Imperial Business School vs LSE

Question

Dear all,

I have received offers from both Imperial and LSE to do MSc Management and I am stuck on which to choose.

LSE is more reputable and will carry a stronger weight when i eventually return to Asia but Imperial does better on rankings (QS/FT) and I like their programme more as they come off as fresher, more revolutionary while LSE seems a little dated, but I don't really have evidence to back this up.

My interest is consulting and MBB. Would going to Imperial significantly reduces my chances? Are they viewed equally in the eyes of recruiters? Thank you!

Answer 1

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

I would highly advise you to opt for the option that better aligns with your professional (and maybe even personal) mid- to long-term goals. In order to make an informed decision, I would advise you to do the following:

Weigh the different criteria that are meaningful to you independently of the current options (e.g., prestige, culture, international exposure, location). After that, score the two options based on your criteria and their weighting, resulting in two scores. This way, you have covered the left-brain perspective.
Critically assess your initial reaction to the outcome of the scores. For instance, if you feel the urge to tweak the numbers, this is a solid indicator that you do not want this decision to become reality. This way, you have covered the right-brain perspective.
By doing so, you will be able to integrate both parts of the brain into the decision-making, guaranteeing a higher chance that you will still be happy with it years later.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Answer 2

Hi, congrats for the multiple offers! For management, I would go for LSE. Imperial is more prestigious for scientific courses.

Best,
Antonello

Answer 3

I agree with Vlad, I think LSE has a better brand, I would go for LSE.

Best,
Daniel

Answer 4

Hi!

As the others say I would strongly recommend taking the offer from LSE (not only saying this because I am also an LSE graduate)!

LSE will put you in a great position to get offers from any consulting firm and is also more well know in the business community outside of consulting. In Asia, the LSE brand is also much stronger than Imperial which lends itself more to scientific research.

Answer 5

Hi there,

I would check the number of alumni of the universities in companies interesting you for recent years and weight for the number of graduates. My hypothesis here is that LSE, having a stronger brand, should have more alumni in consulting, if that’s the case I would go for that as it would be the safer bet.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 6

Hi,

I was surprised to learn that LSE is better at rankings. But its worth noting that there are many weird rankings where HBS / GSB are not in the first places.

Historically LSE has a better brand. The aspect of being "Revolutionary" I would perceive as very subjective as its just marketing.

Best

Answer 7

Hello hello and congrats on the offers!

Having the chance to choose is a holy problem.

A priori, given the improtance of brands for next steps in your carreer, I would go for LSE. However, and depending on what you want to do next -this is the most important thing at the end of the day-, see which one will give you a better starting point.

For instance, check the number of alumni in the field you want to tackle, etc.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 8

Hello,

First of all congratulations for your results!
LSE has a stronger brand and I would choose it, but also Imperial Business School is a target school for MBB. Don't worry too much, they are both great schhols and you will haveyour chances to get an MBB offer.

Best,
Luca