding at Columbia (refer to my attachment and some of the comments made by students at both)
• Loan will be capped at 80% - would prefer to have a 100% loan.

Columbia Business School

Pros

• Ivy League school with a great brand name internationally.
• Optionality – keeps options open in the US and arguably only marginally harder to recruit for jobs in the UK relative to LBS.
• Opportunity to live in New York for two years (try something different).
• Can try and do an exchange semester at LBS and get full alumni status at both schools.
• School culture seems to promote idea of in-semester internships (useful for asset management etc.)

Cons
• Potentially slightly harder to for partner to get a working visa.
• Could be making things harder by trying to recruit overseas.


I would love to hear thoughts of current students/alumni and others who have any views on which school could potentially be better – I completely understand this is a very personal decision but wouldn’t mind some third party validation! Thanks