Just got owned in UCL MSc Management interview

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Why would anyone want to go to UCL for management?
Is it even competitive?
There are so many top mba programmes.

Hey, this is actually a good question that I myself debated for a while--being born and raised in the States, there are a lot of excellent choices for MBA programs here in the US, but I did my senior year (final year here in the US) of my Bachelor's degree at UCL and loved it, so I knew I wanted to go back to London at least. When I got back to the States I spent MONTHS deliberating between the MSc and the MBA--both are equivalent degrees in terms of titles--both are Master's degrees. For me, the biggest difference was work experience. MBAs are meant for professions who have been in the work force for some time AFTER obtaining their BS, mainly around 5-10 years, and top schools won't even look at you unless you have a certain # of years of experience, etc. These people tend to bring to the tables their work experience and families which is great, but as a fresh graduate, I was eager to get back into school again and not lose that ability to study--I know that sounds weird, but it can actually be super difficult to get back into school later in life once you already have a job, a family etc. I knew I wasn't finished with my schooling and I wanted to obtain my M.S. when I was still young, full of energy and not tied down by anything. And who knows? Maybe later in life I wouldn't be in a position to be able to go back to school anymore.

These MScs in Management are great because they specifically are for recent graduates from both business and non-business backgrunds, so you're armed with the knowledge from step 1. This is important for people like me who come from a non business background (neuroscience).

Additionally, Most MBA programs (in fact, ANY MS degree in the US minus law school) are two years long, so you are paying 2 years worth of fees rather than the UK system of a 1 year MS course. Ah--but that's less schooling you say! Sort of, but not significantly so. The US school year runs 9 months out of the year, leaving 2 free months for summer and 1 month off for winter holidays (plus spring break, fall break, etc). The UK MS degree goes for 12-13 months straight (with a few smaller breaks). Followed usually by a 3 month internship/trip abroad working in a business. So to me, it was about 15 months of actual school time (UK) to 18 months of actual school time (US) and the difference seemed negligible, especially in the light of only paying 1 yrs fees with the former.

Plus, UCL is ranked 4th in the world, over Yale, Princeton, Duke, Oxford and Columbia to name a few... couldn't hurt :smile: