[TheConvexity]

Hi,

a few days ago I received an conditional offer for the Master in Accounting & Finance at the London School of Economics.

The offer competes with my other offer for the 2-year MSc at Stockholm School of Economics. Since I am much older than the average student and since I would like to get a job rather soon, I think that I will generally prefer a 1-year MSc program.

However, I want to make sure that I choose a program that suits my career goals. I want to work either in M&A or in a typical FO role on a trading floor (which of both ideas are my favorite will be decided after I will have done two M&A internships in summer this year).

So what I really would like to know is what you think about LSE's MSc Acc & Fin program and how well it is suited to land a job at a BB?

Actually I am aware that the MSc Finance is one of the premium programs at LSE but I was not good enough to get into it and so I received an offer for the Acc & Fin Master which is surely not that prestigious. But I am wondering - does the program really matter? I heard a lot of times people saying that almost no one cares what exactly you have studied if have graduated from LSE.

Another point is: As far as I can get course information from LSE's website it appears the MSc Acc & Fin can be taylored to be almost identical to the pure Finance Master with the exception of compulsory course in the beginning and the fact that there one or two Finance electives that cannot be choosen in that program. But apart from that it seems like you can attend every important Finance course you would like to have, I think it will be about 75% Finance and 25% Accounting in the if you decide to max out Finance electives.

Especially if your goal is a Job at GS, MS, Deutsche Bank etc... I would like to know what you think about the program?

One Info: Tuition fees do not matter since I can use 2 scholarships parallely for studying at LSE which will cover 80% of tuition fees of the program.

Thank you very much for sharing your oppinion and your experience with me!

[painauchocolat]

Hi,

I received an offer too, I am currently deciding between Cass MSc in Finance and LSE MSc A&F. I had my offer from Cass since several months and wasn't expecting a positive answer from LSE. I think I will go for LSE but I'm not 100% sure yet.

From my experience (I went to recruiting this fall while I was interning and secured a summer internship in M&A as you), LSE is definitely a good place to be.

I know that SSE is free, but as you don't care about fees. You say you are already old, but how much? What will be your experience before starting the program?

I don't know about you and the nature of you summer internship, but in most summer internship, you have a chance to convert to a FT offer starting the following summer, so personnally I discarded all the 2 years MSc programes such as Bocconi, St.gallen and SSE.

You should also tell us your nationality and language spoken, plus where you want to work? I suppose London but... From what I've seen, kids from SSE are also targeted but all the one have met at AC were speaking a nordic language. My point is that you miss a lot of the school value if you go to St.Gallen but not speak German or Bocconi if you don't speak Italian...

What you have done before is also very important.

Lastly, may I asked which scholarships did you get? Is it something related to you or your country? I'm asking because I'm looking for funding (otherwise, I will just take a loan).

[shawnhojh]

hi guys, join us on facebook if you are planning to take up the offer: http://www.facebook.com/groups/234271349987133/

[TheConvexity]

@painauchocolat:

I'm from Germany and already 27 years old, thus I will be 28 when finishing the program. I worked priorily 3 years as a bank clerk / private banking assistant by doing an apprenticeship at a German Savings Bank. Then I started with my BSc studies and worked part-time and gained another 3 years work experience (but only part-time) in corporate banking and treasury (including FO roles in Money Market Trading) at a major German bank. During this summer I will now make two M&A internships in order to decide whether I want to work in Treasury / Markets or in a typical Investment Banking (M&A) role.

The scholarships I received are not specific for a particular uni but related to my person. On the hand I have the Haniel-Scholarship which is a special program of the German National Academic Foundation and the Haniel Foundation and on the other hand I have a second scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service. Since tuition fees at LSE are tremendously high, I am allowed to combine both scholarships (usually most scholarships in Germany are exclusive and you are not allowed to have more than one scholarship) which will cover almost all tuition fees at LSE.

Regarding Cass: I have an offer from Cass (MSc Finance) since three months, too. Cass is for sure a good school but imho absolutly no match to LSE. Taking into account that you can taylor the MSc Acc&Fin at LSE in a way that it comes close to a pure Finance degree and the fact that LSE is a strong brand name, I would never consider Cass MSc Finance stronger than LSE MSc Acc&Fin.