Tuck Vs LBS

Question

Hi All, I have been fortunate enough to be admitted to LBS, Stern, and Tuck.

I am an Indian student, and I applied to both geographies. 
I have eliminated Stern because of the humongous cost that comes with it. 
With immigration issues in the US, the UK seems wonderful, but it comes with less pay and a high cost of living. Hence, a longer payback period. I am not getting a very clear view into recruiting at LBS. 
Post-MBA, I will be recruiting for consulting/fintech (product growth/strategy roles)

Tuck has financial aid but LBS does not. Prodigy is willing to sponsor only 60% of LBS MBA COA - $120k.

If you have insights please help me answer the following questions:

1) How does recruiting differ between these two schools? 
2) What's the perception of an MBA in the UK? (I have heard - it's not valued as much)
3) Any insights on product management salaries, roles, and opportunities in the UK after LBS?
4) Long-term, If I want to come back to India which brand would I be better of with? 
5) LBS seems to have a formidable reputation in the commonwealth. Does it help? Does it translate to anything? 
6) Is LBS worth leaving a US T10 school?
7) How big of a challenge is US Visa for MBAs? How does the visa situation 
change the availability of opportunities between the two countries?

Please feel free to share the ground realities at both schools - challenges, cons, recruiting, limitations, etc.
It would be immensely helpful. 
Of course, please suggest a school.

bb · Answer

Congratulations on your admits! Awesome job!

What specific US immigration issues are you referring to?

Posted from my mobile device

Applicant007 · Answer

Hey BB,

I know with STEM MBA I'd have 3 years OPT. 
I work at a US-based MNC, and I have seen people facing issues renewing their H1-B VISAs, 
promotions and jobs changes become difficult due to the complete renewal of H1-B paperwork, even for a minor change in title. 
Moreover, green cards seem impossible to come by. 
With Biden's approval ratings plummeting, and me graduating in an election year - worried if Trump comes back.

How big of an issue is this? Should it be a make-or-break decision-making factor?

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits! I reached out to one of the LBS Students who shared with me these answers to your questions, though he is American at LBS who is planning to be in Europe long term:

1) depends on your preferences, they're all great schools and if you have the choices between the 3 you need to do internal reflection on where you see yourself 5 years after the MBA
2) not as highly regarded as stateside corporations, but to break into Europe as an American the connections are invaluable
3) USA has the highest bar none, your pay isn't as high respectively in Europe BUT you’re in Europe. Pick your poison, corporate ladder in international companies is equally respected across continents its just the pay
4) LBs unless you get HBS
5) just connections, people you know will have worked in the companies you're looking for and these companies are more serious about recruiting from an international program (LBS hands down the best 95%)
6) as an LBSer ill kind of laugh and say “do you checkout the Forbes list?” Our scores aren't as high because school wants diversity over a high base entrance score. Many of my classmates are running businesses or working corporate jobs WHILE at school and successful. Its not about quality, all T10 and LBS on par (HBS name brand a league of its own) its about where you see yourself in 5 years
Hope that helps

bb · Answer

I would say you have to decide where you want to be and where you want to work: UK, US, or else.
US seems the most promising land in terms of PM Tech roles with great amount of recruiting and pay that would allow you to pay off your loans in just a few years. One of the recent grads of 2020 who worked for a year at his job, was just recruited at another company with a 75% raise offer. 50% bumps are not uncommon in the past 6 months as companies are looking for qualified PM's (you will start slower and lower out of MBA since you will have quite a bit to learn once you start your job but after the first year, you will be fairly mobile).

In terms of US Visa, it is hard to tell what will happen. With STEM, you have 3 years and potentially 5 or 6 opportunities to get the lottery and hopefully 3 years of solid work experience that can set a good pace for you wherever you are. You will have to talk to the folks in the US right now to get a sense of how they are feeling about it... I feel it is a personal choice and personal feel. I did not consider UK/Europe during my MBA journey so to me it was a pretty clear choice - US no matter what type of thing. I did not have your luxury

kelzo123 is a US Tuck student if you want to reach out to him and he can always introduce to some of the international students.

But I feel ultimately it is where you want to be 3-5 years from now. Do you want to be in the US, UK, or Back home. I feel that if you want to be in the US or back home, then the best choice is Tuck as it provides the most ROI. If you want to be in the UK (Don't think EU work permit applies due to brexit), then LBS.

kelzo123 is a US Tuck student if you want to reach out to him and he can always introduce to some of the international students. But I feel ultimately it is where you want to be 3-5 years from now. Do you want to be in the US, UK, or Back home. I feel that if you want to be in the US or back home, then the best choice is Tuck as it provides the most ROI. If you want to be in the UK (Don't think EU work permit applies due to brexit), then LBS.

Applicant007 · Answer

Thanks BB. This is very helpful. Thanks for reaching out to your connections to get me these answers.

So, bottomline seems to be - 
Us has pay and opportunities & UK has life.

Didn't get the 'forbes list' part the student is referring to. I haven't seen LBS/ or it's alum ranking very well anywhere except financial times. The ranking bump due to questionable methods of financial times makes it difficult to place European schools.

Some current students from T10s are telling me Amazon is recruiting for warehouse managers from LBS. That was a little shocking for me. Don't know how true is that.

I know Tech companies recruit for UK HQs. How much do the roles/offered positions differ?

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

I don't really know much about life in Europe per se or how good or bad it is. I think if you want to be in Europe, LBS is the way to go but whether that life is better than the US, I am not so sure.

What I have heard is that you get taxed a lot more on your income. One of the folks who used to work for me in the UK, surprised me when I offered him a salary bump vs. some other benefits. He basically said that if he got a bump in pay past a certain threshold, his tax rate would be double so it hardly mattered to him and instead he would prefer a stronger title or health insurance or a company car benefit (these are popular in the UK for that reason) and the threshold was fairly surprisingly low - like 50K GBP, which looking at their tax rate it is 20% up to 50K and 40% above that. Anyway, it was surprising.

I know that people who move from the US to Europe, for Microsoft, Amazon, and others often take a 50% pay cut which is crazy. The cost of living is supposedly lower but I don't feel it is that much lower....

What this all tells me is that Europe does not value MBA/PM as much as the US employers are willing pay for top talent. The reason US employers are willing to pay more for top talent is that there are more opportunities/bigger market whereas Europe seems to be more focused on getting good value for the employees they hire. This is my take though I am neither in Tuck or LBS at the moment

Tuck Vs LBS

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