LSE vs Imperial for investment banking?

Scroll to see replies

Are the MEng-level courses to the same level of what an MSc should be?

Usually, in an engineering undergraduate program, the first two years for BEng and MEng students are the same and it's as from the 3rd year that the MEng students take a separate set of courses, yes?

I strongly believe that the MSc and the MEng should be separated.

Anyway, if any university has a separate MSc course (by that I mean, a "proper postgraduate course"), I think that they should structure the course in such a way that it can accommodate for students who have a Bachelor's degree from elsewhere. If they can't do that, then don't admit them and don't take their money!]

I completely agree. It's a total rip-off in my opinion.

Mind expanding your argument on why it should be separated? I'm assuming the Bachelor's degree is in the same field but from a different Uni that you're talking about?

It's not a bad thing to have the same course taught to students of different programs but what's wrong is expecting everybody to have the same background and going from there. I think this is more an administrative issue than anything else. A rather unfortunate (or is tragic a more apt word, if you consider the amount of money being spent?) one at that.

=/

Not only money but time, energy, emotions, relationships, etc.

I don't think it's good practice to lump people of different backgrounds together in the same course. In certain American graduate schools, if the department does not consider an applicant having the necessary background but still thinks that they could succeed in their program, they can be admitted but they will be required to fulfil the prerequisites for a given course before they can actually take it. I thought that's how it worked at most places, but obviously I was wrong.

I had the same believe as you did. Not anymore. You really can't trust these Unis. =/

I e-mailed the co-ordinator for the Theoretical Physics MSc, asking him if the Physics with Computer Science BSc I was looking at would be sufficient preparation for the MSc and he replied very promptly, saying that he's not sure that I'd have enough in the way of mathematics in that specific degree and to fix that, I should try take Real and Complex Analysis modules if I can. He also said that it'd be better if the degree were to be more focused more on math than on CS. I think it was really great of him to take five minutes of his time, go through the syllabus I sent him and give me his opinion.

Good on you to ask. If he's not sure, than that would be a clear signal that there's a probability that the course might not be suitable for you, but you'd never know; you need to check check and check. If you can go to the Uni, go; most importantly, if you can attend lectures, please try that. DON't just read off the website and listen to people yacking their brains out on how good the uni is. You need to check check and check yourself. Don't gamble your future.

But funny, the admission officer asked me the same thing regarding the course outline, and he gave me admission after I submitted the documents. I still think I didn't have the necessary pre-req after attending the course =/

If you're living far away, you should try your best to see if there's any negative feedback on the institution. Don't blind yourself with the good things; I assure you you must see the bad things as well.

I was in an Intro to Bioinformatic class once and one of the students was a Journalism major, who's doing an MSc conversion course, but had to take the course with the MEng students that already know those Maths stuff from year 1. I have no clue how he would be able to survive all the maths inside the class since it covers lots of theoretical graph theory and algorithm analysis that the lecturer has gladly copy paste all the theorems from the text to the slides =/

Great education...

Are you looking at going for a PhD? If you're a non-EU citizen, I think you'd have much, much better luck finding funding elsewhere in Europe. I've asked around a lot, read through various uni websites and that's what it came down to.

I'm doing one. But what I'm relating has nothing to do with my PhD.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 41

username839699

Original post by kka25

Mind expanding your argument on why it should be separated? I'm assuming the Bachelor's degree is in the same field but from a different Uni that you're talking about?

Could be and could not be.

Entry requirements for a number of MSc/MA degrees seem to be somewhat flexible, meaning that somebody with a Physics bachelor's could still do a master's in EE or Economics or maybe even Neuroscience (yeah, I actually saw that...). I think it's only fair for universities, if they are admitting students with such background, to have a separate track (probably extending the length of the MSc course) for them, where they are assisted in "playing catch up". I find that this is very university dependent though, as some actually do have "bridging programs" like this. What I don't know is if they list it as "optional", so they get to charge more $$ for it...

If it's a higher degree in roughly the same field, things could get tricky too. For e.g, that "Theoretical and Mathematical Physics" MSc, I talked about. If someone whose Physics BSc focused more on computation and less on math got onto that course, they'd probably find it harder to survive...

But funny, the admission officer asked me the same thing regarding the course outline, and he gave me admission after I submitted the documents. I still think I didn't have the necessary pre-req after attending the course =/

What kind of background did the admission officer have? If (s)he had some kind of relevant background (i.e, relevant to your subject, which I'm guessing is applied math?), (s)he really has no excuse for that. At the very least, he should have told you that you'd have to "play catch up", which btw, sucks major balls.

What could have happened is that the person you talked to didn't have any technical background... :rolleyes:

I was in an Intro to Bioinformatic class once and one of the students was a Journalism major, who's doing an MSc conversion course, but had to take the course with the MEng students that already know those Maths stuff from year 1. I have no clue how he would be able to survive all the maths inside the class since it covers lots of theoretical graph theory and algorithm analysis that the lecturer has gladly copy paste all the theorems from the text to the slides =/

You did your undergrad in the US, eh? :P

I really don't know what to say here...
This blows? Lots?

Reply 42

kka25

Original post by Lilium

I have no words to say but =/

If it's a higher degree in roughly the same field, things could get tricky too. For e.g, that "Theoretical and Mathematical Physics" MSc, I talked about. If someone whose Physics BSc focused more on computation and less on math got onto that course, they'd probably find it harder to survive...

Indeed.

Well, I don't know. :dontknow:

You think I'm going to ask him on the email; "Please tell me your academic background in order for me to judge whether you could do your job properly"? :tongue:

I did go to his room. Saw some books in Maths (I think), some books in Computing and some books in Economics. Well I don't know. It doesn't tell much about his background.

You did your undergrad in the US, eh? :P

It's a mystery.

:biggrin:

I really don't know what to say here...
This blows? Lots?

Reply 43

username839699

Original post by kka25

You think I'm going to ask him on the email; "Please tell me your academic background in order for me to judge whether you could do your job properly"? :tongue:

That's one way to do it. There's a more subtle way that I've personally tried myself. It's to Google the person's name (even if it's a common name, you could add a some related keywords, like "Imperial" to it), take a look at the results that are returned and from there, figure stuff out. You'd be in luck if you were to find a Google Plus/LinkedIn profile or indeed, a very "open" Facebook one. Even luckier if you find their CV!

Often, graduate students have their CVs on their web pages and reading through those (from the big name schools) proved interesting, as they listed the undergraduate degree done, including GPA/"class" and where they had done it and especially, what kind of research experience they had. Some would say that this could reach "stalker levels" but in my books, it's more "educational"/"informative" than anything else. It's not like I'm trying to learn everything about a person, trying to locate them and catch them by surprise in a street corner or something...

I did go to his room. Saw some books in Maths (I think), some books in Computing and some books in Economics. Well I don't know. It doesn't tell much about his background.

I'm not sure what you mean by "his room" but the books could or couldn't be his. :P

It's a mystery.

:biggrin:

Haha. For what it's worth, I'm a non-EU/US citizen, who's on a gap year and hoping to study in either place (i.e, US or EU) next year. :smile:

Reply 44

kka25

Original post by Lilium

Owh, I did this as well, e.g. "Uni X worst teaching", but I'm not always lucky with this method. Some of the info could be a bit fragmented or scattered. I would also feel a bit skeptical about the author of the particular post as well sometimes =/ I mean, sometimes, these people are complaining something really baseless or mundane, so I would need to be careful with which one I would need to pick. Get it?

But I did contact some of the previous students of my PhD SV via email. One of them responded and his feedback about the SV was very encouraging =3

Often, graduate students have their CVs on their web pages and reading through those (from the big name schools) proved interesting, as they listed the undergraduate degree done, including GPA/"class" and where they had done it and especially, what kind of research experience they had. Some would say that this could reach "stalker levels" but in my books, it's more "educational"/"informative" than anything else. It's not like I'm trying to learn everything about a person, trying to locate them and catch them by surprise in a street corner or something...

LOL! I did something similar during my UG =p. Really good way of knowing the students' experience with the lecturer lol =p I'd just ask around my friends if they know any of the seniors that had taken the course with the lecturer that I'm interested in and I'd try to locate them and asked them politely if it's ok to ask about the particular lecturer.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to do that during my PG :sad:

I wish I could though. It would have made a lot of difference. I thought high-in-the-sky Uni wouldn't have problems such as lecturers the read slides; lecturers that are not prepared to lecture properly; lecturers who couldn't even buy a new marker, instead used ink-less marker to scribble on the whiteboard, etc.

I'm not sure what you mean by "his room" but the books could or couldn't be his. :P

I went to his room to consult something when I was in the Uni, so I saw this stack of books. I'm assuming it is his.

Haha. For what it's worth, I'm a non-EU/US citizen, who's on a gap year and hoping to study in either place (i.e, US or EU) next year. :smile:

I really wish you all the best. :smile:

You seem to be an open-minded person. Would be nice to have a cup of coffee with you one day to share opinions :beer:

Reply 45

username839699

Original post by kka25

Would be nice to have a cup of coffee with you one day to share opinions :beer:

Oh, it would be. If ever I'm 'round Londong (tough chance but you never know...), I will drop you a PM or e-mail, and on that note, PM your e-mail if you'd like to talk about random stuff once in a while.

Reply 46

zartex

Statistically LSE gets much more students into the financial system than Imperial. Just take a walk around the campus - it's a banking advertising premise :smile:

You could even ask the guy wrote this piece...he went there and seems to have worked out for him: http://theibanker.com/about :smile:

In the end you make your luck. Having said that, yesterday afternoon I saw Bill Gates come talk on campus - I'm an LSE grad student.

Reply 47

zartex

Another thing that may be useful is to contact the Finance or Investment societies at both schools and ask to have coffee with some of the leaders. Heck, look at the websites ... from both schools. You'll tell.

Reply 48

Londonpie72

I will go for LSE but they are both really good

Reply 49

zartex

Just meant, look at the bodies within the uni pushing for career advancement in the finance arena. Personal, I see lse as a feeder into the financial community. Howard Davies (former Director and ex head of FSA) made sure of that. You walk around campus and on nearly every wall there's a reference to some bank coming to talk on campus. Pure proselytizing (spelling?) in action. Irrespective...both great schools.

Reply 50

achilleas999

u are not considering all the factors in your decision: how about student body???

wikipedia: Imperial's male:female ratio for undergraduate students is uneven at approximately 64:36 overall[35] and 5:1 in some engineering courses. However, medicine has an approximate 1:1 ratio with biology degrees tending to be higher.[36]

:smile:

i would choose LSE based on that. plus workload is far less than imperial. (but thats because your grade is 100% final exams, no courseworks at all in most degrees, but it doesnt mean that you can get a good grade easier than imperial, the profs make sure that the exams are hard enough for a fixed % of students to get eaach grade)