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MSc Finance: LSE vs. Imperial

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Hey everyone,

I am an American deciding between Imperial Msc Finance and LSE Fin&Econ, and stumbled upon this forum while searching on google.

I would like to pursue a career in trading in the future, but I have little interest in being a quant/rocket-scientist (or IBD for that matter). LSE seems to be better brand name (especially if I want to come back to the US at some point), but from reading this thread it seems that Imperial has a more rigorous quant curriculum and thus places better into trading roles.

Which program would you guys recommend, knowing my career preference? Thanks in advance.

For you, being an American interested in S&T and not quant, the best choice is definitely LSE without a doubt. The course places very well in S&T (in the UK at least, no idea about US) + the LSE tag within finance is much more well-renowned than Imperial in the US.

Reply 21

Theophile

thoughts?

"The first step to getting a job with an investment firm or bank is graduating from one of the top-tier universities. Degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College London will almost assuredly be considered; those from the London School of Economics, University College London, and Warwick University are now considered “second tier” by recruitment teams from several investment banks. "

http://www.worldfinance.com/banking/investment/grad-schemes-still-available-in-banks/

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 22

lego

Original post by Theophile

Says who exactly? I'd agree with the statement if it was for Imperial's engineering/hard sciences, but certainly not for MSc Finance. And I'm not a big LSE fan, in my opinion, it's turning into a degree mill like Cass.

Reply 23

wallstreettrader

Isn't the LSE course highly theoretical? Surely at the postgraduate level you want to learn something practical and not theoretical? It looks like the Imperial course is highly practical and teaches you good econometric skills.

Reply 24

henryt

Original post by Swayum

Bump. Any more thoughts? Henry - what did you conclude between the 2 programs, particularly for entering the buy side? I know you didn't end up picking either, but I hold an LSE offer + I hope to get an Imperial offer, so I'm facing a similar dilemma.

I honestly got the impression that the Imperial course content was just so much better than LSE - more flexible and more rigorous. If you want to go into M&A, you're not going to need all that extra content, and the LSE brand may trump Imperial's, though I think at Master's level it's less likely to matter. I think if you're going for any semi-technical role within a bank (trading or more quantitative roles), or alternatively an investment management role (LSE's coverage of portfolio management and the like looked terrible), you'd be better off at Imperial.
Also, just from an organisational perspective, the Business School at Imperial were a mile ahead of LSE; the treatment was just far superior from admissions staff etc. - if that is at all indicative of how administration works throughout the year, I'd pick Imperial just for the lack of hassle!