Sloan MIT vs London Business School

Congratulations on your admits! Really really fantastic job!

Pardon a dumb question, but do you have a UK and US passports? If not, I don't think you could have both roads open to you once you pick a school since few US employers would hire an LBS grad out of MBA and similarly it's a bigger hassle to recruit in Europe out of the US, so once you are committed to a location, that's where you stay.

I would suggest of imagining yourself 10 years later and looking back - where would you see yourself? What matters to you outside of MBA? do you want the world's largest economy and opportunities and pay offs (as well as risks) or do you prefer the more level and balanced lifestyle of Europe?

Comparing MBA experience in Boston and London is going to be tricky. Time will also fly very quickly. That's only 18 months of your life but these 18 months will determine quite a bit in terms of what happens next and where the rest of your life will be spent. If you see yourself staying in Europe, and that's something you are looking for, then I think there is no reason to look at MIT. Similarly, if you are are looking/considering to be in the US in the long term, there is no reason to look at London. I would encourage you to visualize where you want to be and I think there is merit to pick each program. If i were really unsure (and I can tell you that I was when I was applying MIT is clearly a stronger play (even look at average applicant caliber, average GMAT, etc). You can network your way to a job after MIT anywhere but after LBS, it is London or Dubai.

In short, I would prioritize the content you want to be on after MBA. If unsure, pick MIT.

I know I broke the rules you set so this may be a dissatisfying answer, so feel free to ignore. What do I know, I am just an old man.
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P.S. It is fascinating that MIT does not have a semester abroad type of a program. Thanks for bringint it up! These are very common among MBA programs and my guess is that few want to leave Sloan the program... I really don't see a reason they are not partnering - it would be super easy for them to do except perhaps they are concerned about the integrity/experience. Odd!

As someone who has done a semester abroad, I would say it was a fun experience but it came at a cost of recruiting and setting me back somewhat in terms of job hunting. At the same time, it was a blast if you don't mind making a complete new set of friends and starting from scratch in a new program. Usually semester abroad is not something you can leverage for a job opportunity.­
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­Korry congratulations on the stellar admits! 

MIT has a slight edge overall in terms of brand prestige and has great brand recall globally. However, keep in mind that getting an expensive MBA in the US for international students comes with certain challenges because you need to focus on finding the right sponsorship opportunity, and until then, the search may limit your international travel options to some extent during and after the MBA. For people who have lived in the EU/UK, it can take some getting used to as it's not something people even think about there and they travel around other countries for leisure trips occassionally over the weekends. In my opinion, studying in the US means you are committing to living in the US for at least a few years, if not longer. If you are looking forward to exploring NYC and see what that entails in terms of professional opportunities and extra professional engagements, you will enjoy the experience.

Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alum, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting 
LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- mbaguideconsulting@gmail.com­
 

Congratulations on the getting admitted to both!

While all of the points raised are important, I would strongly consider how the cost differences impact your future choices. Your London salary would easily be consumed by US student loan payments - and I wouldn’t count on an MIT scholarship. Given that you seem to prefer London over NYC, I would stick to LBS so you can have a living wage in London.

That said, the pros of MIT are that you have great classes and can complement your learnings with those of other MIT schools and Harvard. Many people in my class have always wanted to be at MIT, and some took classes in the engineering school, and media lab. This is what is unique and what you can only get at Sloan. You’ll learn what I think is the most advanced analytics tools, and given your finance background you can take advantage of more advanced classes (e.g with Robert Merton from the Black Scholes model) or deeper Econ classes (e.g with Rigobbon or Forbes). You also have two years of education instead of one.

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