Ivan91 wrote:
So, what did you decide eventually ?
I decided on Stern. If there had been comparable financial offers on the table it would have been a much tougher choice, and if I wasn't from the UK and looking for a change somewhat it would have been even tougher still.
I went to the LBS admits weekend and met some great people. The faculty seems great, and there's a real sense of quality about a lot of what they do. That said, the depth and variety of student activity for example doesn't seem comparable to somewhere like Stern, plus the fact that LBS is not really connected to a university is a big drawback for me. In contrast, NYU seems to be taking some really interesting steps to become a genuinely global university with all that entails, and Stern itself is positioning itself in an interesting way in response to the financial crisis. And then of course there's the New York vs London debate. For me New York has the edge, not just for being new to me, but as a much bigger economy with more diversity of business. For someone who hasn't completely made up their mind what they want to do, this is a big draw for me - I think New York has a lot of everything, London less so.
More than that though, I actually think the schools are of comparable quality on all but a few measures. LBS does extremely well in the FT mainly because it scores off the chart in terms of the international nature of its programme, which the FT puts a lot of weight on. Take that away and the difference would more or less disappear in my view. Having a highly international student body is a great thing, and I really experienced what that means in practice at the admits weekend, which surprised me a bit actually in terms of how meaningful it was. The prospect of getting to know all of those people so well was genuinely exciting and I could see how it could enrich my career and my life. But does it mean that LBS is a much better school in other respects? I don't think so.
One thing I would say in its favour is that LBS students are - from what I can tell - probably a bit more senior in what they've done before and there is a higher proportion of people coming from the very top companies. In part because of the FT ranking, and in part because the competition in Europe is less tough (in my opinion), LBS is rightly regarded as the best business school in Europe - or at least comparable to any other. That means that you get a lot of the best people from around the world who want to study and/or live in Europe, which adds up to an impressive student body (although I met a few fairly unimpressive people too - as with any school I guess). While at LBS you will still get a good chunk of people who tried and failed to get into HBS, Wharton, Stanford, etc., I think you will get more of that at Stern. So the calibre is, loosely speaking, in my opinion a little bit lower in general at Stern, as I believe that the admissions process - while imperfect and a bit of a crapshoot at times - is broadly able to filter quality. But that's the only real thing I can say that I believe is definitively in LBS's favour. And as we've discussed on this thread, there will be more than enough great people at Stern to be getting on with, so it's not a deal breaker.
Stern genuinely feels much more down to earth to me, which is important for how much I will enjoy the experience and consequently how well I'll do on the programme. LBS is a little bit pretentious in a characteristically British way, but at the same time it feels a little bit insecure, as though slightly aware that it doesn't quite deserve its #1 global status. It seems like a really great school, and they outlined a really interesting direction for the future during admits weekend. As one of the most globally-minded business schools I'm sure they will continue to do well. But for me I've realised that it just doesn't feel right. It's hard to put into words but there's a richness and depth to Stern that doesn't seem to exist at LBS as a relatively small and isolated institution.
I'm happy with the choice of Stern over LBS. I do slightly regret not pitching for HBS, Sloan and Chicago, at least to find out more about the fit, but I just didn't have time and had no idea of my chances of getting in. I didn't want to have to wait another year. With the options I have in hand, I think this is the right choice, and I would certainly have taken this outcome at the start of the process.
I hope that sharing my experience is helpful for someone and good luck to anyone still applying/deciding.
Cheers