LSE vs Ivy League

Anonymous #1

I have received offers from both an Ivy League School and the LSE. Which one should I take?

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

which ivy league school and for what course? it depends on what’s your future career plan and personal preference

Reply 2

morphmask

depends on the course mainly but also on your preference to city, student life/atmosphere, tudent to faculty ratios, sports facilities, etc.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

which ivy league school and for what course? it depends on what’s your future career plan and personal preference

Columbia - Economics or Financial Economics and LSE economic history. I am not sure if I would want to work in America or London yet - I think I want to go into banking though.

Reply 4

morphmask

Original post by Anonymous

Columbia - Economics or Financial Economics and LSE economic history. I am not sure if I would want to work in America or London yet - I think I want to go into banking though.

I’d recommend asking people on LinkedIn studying each of the courses on how the uni is and then making a choice. I’ve heard from people that when it comes to opportunities and potential for growth the USA is much better, esp for banking. Besides, not too sure how good economy ‘history’ is for banking

Reply 5

poppy2022

Original post by Anonymous

I have received offers from both an Ivy League School and the LSE. Which one should I take?

The social life at Columbia will be way better. In terms of academics though, if you're looking to go down the IB/finance route, LSE and Columbia will both offer you great opportunities for this. Another consideration is cost. Unless you're receiving significant financial aid the US will be more expensive, so probably wouldn't be worth it if you're primarily going to university for the career opportunities as both universities are on par with each other. If social life is a big consideration for you and you can afford Columbia, I'd recommend going down that route. However, if you're an international from China/India/Singapore/HK, then you may actually have a better social life at LSE as the student body is primarily made up of these groups.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 6

Picnicl

Columbia is the 23rd best university in the world, LSE the 45th.
For Economics, LSE is 7th, Columbia is 11th. Source: QS Rankings.
Well I'd hope that a university that has the subject in its name might be ranked better for Economics anyway but if everything else was equal I'd go for Columbia anytime (although, as someone interested in Philosophy, Princeton or Yale would have been more my style). LSE is small by major UK university standards and only 65% of its staff actually do high quality research which is less than most Russell Group universities.

(to be fair, any Ivy League can seem somewhat appealing. The cost, the amount of things you can and can't end up doing, and adjusting to a whole new way of life perhaps rightfully makes it just a dream for most of us. It'd be great if everyone could experience 1 day at a top university).

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 7

Anonymous #3

Original post by Picnicl

Columbia is the 23rd best university in the world, LSE the 45th.
For Economics, LSE is 7th, Columbia is 11th. Source: QS Rankings.
Well I'd hope that a university that has the subject in its name might be ranked better for Economics anyway but if everything else was equal I'd go for Columbia anytime (although, as someone interested in Philosophy, Princeton or Yale would have been more my style). LSE is small by major UK university standards and only 65% of its staff actually do high quality research which is less than most Russell Group universities.
(to be fair, any Ivy League can seem somewhat appealing. The cost, the amount of things you can and can't end up doing, and adjusting to a whole new way of life perhaps rightfully makes it just a dream for most of us. It'd be great if everyone could experience 1 day at a top university).

using general rankings for LSE is not useful at all. It literally only specialises in Economics and social sciences, so it's never going to be able to be higher on the overall rankings. Best in the UK for Economics though.

Reply 8

Picnicl

Original post by Anonymous

Still doesn't explain why, with relatively few staff compared to other Russell Group universities, they can only manage 65% of them producing high quality research when Cambridge manages 100%, Oxford 95%, and with far more staff, UCL still manages 72%.

Reply 9

Anonymous #4

LSE is undoubtedly the name for economics all over the globe. So I’d choose LSE without a thought. Also economic history at LSE is a pretty competitive course.

Reply 10

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

LSE is undoubtedly the name for economics all over the globe. So I’d choose LSE without a thought. Also economic history at LSE is a pretty competitive course.

Yeah but financial economics is a much a stronger course than economic history no?

Reply 11

Tulipbloom

Original post by Anonymous

I have received offers from both an Ivy League School and the LSE. Which one should I take?

Hey had a cousin who had this kind of dilemma. He got into Penn, Yale, Cornell and a few UK schools. Chose to go to Penn and went on to do banking. The biggest advantage was in networking and of course the aid was generous. I'm sure in the UK you will get equal opportunities to do so but in the US it is beyond that. It's the alumni connections, their push to send you everywhere and the people you are surrounded by. Columbia especially with its core curriculum I think will give you a well-rounded/holistic education and all in NYC! The exposure will be great! Do consider what's most important to you though.