double degree or LSE/LBS

Question

Hi!

I'm a recent graduate struggling with a doubt about his university career and you could really help me with a simple opinion.

I have completed my bachelor in Economics and Management with the best GPA possible, studying in 3 languages, having leadership roles in academic associations, taking part in different extracurricular activities along the way, and so on. However, I now find myself at a crossroads.

I was admitted to a double degree offered jointly by ESSEC and Bocconi, during which I would study for 2 years on 4 campuses (Milan, Singapore, Mumbai, Paris) and at the end of which I would obtain a Master in Management from both universities.

However, with my GMAT and my average, I could also aspire to be admitted to the 1-year long Masters in Management offered by LSE and LBS. In this case, while waiting to apply, I would be forced to take a gap year to fill with internships (risking, due to the unfavorable economic situation, to end up in roles that are not particularly formative).
My question, therefore, is the following: my goal being consulting, is the high internationalization of the double degree to be preferred to the greater prestige of London schools, given the fact that the latter would be preceded by a year of uncertain work experience?

I have tried to be as synthetic as possible, in case you have questions to better answer feel free to ask!

Thank you very much in advance for your time!

Answer 1

Hi there,

I would say the answer depends on where you want to work:

If you want to start in Italy, Bocconi is totally fine
If you want to start in UK, LBS/LSE would be better

Given you

Don’t know if you will get any relevant internship
Don’t know if you will be admitted into LBS/LSE

I would go for Bocconi + ESSEC at the moment.

You may possibly keep options opened and still apply for the UK master/internships and see what you get, and if it makes sense withdraw from the 2-year master.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 2

If your undergraduate degree is from a tier 1 university - you are free to choose whichever option. As such you are in the enviable situation of being able to pick whichever path you find more exciting

However if you have not studied at a tier 1 university - your resume will likely benefit from having LSE/LBS on it especially if MBB is your final goal

Answer 3

Dear A,

Mu congratulations to your both opportunities. Either of them is a great chance to launch your career. If you were asking me, I would in your case go for ESSEC and Bocconi double degree with a great internalisation, cause it will be extremey valuable experience for everything that you would be able to take even more from 4 campuses, 4 countries in this 2 years. Also from the reputation wise these schools are really good, I think that you could always accomplish an MBA from LBS later on, if you would feel this brand recognition. But I'm already pretty sure that you have great cards in hand.

If you need any advice on admission and doing your career on a long-run, drop me a line,

Good luck,

André

Answer 4

Hi there,

It sounds like you are already an impressive candidate that stands a good change of getting into a top-tier consultancy!

As such, I actually think both options do your resume good justice.

While I am tempted by the prestige of LSE and LBS, I do love the experience that the double-degree provided by ESSEC and Bocconi offer!

I think ESSEC + Bocconi are beter for overall life experiences/career but LSE/LBA will assuredly provide you with a direct pipeline into MBB (they recruit heavily from LBS in particular).

Hard choice!

A possible middle ground is: Find out 1) How sure of a thing LSE/LBS is AND 2) Figure out how likely an internship in between is.

IF you can lock in both 1 and 2, then I think you have your answer!

My other question is: IF you locked an internship, would you go for LBS/LSE? I suppose my question is what's your blocker? What's preventing you from selecting one over the other?

Answer 5

Hi, Last I knew good MBA schools look for GMAT scores, not GRE. Not sure which schools you are applying to. I would... (read entire answer)

Hi, Last I knew good MBA schools look for GMAT scores, not GRE. Not sure which schools you are applying to. I would check their website to see if they have shared any means or... (read entire answer)