LBS MIF Admits so far

There are 78 people that has been admitted so far. From what I see, most people have careers in finance, although not at very high-profile institutions such as I-banking or hedge funds. Working at a government organization (central bank or so) also seems like a popular trend.

One of my readers emailed me today saying he's got in. I hope more of the readers of this blog will get in to the program and we'll meet in London. I'm pretty excited about going there, especially since we've pretty much decided that my wife will join me in London as well.

My first ding - Princeton

Princeton dinged me. I should honestly say that Princeton was the school that I least paid attention to during applications, although I thought my essays were pretty good. I've sent the application fee pretty late, and did not bother to send any transcripts since they did not ask for it in the initial application.

In any event, I think getting 2 acceptances out of 3 schools is still pretty good. An acceptance from Princeton would not have changed my decision, so I'm glad someone else got an acceptance from Princeton instead of me.

In the coming days I'll write more about the LBS financing the studies, curriculum, career paths and scholarships. There is a very vibrant discussion going on at the LBS portal among the new admits. I am not allowed to copy & paste any information directly from LBS portal to here, but I will definitely write my impressions.

The natural selection

It's nice to know that people are following this blog. I hope it hasn't been too long, but there has been quite a few things going on in my life lately and I haven't been able to write much. Also, I did not know which offer I was going to accept.

On one hand, there was Oxford, a name that everybody appreciate with an opportunity to get a decent internship over the summer. The other option was LBS, the heavy-weight champion of all Finance programs around.

It was a tough decision, but I have decided to accept LBS' offer. And here's the reason for the title: I just waited until Oxford's offer expires, so now I only have one offer that I can not afford rejecting. Isn't that wonderful?

To top it off, here's the 2007 Global MBA rankings from Financial Times:
http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings

LBS jumped from #5 to #2 spot globally, and it's also the #1 business school in Europe.
http://media.ft.com/cms/1a8b39e4-c804-11dc-94a6-0000779fd2ac.pdf

So now that the decision phase is over, I can concentrate on making arrangements for moving to London.! And that would mean letting my lovely car go :(

Here's a little goodie about LBS. It's kinda cheesy but I like it.

And Oxford says yes!!!

I will not have a whole lot of time to post until the end of January, but I've got great news today. Oxford accepted me, which brings me to my Oxford vs. LBS dilemma. I've also started looking at financing my studies. Oxford is considerably cheaper than LBS, which may also make a difference in my decision.

I also have not have time to respond to the comments my readers left so far, but this will get done today as well.

I'll keep posting..

Never underestimate Oxford!

I've received an email from my cousin today, congratulating me on LBS admission. He was asking what my plans are if Oxford would offer me a place as well. From the tone of his email, I could tell he was a bit surprised that I am thinking about turning down Oxford to go to LBS. A couple of days ago, a similar topic came up when talking to my parents. How come I would not want to go to Oxford?

I guess I have been underestimating the power Oxford label has, after centuries of educating world's most successful people. Even though the Said Business School is relatively new, people I've talked to regard the program as one of the most successful programs that provide a good mix of Finance and Economics. This is one distinguishing factor, as the degree LBS provides is purely a Finance degree.

Here's another data point. An Oxford MBA (not MFE) blogger has posted a somewhat comparison between LBS and Oxford programs. http://richardconnmba.blogspot.com/2007/07/more-lbs-questions.html

Rankings are telling a different story though. When you look at the MBA rankings (unfortunately I do not have access to Finance ratings from any other source), LBS ranks much higher than Oxford. Take a look at FT rankings for example.

FT.com / Business Education / European Business school rankings
FT.com / Business Education / Global MBA rankings

LBS ranks 2nd in Europe, and 5th globally, whereas Oxford ranks 21st in EU and 19th globally.

For now, I will keep betting that LBS name will get bigger and better known outside the UK within 10 years or so. I am also betting that it is already a big name within PE/IB circles, which is what I care for.

Comments, anyone?