Qns about Mif @ LBS: academic and otherwise

Hi ronybtl, I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can.


The course is indeed more quant oriented than is the MBA. We do many HBS cases and in most of them, we strictly concentrate on the financial part, much more so than the MBAs do. However, this is not a masters in financial engineering so you will not be required to know advanced calculus or stochastic probability unless you really want to do so (there are electives catering to those needs).
You will indeed have many assignements during the term and I can tell you that the first term is perhaps the most difficult, even with a finance background. You will have VERY heavy course load with assignments, valuation project AND preparation for interviews (yes, right after the first month of studying).
Although much work will be on a lecture based approach, you will have to keep abreast of the latest news in the market and will be asked to present your view and debate this in a classroom setting. As a matter of fact, the lecture approach will account for only 50% of your study method, the rest being case based approach and class/group participation/interaction.


The MiF program is very competitive and I am not trying to sell you the program. I will try to give you the pros and cons. First, you can see the stats for the 2004 class here: https://www.london.edu/assets/documents/ ... port-1.pdf
Being a MiF student, I learned that if you want to do a career switch, you are better off with an MBA. You will have the opportunity to the a summer internship which clearly sets apart the MBAs from the MiFs. However, MiFs AND MBAs are both considered when it comes to any full time positions and both have the same average salary after graduation. Of course, if you already have experience in a certain field and just want to build on that edge for a promotion or a more specific area, the MiF would be better. Another pro of the MiF is obviously the cost savings of living only 1 year in an expensive London city.


Well, this depends on your innate communication skills. You could be as number litterate as you want but how you eloquently convey your ideas will rest solely on you. The program for its part does give you a very strong business finance background and you could expect to learn a lot from the MiF. In the second and third term, you choose your own electives and gear it towards your own career aspirations.


I wonder how creative finance can be? In your daily work, assignments, you will pretty much stick to the fundamentals which you have learned. However, you can always be more creative in your valuation projects or even come up with your own Miller and Modigliani theorem


No, this is not the goal of a masters in finance but that of a JD program. If you end up working in LBOs, M&As or High Yield structuring, you could learn some legal framework in the course of work.


Very. LBS has a small faculty (about 80 professors) and everybody knows each other and this makes for a very collegiate and intimate environment. If you want on any given day, you could always ask your professor out for lunch, and talk about business or academia.